Balqis between EUroBe and Wonderland

Eid mubarak and happy national day

2010-11-18T00:09:00.002+04:00

Doesn't feel Eid to be honest, and can't do much to change it but I'm happy to have been chosen by God and hope to stay on the right path always wherever I go .
Inshallah with time I will get in touch with other Muslims in my place and rebuild my life here .
As I understand it, in Italy the problem is mainly political. There's issues among Muslims themselves and the current government doesn't help much .
I miss the sun of Oman, the sea, the smile of the people and the cry of the sheeps the night before Eid .
I am happy to be back with my parents and sister, but sharing Islamic values and way of life, that's what I am not finding for now . It will take time to re-adjust .

So tomorrow is H.M. birthday and Oman national day : 40 years of hard work to empower people and to give the chance to Oman to become a shining star .
Many times on this blog I praised the Sultan and his people because they gave me a lot, I had the chance to understand life during my stay in Oman . In good and bad, I learned a lot .
So there's no need to repeat what I already wrote .
And many times I wrote about limits which are actually preventing this beautiful country from jumping at the top, that is, in my opinion, the corruption at low levels (low but too many) and the not enough consideration given to foreign workers in terms of human rights and participation to the making of the nation .
I met many nationals who didn't honour their passports and many "expats" who deserve to be considered Omanis .
And many (not all obviously) should learn that borrowing or stealing money is not exactly the way to a honest life and they should stop waiting only for the sultan gifts .
But am sure that time and globalization will change this aspects .

Not sure if and when I can come back but I will always pray Allah to bless this country .

I think time has come now to close also this blog . Can't believe I wrote on it for almost five years, time really flies . There-s many things I could not write as I should mention names but I don-t want to hurt people . Maybe one day will write a book .
Will be busy (at least I hope) so I am not sure how frequently will post on my new blog but will try as writing is the only thing that keeps alive .
It will be as usual on religion and politics and focused on Russia and the M.E. and of course Italy (there might be something in Italian as well, though I still find difficult to express myself in my mother tongue) .

Keep in touch through facebook as it became my latest addiction cause that gives the chance to interact with people who are and think completely different than me .
You can find me as Balqis De Cesare, just send me your friendship request .

Le fin .

Grey cardinal points

2010-11-12T22:42:00.000+04:00

Of the most recent events occurred in Russia, definitely Oleg Cashin brutal beating is the one that deserves not only attention but deep reflection .

First of all we must understand the reasons why journalists are targeted more frequently lately : if few years ago, first thought coming to mind of commentators when learning about Anna Politkovskaya murder was her anti-governmental activity, now the scenario is slightly different .
Russian journalists today’s battles go beyond a mere hostile attitude built on personal positions .
Kashin, through his work on Khimki and the disputes with the Pskov region governor, was committed to dismantle a system of corruption of local institutions and of laziness of concerned authorities failing to bring them to justice .
Even if the theory that Nashi youth is involved in the accident, was proved true, calling for Vladislav Surkov resignation, as done by the opposition, would be a wrong move because we’re witnessing a series of symptoms indicating that a significant part of Russian society is evolving toward a violent attitude and only the person who partly and unwillingly created the conditions for this to come into being, can change this situation .
The thesis of the so called controlled sovereignity must be reviewed, taking into account the changes through which Russians have gone .
It’s necessary to find a half way not to fall into anarchy but relaxation must still come in stages .

No one is above the law but no one either must have a special status to be protected by the law, as noted by Windows to Russia blog, or everything will remain same as before with just a switch of roles .
The necessity to act immediately is given specially by the fact that this rise of violence and corruption might soon turn against the government itself and same as it happens in the Caucasus, it may be lethal because out of control .
In the same way, journalists and civil society must consider themselves a resource for the government and not a tool for the opposition and foreign powers .
This requires education and participation, empowerment of people .
United Russia for one must help to shape this process .

We’ve seen a gain of self-confidence of the Russian president but I don’t believe this will contribute to distance him from the prime minister, rather it will strengthen that design of roles they planned together .
And they may ponder the possibility to still run in tandem and in the same positions for next elections because the formula is giving results gradually but surely .

Of aliens and big powers

2010-11-11T13:23:00.000+04:00

In a meeting with the head of the Iranian Parliament’s Culture Commission Gholmali Haddad Adel, he expressed happiness over the strong, deep and brotherly ties existing between the two countries.

He further underscored the need for cooperation and interaction between the two nations in confronting aliens and removing the existing crises in the region.

The foreign minister said the big powers were after imposing their own leadership on the world and strengthening their grip over the world and region by sowing discord and resorting to violent ways.

However, he added, these big powers were mistaken in their attitudes. Irna

When I read these gems of wisdom, which one can find reported only by Press TV and Sunny Ok Wadi at Gspotnews, I wonder why I am still writing if I can't change the world and some people flatness.

As always this is another puzzling statement from the Omani Minister, who gets wild when in Teheran, or maybe as usual the translation is inaccurate and the sentences just taken out of context .

At first glance, given the location and the counterpart, one may think that he's speaking about Western ufos but doesn't sound credible, since America is the best provider of arms and other business for the region and without Great Britain, today's Oman would not exist either, without forgetting alliances in key sectors with Russia and France .

I envy H.E. for this innate quality to spark controversies among bloggers and forums gurus without having said anything meaningful .
We often despise Omani journalists for not reporting or commenting on such issues but I start to think they're doing it on purpose because how to comment on such shadowy and smoky statements ?

He was probably rather referring to situations in which terrorist infiltrations are involved, like Yemen [proud to host the Gulf cup in war zone of course] and other areas and the aliens might be secret services of western countries [the same who love to spread confusion in territories like Chechenya] or philantropists engaged in big economic efforts to fund any sort of organisation able to overthrow local governments .

And as always anyway, great proclaims and handshakings are not followed by signed agreements and solid resolutions .
A coincidence ?

Peaceful and pro-Western

2010-10-16T10:28:00.000+04:00

I think everybody by now has had time to read Nicholas Kristof column on the Nytimes .
It was a nice and reliable article, a little bit sugarcoated but it can be tolerated given the atmosphere of celebrations this year .
One thing though, was unfair in my opinion, and that is the comparison with Yemen, Pakistan and Afghanistan .
Yemen not only doesn't have big income from natural resources as a reader noted, but lacks an enlightened leadership like that of His Majesty and this is partially fault of the entire GCC organisation : their economic help is relatively useful and keeping in power pres. Saleh won't do any better .

Politically speaking, the great merit of Sultan Qaboos was not to let Oman become a British or American protectorate, unlike other countries in the M.E., so its being pro-Western must be evaluated carefully . Omanis love iPad and Coke but they're aware of the fact that the West has huge defects which is better not to imitate .

Of course also the Sultanate has its problems, one of them comes out when the girl says she doesn't want to get married not to be prevented to complete her studies, but let's celebrate now and go back to problems later , gradually but surely .

The miner and the mistress

2010-10-16T10:16:00.000+04:00

Very many years ago a child fell in a very deep hole in the ground in a village near Rome called Vermicino .
His name was Alfredino and the whole country's attention was on him : media coverage was extraordinary, we all felt him as part of the family and also our president, Sandro Pertini, went there to testify our pain .
The only solution to try was to send down people of short height and they went but there was nothing to do .
The hole was too small and the child died .
Back then, the beginning of the 80s, there was no discussion about the role of the media and what could be broadcasted, so we were all stuck in front of TV waiting for a miracle .
I was a child as well and I will never forget Alfredino's voice : his way of crying is still in my ears and the last time he stopped it was not because he was sleeping but because of death .

I felt for the miners since the first day of tragedy . In my village some migrated to Belgium to do such a hard job because there was no alternative in Italy in the 60s and 70s so I can figure the pain .
What I didn't understand though, is the spectacularization .
Of course it was an event, but covering it entirely without any break and forgetting all the other news, was simply unfair .
And for what anyway ? They just gave us all the details of their private lives and forgot the main issue : why this happened and whose responsibility it was .
They all played the game of the government .
With all the interviews and speeches the Chilean president gave, we know everything about Chilean unity but nothing about rules and regulations about mining, salaries of those people, rights they have and health insurance .
And there will be no chance to know because this will be forgotten in few weeks or months time .

But one thing we know : one of the miners has a mistress . Apparently he has a wife as well but it was the girlfriend who showed up and he was kinda embarassed while kissing her .
I feel for the wife : to be cheated by a man is no big deal in today's world, but publicly, that's definitely humiliation .

Temporary ports

2010-10-15T11:20:00.000+04:00

I am following the news on Beebi's death from foreign media .
Basically they all asking who is to blame here .
In my opinion we are all guilty, our lack of piety is the culprit .
It maybe bureaucracy, or the police, or the delay from Indian Embassy in issuing the temporary passport and also this sponsorship system that allows injustice and exploitation and government officials who insist that it is necessary.
All of these things killed her but the problem is that the event caught attention only because there was a dead in the middle of it .
How many out there are in pain for being treated as slaves and not as human beings ?
Is this what we've learned by our religion and by our beloved prophet paece and blessings upon him ?
May Allah have mercy on us and instill al birr in our hearts, piety and righteousness .

Enemies within

2010-10-15T10:48:00.000+04:00

"He is a hero," says Saida defiantly, recalling the memory of her brother. "He died for what he believed in, and he died because Allah willed it for him. I am proud he died as a shahid [martyr]."
Shaun Walker

The main mistake that Russian leadership fails to understand is that the enemy in the Northern Caucasus is Islam, or better, its extremist interpretation .
The real obstacle is the distance between the people and the central government : of course the results of Islamic extremism operations are there for everybody to see, but they are just part of a whole .
If Pres. Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin stopped using middle men and punished corrupted officials who turned this into a war by oppressing people and using oppressive methods, if they seriously cracked down on foreign secret services, funds coming from oligarchs in exile and governments from the M.E. who sends their jihadis there, if they proved to people that really those republics belong to the heart of Russia, then the problem would be solved .

Lost in Doobuy

2010-10-15T10:25:00.000+04:00

The main indicator of the difference between Dubai and Muscat, is the status of stray cats .
Here they are quite healthy, not fat but in good shape . They hang around everywhere, not mainly near garbage like in Muscat and they are friendly, for how friendly a cat can be . When I bring some food to them in Oman, they are hungry and angry, they do not trust humans and the bones come out of their skins .
This can mean that Dubai people are either richer or more relaxed or even more compassionate and responsible, but then again we must take in consideration that Dubai people are not necessarily natives as 50% of the population here is made by expats while Oman has the lowest rate of foreigners in the Gulf, approximately 30% .
And I noticed here foreign workers have a bigger sense of belonging : while going to Dubai mall, the driver, an Egyptian with a perfect English accent, told me with pride that the mall is almost the biggest in the world . Not sure is true but rarely an expat in Oman would speak that way .
I owe an apology to my Emarati readers [Al Ain rose are you there ?] for the critics I raised in the past toward the Emirates system : thing is that we Omanis and Omanised are suffering for a certain sense of inferiority complex which has no reason to exist for the simple fact that Oman and UAE, though sharing common traditions and culture, developed on different grounds and they are indeed different .
It's not possible to make a comparison between the two because they evolved on other paths .
There are two things though, that Oman might take in consideration : the method and the mentality [taken from the West but applied to the current situation] and the choice . Here they have lot of choices which unfortunately lead to things that are totally opposite to local culture, but Omani wisdom can get rid of the worst .

Nejad goes to Lebanon

2010-10-15T10:10:00.000+04:00

and before starting his trip, he makes a phone call to King Abdullah of Saudia .
That's what I call having sense of humour .

Modern

2010-10-11T10:06:00.003+04:00

Watching the news, the situation in Yemen is not getting any better . Same goes to the American prisoners in Iran : as predicted few weeks ago, am afraid their liberation is still far to come .
I agree with Dhofari Gucci, if am not mistaken I was reading it on her blog, that H.M. speech this year was not one of his most brilliant ones, at first glance at least .
But if scanned on the light of the above events, then it's worth attention .
The terms modern and modernity, at least in the English translation, are very frequent : it seems to me a reminder to those in Dhofar [and he is staying there since before Ramadan if I'm correct] who often team up with Saudis and Yemenis . Looking at the current picture, joining Yemen is a danger for all that's been achieved til now .
In the same way the thanks to security services should be interpreted : they're surely doing their best to keep the borders protected .
About the non interference policies, this is an issue which I examined many times on this blog : it's definitely the best choice but it will let the Gulf keep a limbo status till someone will take the lead, and then it won't be possible to go back .
May Allah bless His Majesty, the Sultanate of Oman and its people .

In the service of the Sultan

We are in Afghanistan to bring democracy and peace

2010-10-10T10:12:00.000+04:00

If we really believe in this, why are we losing it ?

Mr. Berlusconi picture courtesy of the site of the Prime Minister of Russia .

Obscenities

2010-10-09T10:12:00.000+04:00

Given the record of the latest winners of the Nobel, I wouldn't make such a mess but the Chinese are like that : definitely not classy losers .

The real obscenity here anyway, is the fact that we do business with them, ask them for help against Iran, use stick and carrot with the Dalai in order not to upset them, and give a prize, not sure how much meaningful at this point, to a guy who most probably will never know about it, and all this is to make our consciences clean .

Yuri

2010-10-04T21:14:00.000+04:00

So the news of the millenium [?] is that Meddybear sacked Moscow major .
Some say this was a move wanted by Putin, some say it's Medvedev shout of power, some others think it's a fight between Pres and PM .
For how I know my chickens it could be a little bit of everything .
The style used to do it [from China, when the President was out of the country], makes me think that Vladimir Vladimirovich is the main figure behind the move .
The circumstances and the timings show that maybe Meddy is starting to think to come out of the closet but he knows it's a lost dream .
What I found interesting in all this story anyway and no one noticed, is that it was necessary a Soviet move to kick out of the games a small but annoying pet .
It was long time Luzhkov was not in the graces of the Kremlin [Putin included] so it was a matter of few months that he would be invited to get out of the scenes .

Don't ever trust a Tsar, just befriend him

Maasalama Cesare

2010-09-22T10:54:00.000+04:00

Cesare Capitani, the Italian Ambassador to the Sultanate, has completed his term and will leave the country next week inshallah .
I met H.E. before he came in summer 2007, during one of my online trips .
He was going around blogs and forums in search of informations about the country and its people, something I wouldn't have expected from someone of his rank who has served our country around the world from Burma to Argentina .
But Cesare is like that : every new day is a challenge for him and there is always something to discover and to learn .
This is the philosophy which he extends to his collaborators as well .
He always stressed on the fact that we must mingle more with locals to learn from them and same as he did during his term in Afghanistan, he fasted with us during Ramadan even if he is not Muslim .
I am not the type of person who easily spreads carpets but I must admit I was enriched by his presence and will never forget his help when I needed .
He definitely brought another atmosphere at the embassy and among Italians in the Sultanate .
Wish him and his family a brilliant future .

Of bikes and billions

2010-09-22T10:44:00.000+04:00

When I read about the 60 billions sale of arms to Saudia, I thought there was a mistake but later also All that Jazz TV confirmed and I wondered which war they're gonna fight .
Saudi officials said that they need in case Iran's threat increases .
Experts say that it's the best way America and NATO have to leave them to deal with their business alone .
I personally believe it's just another invitation to the Gulf countries to be more divided .
And in fact ...
The crackdown on Shias [also here in Gulf we have our Sarko] is another gift of American policies .
Hadn't they decided that Saddam was not good anymore to keep them under control and that it was time to put them in power in Iraq with a government which can't reach an agreement since weeks now, we wouldn't witness such uncertainty .
The danger from Iran to Lebanon to Yemen and passing through Iraq, is to see a Shia dominated area, because the masses will be with them .
Not that some Sunni governments are so democratic, but at least we know them well and are aware of what to expect from them .
In this context Oman is still keeping a low profile .
I watched the first declarations of the American journalist [spy ?] here in Oman and noticed she thanked "her friend Salem al Ismaily" together with H.M.
Ociped president is definitely one of the most generous person I met in Oman [he offered his help to me for an issue some years ago without even knowing who I was] but if he is the prominent figure in all this story, that makes me think that the government did not want or could not do anything directly .
Not sure the story of the three bikers assembled is true but I am happy she could come out since it's rumoured she has a lump in her breast, may God help her .
I am sceptical on the fact though, that the others will be freed soon .
The prosecutor said he wants the court soon and Nejad is enjoying his moment of glory : the two guys can be a heavy part of the package of negotiations on sanctions .
We'll see .

Joseph goes to UK

2010-09-18T16:19:00.000+04:00

I am bit busy so am not following him much but at least on BBC and All that Jazz TV, I noticed he's getting little attention but it's not much of a surprise .
Of all the things he said yesterday, something caught my attention and that's his remarks on secularism : actually he kinda generalised because secularism can be of different types and much different than atheism .
What they have in UK for example is what we call inclusive secularism, a sort which gives space to all religious communities that can be able to have their space to practice faith .
That is the maximum we can get in a country as of now and is good .
There we can prove what are Islamic values and why they must be joined .
But the vatican is used to dominate in Italy, Malta and some other country, influencing their social status and political activity, which is why such a model is not good for them .

Billy Vanilly brings America's democracy into Putin's Russia

2010-09-18T16:13:00.000+04:00

When I went to Soviet Union in 1987, I found a reality which was completely different than what I was waiting based on my studies or on mr. Gorbatchev's words .
It was a huge country with different and big problems .
In the same way it would be superficial today, to state that in Putin's Russia the only obstacle to the country's accomplishments is the lack of freedom of expression as claimed by some .
Bill Gates gesture to grant a special licence from Microsoft to use its products to organisations which are supposed to be under government's threat in Russia or to help them with legal assistance if needed, is an unwanted interference .
Apparently an organisation which defended the Baikal lake had been shut down because was using a pirated copy of Windows and according to media this was just an excuse to shut up another NGO .
Who will pay for licences granted in that way ? I doubt it will Gates himself, rather all other users in Russia and around the world .
And what will the average computer user do if he thinks he's in a similar situation ? That he's authorised to use a pirated copy because he's acting for a good cause .
Why didn't Gates go to Russia and listen to the other side as well ?
Why didn't he give voice to the people in charge, is this democracy ?
It was disrespectful of the policemen involved and of the entire justice system in the country, but of course Gates the cop is not interested

Muammar and the black tide

2010-09-15T10:21:00.002+04:00

For the fourth time in a year Muammar went to Italy and converted a couple of girls
He went for the money
If EU gives him a billion every year, he will prevent the black tide from going to their beaches
Sounds reasonable

Burning calories

2010-09-15T10:19:00.000+04:00

Sufferance is still there, on the faces of the mothers of Beslan
I wouldn't dare to go and build a mosque in their town but I'd tell them about Islam
All the fuss about ground zero just proved that it's too early or maybe that we're too late
And Terry the pastor proved that every religion has its cuckoos
We have Bin Laden, they have the burner
And given the attention on the media, this war is turning into Christianity vs Islam or Muslims vs the rest of the world
Maybe better this way, political correctness doesn't lead anywhere

It's the heart

2010-09-15T10:14:00.002+04:00

that makes the difference

They treat me same as family, not as housemaid, said Naleni talking about her new job with an Indian Muslim family

They read the Quran, pray five times a day and fast Ramadan but they did this, said the Kenian lady to BBC talking about a Saudi family who broke her arms

What would happen if

2010-09-07T11:38:00.000+04:00

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia had made a public statement on Eluana Englaro's tragedy last year, when Italy was not having a law yet on cases like hers and the Vatican was pressing to keep her alive, saying that the Islamic position shared by many is that of not delaying sufferences ?
And what if he had offered treatment to the victims of child abuses caused by Catholic priests, commenting that monasticism is a man made feature ?
More or less what happened when Prince al Waleed went to ground zero and offered his one million dollar : people would say that rich Arab Muslims are just arrogant and careless people .

The Vatican "attention and committment" toward the case of the Iranian woman, is just an interference into another country's internal affairs .
And if father Lombardi's comments on the brutal nature of such punishment are true, they're just not appropriate because they show little knowledge on the logic of corporal punishments in Islam .
The Vatican can hold this dictatorial behaviour within Italian walls but must behave outside .
Not only they are breaking territorial sovereignity but they're also making more difficult the debate within Islamic circles, on such issues .
Up to now, most Islamic and Muslim states apply the rule on corporal punishments in the way it should be : the individual is punished when his/her action is meant as a war against God and His messenger, that is to say, when the consequences would damage the entire nation whose laws are inspired by Islamic law .
The punishment goes for undermining the state's stability : in a secular state, that would be the same of treachery .
And in the case of adultery, four witnesses must be brought to court to prove the crime .
If all the conditions are respected, only few would be punished to death .
The ongoing debate within the Islamic world, is about rediscussing all these terms but this has to be done among scholars and without external interferences, of people who like father Lombardi, have no knowledge about Islam .
Hopefully this will take place in appropriate conditions .

Unacceptable

2010-09-05T11:20:00.000+04:00

"He was not one of us", said my mother, telling us what had happened the night before at the football match .
Apparently there had been a fight and a gipsy had broken the arm of the referee .
And when somebody stole my sister's car, she pointed out that many of her neighbours had rented their flats to Roma people for the summer .

It's difficult to explain to a non European the sort of relation we have with Roma people or with gipsies in general, but it's mainly built up on mistrust and nothing constructive has been done to correct this, up to now .
The thing is that they are very different from us, and for how much we keep on pontificating on multiculturalism, Europe cannot reconcile yet on differences .

It's a matter of fact that they for one refuse to integrate : they come to our schools but keep on speaking their language all the time and many of them [no offense taken but is the truth] steal .
Those who live in my place are there since many generations, yet we look at each other with suspicion .
Not even local priests have achieved much .
They are beautiful in their long dresses and tanned skins, but they live on another planet .

When EU welcomed Romania, they should have known about the consequences of free circulation and they should have elaborated rules accordingly but everything is allowed for the sake of business of course so no one cared .
What Sarko is doing now is just the tip of the iceberg .
Will we ever learn about our mistakes ?

Some years ago I read on a magazine that whenever Carla' went to a party, the wives of rockstars had some adrenaline shock because they were aware of the fact that she was a virago and their husbands were weak Cinderellas .
I don't know if that makes of her an "Italian prostitute" like Iranian media said, but it's acceptable .
Nothing in life is unacceptable because it comes to stay .
Maybe the French should stop raising noses and accept life as it comes .

Alexian

Jonah Hull in Romania

Where's the reset

2010-08-31T11:15:00.000+04:00

Only time will tell if the operation against rebels at the Chechenyan president village, was just a show for kids or a real dismantled threat . Its meaning can be interpreted depending on the case .

When Ramzan Kadyrov said that he could take advantage of Chechenya oil and gas resources regardless of Gazprom, I thought that he had started to dig a grave with his own hands and that was confirmed by the Kremlin move to nominate a special envoy to the Caucasus . It was the signal that the central government was fed up of his games . And he too knew that, in fact he increased the praises for the Russian P.M. manhood .
Getting rid of Kadyrov is the first step to regain control of the Caucasus because the Chechenyan president is just a little brat who can become a big headache in the long run . That would be another signal, but this time for the people, that the Kremlin, and Vladimir Putin in particular, does really care about them and considers them part of Russia . Tartaristan is a clear example that Islam is not a barrier between people but rather unites them .
Now if true that Isa Yamadayev, after having buried Sulim, reconciled with Ramzan and the deal was promoted by the central government, that would be a step back : again the Kremlin and the FSB are proving their weakness towards a pitbull who cannot secure a long term peace in the republic . They further show weakness against foreign players, all those people like Berezovski, Soros and the jihadis running to the Caucasus from all over the world, who would benefit from Russia's defeat .
If Sulim has gone for good, may Allah have mercy on his soul, Isa doesn't have much to lose now .
It might be that he is just a tool to keep under control Kadyrov and get rid of him in the near, but still he remains a danger . He can't be kept there for long and Putin knows it .
Hope he has already taken appropriate measures as always .

Ramadan gems

2010-08-23T10:08:00.000+04:00

Indian guy : Hello ma'am, fedex calling
Italian gal : ah yes, is somebody coming here ?
Indian guy : yes ma'am, but the guy is Omani so he doesn't know the roads, is it ok if he waits for you at the Mosque ?
Italian gal : .........................yes, I will go there

In reality the majority of Omanis are well trained, but for that part who are not or are just bit lazy, expats might teach them .

Taxi driver : married ?
It. gal : no, no zawaj
Taxi driver : mafee zawaj ? Want my mobile number ?
It. gal : for taxi ? aha ok
Taxi driver : no, for friendship
It. gal : no no thanks , but you can give for taxi
Taxi : NO
It. gal : Ok

NP

2010-08-16T11:53:00.000+04:00

It's many months now that the talk of town is a Nobel Prize to Sultan Qaboos and yesterday I was reading a column on this issue .
Let me be clear : there is no doubt that His Majesty fully deserves it .
He built a country from nothing . A place where people from all cultures and religions can live together, even though it's not a bed of roses, is hard to find on earth .
The contribution he's giving to the cultural and economic growth of this country, is huge .
Europeans and Americans with all the pontifications on the superiority of their history and traditions, couldn't do it, not completely at least .
What we have to look at, though, are not the motivations that would lead to the award, but the consequences .
Usually the Nobel, is given to someone who is not very popular on the international scene (and we can't deny that Oman and its ruler have still a long way to go) but will become soon after . Together with celebrity, come responsibilities and there's a lot of pressure in this .
Would we want our Sultan to become the hero of the modern world with all that comes around, serving the purposes of those who promoted his victory ?
I don't think so . I'd rather stick to Oman style and to Qaboos soft pace on the road towards success .
A Nobel Prize would be a trojan horse with a high price to pay which might spoil current achievements .

Spirits under the mud

2010-08-14T11:07:00.002+04:00

Al Jizz anchorman asked how is the spirit of Ramadhan in Pakistan now and Jonah Hull, who is also a decent journalist, answered that there's no party for now .
When you are down, sometimes it's good to remember that there's always someone who has more troubles than you in Pakistan or in China.

How many children do you have ?
Of all the topics I could pick to break the ice with a perfect stranger, that was the worst .
The lady started her long story made of miscarriage and travels from UK to India to try IVF, a story of sufference and patience .
Well look at me, I tried to give her relief, at my age I am not married either .
But I don't think it worked .
For a woman, having children is important and for a man, specially here, having own children is even more .
She said her husband went for a second wife only after many years but also then, there was no way for him to have children .
And now she is my best friend, she said with a warm smile .

Another Ramadhan in Oman .
I was not hoping for this, but thanks God it came .
Still desperately searching for a job and still difficult.
Anybody out there willing to help, is welcome .

India anta Oman

2010-08-07T20:50:00.001+04:00

When one enters Ruwi, is thinking to show the passport and get another visa because it's like entering another country or a country within a country
Ruwi is like an Omani Bombay or like any other special zone in London or Rome filled with Indians and Pakistanis in their mini shops and coffee places : you can find ten of them in a space that might contain barely two .
On the road there are some Omanis who look at me as to say what is a white meat like you doing here .
I enter a shop for some photocopies and the guy tries everything to repair his machine, he strives to gain 1.5 rials . It's less than two rials but he fights like a lion to earn them .
When I ask for an information, people come around me and try their best and when I leave, other people want to know what I was looking for .
Finally I get to Qaboos old mosque, there we are all alike, slaves of God who pray .

Saleh Amri told me about a brilliant article written by Muhawiya, on the ads for the anniversary : apparently a boy exclaims, Qaboos anta Oman and the lovely guy from Samail complains about the exaggeration .
I said this many times, that Omanis relies on H.M. too much and don't feel responsible for their country.
I'd like to add as well that they never understood the importance of the contribute that foreign workers brought to the Sultanate and should celebrate together with them .

Not your right

2010-08-07T20:32:00.000+04:00

But it's my right to know all the details of the person who cheated me, she shouted
No, it's not your right, the CID guy replied smiling
Then what are my rights in this country, she thought
But you have a file on him, that means he's done something
I have a file on every single person entering this country, also on you, the big guy smiled again
I'd like to know what's written on mine, she didn't dare to say loudly
She insisted more and the big guy with big heart gave her another hint on the thief
Now, he ended, you must do the job, bring us something and we'll start searching for him
I was thinking my job had finished when I was robbed, and yours would start by catching him, again she didn't dare loudly
She smiled and thanked the big heart CID guy
I want to marry gen. al Mamari, she made a wish

Strani amori

2010-08-06T20:17:00.000+04:00

So I decided to accept Saleh and Marmar invitation for lunch
It's kinda odd to visit the house of the man you thought to be the love of your life, with his wife and child
But it was good, spent an afternoon with a family
What God plans is always better than we do
They are really well assorted : she is brilliant, determined and patient at the same time
They have a great feeling, complicity
He will never change of course but definitely she left the print on him more than me
I'm happy for them and for me
Waiting for someone to leave a print on me

Crossing crosses

2010-08-06T20:13:00.000+04:00

"Maria, I would like to ask you a favour
I must give you back this cross which was on the wall of my room, because is against my religion
We believe in Jesus as a Prophet but not in his crucifixion "

She looks at me as if I had questioned the virginity of the Pope
Her eyes are wide opened

"Well if is against your belief is ok, but we keep one in every room"
"I know, I was Catholic and anyway if you do not agree, for me is fine .
When we are guests in non Muslims places we must respect the law, so is up to you"
"It's ok, will put it back when you go away"

I feel so bad but later I understand
She lives in a Muslim land (you still think this is a Muslim country Luisa, Saleh asked few days ago) and she doesn't know anything about Islam
She asks if Italian Muslims dress same as Arabs cause I look like one and I explain that we must cover everything apart face and hands as rule and we must adopt a modest style, so it's up to us how to do it
She stays in the house all day taking care of her daughter in law and children and doesn't even know that after 31 years they have the right to ask for passport
This is modern culturalism in Oman, same as in Europe : people packed up in houses who don't mingle with each other, just live their lives or try to survive

H

2010-08-05T12:10:00.001+04:00

H is not the letter of a passport of a real Jordanian, the cheerful lady said, he is Palestinian .
Not that I care, I thought, he just stole all my money . I want to find him .
And actually am not sure we still have real Jordanians, real Italians or just fake human beings .

You must go to mafr people in NBO because Omanis will not give you his details, we did the request but nothing, the lawyer's translator explained .
What's mafr people, I asked.
I mean not Omanis, she added .
You mean Zingibaris ? I too had fallen in "my tribe is better than yours" trap
No, she smiled, I mean your people, English, Americans
Aha, now is clear, it's my people your people

You know luisa, Saleh the old love of my life said, after three weeks you sent that email that you didn't want to see me anymore, I was with Marmar
You were so desperate to lose me, I imagine, I said to myself
And not only you married her but had also a baby boy, when you were saying to me, that after divorce, marriage was not for you
I remember one day you said : "if I hadn't made the choice to stay alone, I'd be with you"
Oh, I finally answered, that is good, it means I was not the right person at the right moment [and you were not for me but I kept this just in my mind]
Well you know, he said, she kinda put me under siege
I know, I thought, I had noticed how she and her sister were working on it
All well that ends well

Leaks

2010-07-27T15:54:00.000+04:00

While watching a reportage on war in Afghanistan, my mind went back to the images of the end of second world war, when allies came to liberate us .

It was completely another atmosphere : in Italy people were joyfully waiting for Americans while there, between the mountains, a NATO soldier was trying to hug a child but the baby girl was so terrified that she couldn’t even move . Her eyes were filled with terror .

Now I know that from an historical point of view, the comparison is wrong but before Wiki came out with the revelation, it was these little details which gave us an hint on the fact that this war is wrong and is a total failure .

Generally speaking a war is always wrong but sometimes a necessary remedy . Just when the premises are wrong, the end is even worse .

I remember an old movie with one of our best actors and directors, Massimo Troisi, about the fascist period . He was in a café discussing with others and a lady proudly exclaimed : “since Mussolini is in power, trains are always in time !” . He replied : “and was it necessary to appoint him as head of government ? it was enough as trains manager” . Of course he was jailed .

If true that we went there to get the contracts for the reconstruction, as a German Minister said, was it necessary to destroy completely the country for this purpose ?

I don’t know if the leak proved what we already knew because under our eyes, or if it’s good that the press takes an official position on the issue, but the thing is that no one knows how to get out of that hell .

On the problem of placing an Islamic centre near ground zero, it’s not a temple built to honour Atta and friends : it’s an opportunity to understand what really Islam is . All those who are usually politically correct, should know this . But is easier to pontificate when life is nice and not when there’s real confrontation .

Moments

2010-07-25T19:51:00.002+04:00

“It’s ridicolous”, Alonso was shouting today to his team through the radio .

He couldn’t believe that though faster, he was after his team mate . In life it happens like that : there’s always a rabbit running smarter than you . And in the end he won, but just because of orders from the box, which is not something new in formula one but the way things unfolded, well that was just unfair . It was Ferrari style .

The way something bad happens, makes it more unbearable than it actually is . A moment can become more important than eternity, which is why the American on death row asked to be killed by gun rather than by lethal injection . We are more worried about the pain of a moment than the sweetness of eternity .

He reminded me of Claretta Petacci, Mussolini’s lover . When they were caught and she understood they would be shot, she asked not to do it in the head and she asked this only for him . Maybe she thought it was humiliating or too painful . It was the last caring thought of a devoted woman for the man she loved .

Little little Italy

2010-07-23T22:54:00.000+04:00

Few weeks ago a Moroccan man living in Italy killed his wife. He did it, as he explained, because he had bought her for 5000 dinars . At the press conference the police said that the practice of marriage contracts, is limited to few isolated cases .

The average Italian watching the news, has understood that Muslims buy their wives .

While commenting on honour killings, the Italian Minister of equal opportunities, said that those who stick to these religious principles are not welcome in this country .

The average Italian now knows that honour killing is part of Islam .

Italy is the country built under Berlusconi’s leadership : it’s a place where minorities have no voice, where press and televisions are under control, where the Prime Minister refuses to meet the earthquake victims whose municipalities finished the money to help them .

In short, we are in a dictatorship .

I started a new blog where I am translating articles from English sites, to give a chance to Italian readers to know what Islam really is, and not what controlled media are assembling to raise the hatred against foreigners .
If anybody wants to collaborate, I'll be happy . Just contact me .

http://nelnomedeldiounico.blogspot.com/

The book of my life

2010-07-23T22:46:00.000+04:00

I was reading the blog of a German doctor on the Observer and there were all the elements for a classic story common to listen to in Oman : the expat investor, the money, the bad Omanis who take over, the good Omanis come as saviours .

When I went to Ociped many years ago, they explained me that the 150000 RO limit amount is the only way government has, to prevent the flood of people from other countries . I agree, but only partially, otherwise one wouldn’t know why the need to allow alcohol and prostitutes in a Muslim country .

It seems to me anyway, that this is just a tool to keep control on big amounts from outside .

On the one hand such limit just raises the level of illegality. I challenge everybody to find how many foreign investors do really possess their 150K to paradise . With that roof, there’s a huge growing black market of visas .

On the other hand, for those who can’t afford and whose main goal is only to set up a small business to get a decent amount to send home, the only alternative is to do everything in the name of a local . So it can happen that one day all the money disappears and of course it’s not possible to file a complaint because the deal was not legal .

The positive side to lose everything or almost everything anyway, is that you can finally count how many real friends you have and most of times the balance is zero .

People who used to spread carpets at your feet, will soon disappear . The guy who used to call at 3PM in July with 50 degrees and 70% humidity just to say “how are you feeling today” will be just a memory . The chap who used to remind you in trappist style, what is Islamic and what is not, will not answer your emails and phone calls not even to say “I am sorry for what happened” . And the one who answers , he will tell you a long story about the difficulties of the first impact in Oman, as if you had asked him for money rather than for having informations about vacancies in his office . Those who asked you money faking heart attacks of their sisters and masakeen in their areas to whom distribute your zakat, will be busy cheating someone else .

All in all, you’ll feel happy to get rid of them and to start a new life .
Hmmm, time to write a book .

In a global village with Saleh al Shaibany without deviating from values

2010-07-01T15:04:00.004+04:00

Many times on this blog I commented on Saleh al Shaibany articles .
Sometimes I agreed with him and the way he presents Omani reality, sometimes not .
I have a great respect for him and I wanted him to answer to a couple of issues I had in mind .
He kindly accepted .
Enjoy :

Columnist, foreign correspondent, business reporter . You are quite a versatile journalist, one who gives voice to people’s stories to describe the world we’re living in . How did the passion for your work unfold and how did Omani environment influence your path ?

The inspiration came 20 years ago while studying in the UK when someone did not know where Oman was. My work is to put Oman in the international map (I also write business news for Reuters). Also, trying to tell the world that Oman is not a backward country but with rich traditions with its people enjoying certain liberties.

According to foreign commentators and human rights activists to be a journalist in an Arab Muslim country is a challenging task . Is it really so and are there differences within the Gulf countries ?

No, I don’t get harassed by the government officials when I write about human rights issues. Perhaps I based my writing on facts that cannot be refuted. Others who don’t, get challenged for erroneous facts.

Are journalists who write mainly on English languages newspapers less affected by pressure than the others ?

Foreign journalists sometimes act on impulse on facts that are not properly researched. I do research and as an Omani, I have a network of reliable people who give facts, which foreign journalists don’t have access.

What would you answer to the people in Oman who accuse you of treacherous behavior for writing about delicate issues regarding your country, on an Emarati newspaper ?

These complaints come from my compatriots and they have the freedom to criticize, which I respect.

You often bring to light local problems that apparently do not belong to Muscat, rather to rural areas and this also enrages some of your readers . Do they fail to see these realities or they do and they just feel ashamed ? In general, why is the average Arab so allergic to constructive criticism ?

The news from any interior of any Arab country, or Muslim broadly speaking, is guarded and many of us are ashamed of our cultures. They are just part of our heritage and we need not be evasive about them since we have already opened up ourselves to foreign influence.

In which direction is Omani society moving in your opinion?

Towards a global village, though cautiously, but we need to be proud of our heritage as we move forward. Never abandoned our values.

Why do local bloggers seem more daring than the Omani journalists ?

They have the luxurious of doing it underground. However, some of them are careless and not based their findings on proper research or objective investigation but on “loose words.” But I am a great fan of bloggers and they need to voice their opinions which Oman very much needs.

Is blogging (in all its forms, from Blogger to Twitter) really the alternative or the interest it generated will disappear with time ?

Blogging is here to stay and it will grow with the time. It is the voice of the weak, as many people see it. But we have to be careful of the trouble makers as well who seek revenge rather than objective opinions.

How is the current situation for journalism in Oman ?

Oman has come a long way in journalism because of the tolerance of the government. However, only Omani journalists can push the limits to report more irregularities.

What do you think of some counter information alternatives in the television platform, like al Jazeera, Russia Today and Press TV ? Are they really offering another view or they’re just another propaganda tool in the never ending war between the West and the rest of the world ?

Al Jazeera is seen by both Arabs and Muslims as an alternative to the West-based reports on their sometimes biased news. We need more TV broadcasts from the Arab World like Al-Jazeera to give the world another opinion of the same thing.

Two phone calls . One from Murdoch and another from the Ministry of information . Same salary, two big posts : which one will you reject ?

It will depend what I have to write or what my role will be

You’d write a book about …?

Yes, about the Gulf Arabs and the way we are deviating away from our values and cultures in the name of progress.

If it walks like a duck then it must be a shark

2010-06-07T14:38:00.002+04:00

The poutpourri of words assembled by Madame Latynina in one of her latest editorials on The Moscow Times
on recent events involving Israeli forces and pro-Palestinian activists in international waters, doesn’t make sense because the terms of comparison are wrong .

Whether guilty or not, Mr. Khodorkovsky is a man who used to deal with big amounts of oil and money . He was part of a system which is out of reach for Palestinian people . He didn’t have to go around the world like a gipsy nor he had to wait for milk from a tunnel or a boat, to feed his children. He doesn’t need a flotilla to go and rescue him, but maybe some people who organize parades and marches in his name, and who often do it without being authorized either (a small detail that Madame Latynina forgot to mention), they do need him as a flag to fight for their own interests .

No one needs the people of Palestine, their pain, their hunger and thirst but Palestinians need our help . Their tragedy needs to be highlighted every day .

Every day the world must know how the Israeli government tortures them, to which extent their arrogance can get .

The activists were indeed going to deliver their aid but if they had chosen easy routes, bowing their will to that of the Israelis, no one would have noticed the gravity of what is happening in the occupied territories .

The shooting was rather an action planned by Israel to prove that they are ready for Iran and more, in case there was any doubt .

It was a message in a bottle, similar to the one delivered last year : 1400 people were killed, while the same goal could have been achieved with a ground operation through their intelligence, but there was an election and the blood of the Palestinians served the purpose .

I am not in favor of Hamas methods but it must be remembered that those governments that today label it as terrorist, are the same that pushed for elections against the opinion of Arab governments which knew what the outcome would be : desperate people chose desperate solutions .

Hamas is representative of a model which has proved itself successful from Iran to Lebanon and inspired by Imam Khomeini, as mentioned by his grandson at the memorial for the anniversary of his death.

They built schools, hospitals, houses and bring food. The consensus they gather is raised through people, those same people who accept martyrdom because life in Gaza has nothing better to offer : whether supportive or in opposition, popular involvement is the key to understand the strength of the Shia forms of governments . This is something that Sunni regimes in the M.E., built on totalitarian grounds, are lacking completely and it’s the reason why, other than the challenge for power, they’re scared by a Shia dominion. If people in countries like Saudi Arabia wake up and take action, it will be very difficult to keep them under control .

The piety for Chechenians must be the same of that for Palestinians .

Baby sharks in the guise of ducks, usually don’t go too far .

Multicultural

2010-06-01T14:47:00.001+04:00

I went to police yesterday to get some documents done and there was a girl from Africa at the immigration department whose problem as I understood was, to raise her budget here or our laws do not allow her to remain .
She was sure she could do it because her cousin had promised to help but the officer informed her that she and the social services assistant had talked with him, and since he wants to bring his family in Italy, he cannot give support anymore because he must keep a certain balance for himself now .
It’s difficult to help ourselves and the others, it’s the law of survival .
It was a strange feeling to hear how much police and social services were concerned about her destiny, definitely not something I was used to witness in Oman . One of the things that bring Western culture closer to Islam much more than the Arab Gulf states, is the fact that we do consider people of different backgrounds, equal to us and we offer them help .
We don’t put barriers .
When a Libyan or any other foreigner comes to our coasts on a boat after having paid thousands of dollars and suffered hunger for days, he will not find the police to check documents and kick him back home (not only at least), but also Catholic communities and departments of the Ministry of Social Affairs, trying to help with beds and food and eventually a work to establish him in the community .
Of course I am not so naive to think that they are doing this out generosity nor am saying that foreign workers here are not exploited : they are easy to convert to the religion and represent part of business deals with African governments, but at least the concept is there and is part of our culture regardless of religious belief .
Some time ago a young Omani was asking on internet about Muslim charities in UK to make a donation because he was temporarily there . He wanted to give sadaqa which is ordinary charity out of zaqat, hence all categories of people and not necessarily Muslims, as clearly stated in Surah al Maidah, are elegible for it, so I suggested to search for any local organization, but he insisted and found a Muslim one . Not even the generous donations of Sultan Qaboos in Italy convinced him .
Mercy for some of us who do not take in consideration our Prophet, peace and blessings upon him, life and deeds, is something to give exclusively to Muslims . One may ask then, why God is so merciful with us even when we are very far from the deen .
I was reading about that lady who married a non Omani without government permit and is living in Venice now . Difficult to be unaware of Omani rules because when one gets married abroad and with a foreigner, must have some certificates but whatever the case, this law remains cruel and representative of a backward culture .
I have no doubt that the day the government relaxes the rules, half of the male population will run to marry abroad for reasons which have been largely discussed on local blogs and forums but if people do not like to marry from their own tribes, there must be a reason .
Why not correcting this through education rather than simply just repress them ?
I started to study seriously Arabic grammar and found out that verbs are divided between past and non past and the past forms, namely faala (he did), are central in the scheme .
This explains a lot about Arabs .
To preserve the past is good but one must be careful not to fall asleep in it . Good traditions can be kept also by adapting them to the present, which doesn’t necessarily mean a change .

Message for ultrablue : please contact me
primetiger52@ymail.com

Zeru tituli in the black tide

2010-06-01T14:39:00.003+04:00

Florentino Perez will pay a salary of ten millions per year to the special one plus 16 mill penalty to Inter .
After Inter-Bayern a fan killed another because of a dispute on how much Inter is Italian .
Platini was pontificating on the memories of Heisel .
Nothing really changed, things are just worse .

Between a dead fish and popularity going down, Obama wants to know what happened .

If Iran had done what Irsael did, he'd have sent his troops . It's a shame .

Message for ultrablue : need some info but don't have your contact email . Please email me primetiger52@ymail.com

Fatima's secrets

2010-05-19T09:22:00.006+04:00

Back to the land of the people of the cross, I feel like a BHuddhist in Shangai or a Christian in Riyadh .
Italy's culture is not inclusive, not in rural areas at least .
I was not used to check if a piece of cake has liquor in it but is part of life .
Catholic culture is strong here but is just a sort of cult of personality .
They adore saints, statues and pictures but in the end there's not much religion .
I doubt they (not all obviously) have an idea of why they're following so much rituals .
I've been watching the Pope in Fatima : he learned on how to capitalise on disgraces by fitting into the role of victim.
And he controls people's lives with miracles and misteries .
In the Afghan Vatican they killed two of our soldiers .
My mother asked what Talibans want .
Keeping their rules I assume, and Nato is losing it .
Madeleine Albright was called for a meeting .
Rasmussen is desperate .
And in the meanwhile Russia is keeping its army in Sevastapol and planning a merger between Gazprom and Naftogaz .
Soviet ghosts are in Euro leaders dreams .
When the way of thinking is not inclusive, war is the only alternative and human being is losing it .

Basmatak goes to Jerusalem ?

2010-04-07T21:01:00.003+04:00

Of course al Arifi’s behavior cannot be considered [a form of] support for Jerusalem or the Palestinian cause in any way whatsoever. Rather, just as we mentioned before, it is a performance for the media through which he hopes to gain fame and steal the limelight, as the preacher “is calling for people to perform Hajj when they’re already on their way home,” as the saying goes, as amid international pressure on Israel and the US-Israeli crisis, not to mention the pressure on the Netanyahu government regarding settlement construction, al Arifi comes along to say that he is going there to save Jerusalem! Tariq Alhomayed

The state-owned Al-Watan newspaper on Wednesday quoted the passports office spokesman Lt. Col. Badr Malik as saying visiting Israel is prohibited and any violator is punishable under the law. Ap

They can put the print on a different paper as those who travel in Gulf do, but then again everybody will know he was there because of the program .
Saudis are fantastic . This time they moved the editor in chief in person of the Shark to attack Sheikh Mohammed .
If the Vatican opens a dialogue for years to prepare a pastoral visit, that's bravery and piousness.
If a prominent Saudi cleric wants to go to Jerusalem, that's for fame and to raise provocations .
Muslims are starting to appreciate the ways of those who like to act undercover and ignore that we must be straight .

Fishy

2010-04-07T18:48:00.002+04:00

“The danger Awlaki poses to this country is no longer confined to words,” said an American official, who like other current and former officials interviewed for this article spoke of the classified counterterrorism measures on the condition of anonymity. “He’s gotten involved in plots.”

The official added: “The United States works, exactly as the American people expect, to overcome threats to their security, and this individual — through his own actions — has become one. Awlaki knows what he’s done, and he knows he won’t be met with handshakes and flowers. None of this should surprise anyone NYTimes

Judging from a couple of lectures on youtube, Al Awlaki has good skills as scholar when he talks about purely religious issues .
Problems start when politics come into the game, cause as all extremists, he doesn't recognise the legitimacy of Western governments and he thinks necessary to start his own war against them .
At least this is the version of the story that American government and friends with all their media apparatus, want us to believe .
But if I had to gather it from the stories of the shoe bomber and of Fort Hood, then I have strong doubts, because as widely proved, those episodes sound more as scams .
I am not a conspiracy theorist, but if many Muslim today still believe that OBL is an American myth, then al Awlaki is just a joke .
And the fact that they don't want to bring him to trial, together with the lack of transparency on Yemen war, is another evidence that America keeps on playing dirty on the ground .

Jack Sparrow is near

2010-04-07T18:39:00.000+04:00

As the Omani ship rendered assistance to the escaped hostages, USS McFaul arrived. With two warships now operating close to each other, the pirates agreed to a compliant boarding. McFaul crewmembers approached the dhow and directed the suspected pirates to surrender by gathering on the bow with their hands in the air. They quickly threw their weapons overboard and complied. defense gov

Had read some days ago about the presence of pirates in Salalah but these are not exactly lion hearts .
Might get worse in the future .

KaveKanem

2010-04-07T16:53:00.001+04:00

The police also harass Muslim women. The source of KC informed, that at 11 am in one of the Moscow regions, 13 Muslim women were detained, when they were going for studies. Even Armenians get attacked. One Armenian in his own foyer was stubbed, and the graffiti against Muslims written on the walls. Especially nervous situation is in metro. Russians initiate attacks on Caucasians and Asians. There were cases, when Muslims, and also Caucasians and Asians were turned away from the hospitals. Many Muslims prefer to be at home in these days and not go outside.
kavkaz

"As for Dokku Umarov, I think that this man inflicted a terrible blow to Caucasus, on all those who looked upon him as a leader of political opposition", declared Dzhemal, who preaches the idea of an alliance of Muslims with the Communists and other leftists infidel groups against the West, in order to save Russia. kavkaz

Zakayev thinks if Georgia will use its power in International society and always blame Russia for its crimes in Chechnya, it would have been very-well working weapon in Georgian hands. chechenpress

People kill civilians in the name of Islam and the al jazeera of the Caucasus is surprised that the Russian population can feel some moment of tension .
Funny, innit ?
Still I don't get why this website has not been shut down .
Maybe Berezovski and Soros may have the answer .
This war turned into a blame game .
Patrushev conquered the sceptre of political guru by hinting that Georgia might train extremists and Dokka explained why people on the metro deserved to die, in retaliation for a police operation in February in Dagestan, where the target were terrorists but some civilians were killed as well .
Among all the consequences of these tragedies, we missed a political alliance between Muslims and leftists against the West .
Indeed the anti-Putin front can be strengthened by these events if the Russian leadership doesn't act in a way to get benefits for itself by enhancing dialogue between different political forces, but Muslim must stay out of an "against context" .
They must work in favour of something , to build a better Russia in which they can be positive protagonists and this can be done only with the government .
Zakayev as always from his golden refuge in UK [with Vanessa ?] keeps on pontificating on nothing .

PP

2010-04-07T16:18:00.000+04:00

The Pope not only opposes the right of women to have an abortion but also their right to contraception to prevent the need for abortions.

He also opposes women’s access to IVF fertility treatment to give childless couples the chance of parenthood. He condemns potentially life-saving embryonic stem cell research.

Pope Benedict denounces the use of condoms, even to stop the spread of HIV, as well as claiming falsely that condom usage “increases” the rate of HIV infection. This puts millions of lives at risk.

He opposes legal equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, and their full protection in law against homophobic and transphobic discrimination

The Pope has authorised the Catholic Catechism, which condemns same-sex relationships as a “grave depravity” and “contrary to natural law.” In 1992, he criticised gay sexuality as a “tendency ordered towards an intrinsic moral evil.”

While condemning loving, consenting adult same-sex relations, the Pope played a role in shielding Catholic clergy guilty of child sex abuse from prosecution, as revealed in the 2006 BBC Panorama programme, Sex crimes and the Vatican. protest the pope

Who would ever imagine that gays, lesbians, ex-Muslims and humanists had something in common ?
This was a good occasion to expose the Catholic Church lies and failures in theological matters but it turned into a circus .
Small people get small results .

Khodo

2010-04-07T16:12:00.001+04:00

* Your prosecutors claim I ran Yukos not as an official chairman, but as the leader of an organised criminal group. When you discussed Yukos's problems with me, with whom did you think you were talking? Why is it Rosneft paid the same per tonne of production, but your tax authorities have no complaints about Rosneft? independent

The defense brought into the court jars with two different products - a one-liter jar of oil and three-liter jar of water - and asked investigators to remove some oil from the jar using one of the methods described in the accusations. Khodorkovsky explained to the court there is a big difference between the initial products of water and crude oil which is drawn from it.RIA

The funds derived from auctioning Yukos assets went to the government budget, but not only to the government budget. When we received the funds - and the majority of assets were received in 2006 - I convinced my colleagues that we must not simply add these funds to the budget and dissolve them there, or channel them into reserve funds - although reserves have turned out very helpful these days - but use them to address the most pressing challenges. The money that was once stolen from the people must be returned to them. And not to a vague group, but to the actual people who have found themselves in trouble as a result of the difficult, I'd even say tragic, economic developments of the early and mid-1990s. These funds should help the least well-off citizens of the Russian Federation. And so the 240 billion roubles earned from auctioning Yukos assets were used to create the Housing and Utilities Reform Fund. Ten million people have taken advantage of the fund to repair their houses and flats, and 150,000 people will be relocated from slums into new blocks of flats. The fund will continue to work. Its reserves were also spent on landscaping in Russian towns and villages. VVP

As I am busy packing, my posts actually are mainly Russia oriented cause I love this country and I like to discuss its endeavours .
I understand that falling from a swimming pool full of money to jail, is not exactly like sleeping in a bed of roses but if schizofrenia must be found somewhere, that's on Khodorkovsky side .
Vladimir Putin has definitely a sphere of influence but he's not God so it's hilarious the definition of "your prosecutor" .
And I find equally annoying the same old boring accusations of favoritism for Sechin and Rosneft . If really they were the only beneficiary of a monopoly, Russian energy market would be on its knees by now .
As the P.M. explained, money recovered from Yukos went to those who were cheated, and as far as I know through forums and blogs, there's quite a lot who were stolen .
Khodorkovsky has selective memory .

Bernie's world

2010-04-06T20:18:00.000+04:00

Asked how he would achieve that he said he would "make the front wing smaller and get rid of the double diffuser".

Then he thought for a minute. "Actually why not just get a beautiful girl in and draw out the drivers for the top 10 [on the grid]?"

telegraph

You think he's joking ?
I know the guy since more than 20 years now .
He is serious .

Akhlaq

2010-04-06T20:15:00.001+04:00

The lady, who wanted to remain anonymous, told the committee on Saturday that she was offering the money to the committee because she did not want to miss an opportunity to find a pious husband even if he did not have money to pay a dowry. She added that her father rejected her suitors unless they offered a high amount for dowry. arabnews

Was reading this on Carol's blog [American Bedu ] .
Personally I lost hopes .
When I was young I didn't want to get married because I am not a family type but I was dreaming of the blue prince .
Later I realised something is missing in my life but it was too late and I met the wrong guys .
Now I decided that I am open to every solution cause time is running so I am waiting for the love of maturity and for maturity as well .
But I have the feeling I will remain alone .
I understand the lady's desperation .
It's almost impossible to find a man with good character because there's always a flaw which messes up things, but hope never dies .

like a garment

Addicted

2010-04-02T13:31:00.001+04:00

I'm in my early 30s and have been in a stable, loving relationship for six years, but constantly find myself strongly attracted to men other than my partner.
Am I addicted to lust? Is long-term love always unelectric? I've suggested to my partner that we go to an upmarket orgy, but he wasn't interested.dear mariella

No one of you is very interested .
Take a break .

SuDoku

2010-04-02T13:23:00.001+04:00

Umarov was an active participant in both the 1994-96 and 1999-2000 wars, and gained a reputation as a skilled and courageous commander. He was injured on several occasions, and underwent extensive plastic surgery to repair damage to his face and jaw. In the spring of 2005, he was walking with a limp after having stepped on a land mine. He was reportedly injured again in the fall of 2006. RFERL

With such a background, his change of heart doesn't really come by surprise .
Osama seems a little bit more Oxfordian, but they have different upbringings .

Paedo

2010-04-02T13:15:00.002+04:00

The problem for Pope Benedict – or Joseph Ratzinger as he then was – is that he has always been a bureaucrat of the church and seen its problems in terms of institutional discipline. Tinkering with canon law, as he did, simply won't serve in a world where paedophilia is dealt with as a crime to be judged in the public courts. theindependent

This period must be the joy of gay activists and paraders .
Knowing that the great Satan in matters of paedophilia is represented by the Church must give them a break and a feeling of revenge .
The real issue here, is that monasticism was never required by God, rather it's a man made condition and quite an unhealthy one, which is why now we're [are we ?] shocked to hear about all these reports .
The current Pope will never be able to admit it and to operate reforms because he's really just a bureaucrat and keen to raise tensions to maintain the status quo of the Church .

Tell me I love you in all the languages of the world

2010-04-01T17:35:00.002+04:00

When you're born with a certain face, no matter whether ugly or cute, there are some things you can say or do, and some others you can not .
It's a matter of credibility .
For example you can't go on a surprise visit in Dagestan [attacks are daily routine by now] and say :
"We must deal sharp dagger blows to the terrorists, destroy them and their lairs,"
"We have ripped the heads off the most infamous bandits but it appears that this was not enough. We will track them all down in due time and will punish them all, just as we did to the previous ones. We will act only this way."
It's clear like water that it's not the shape of your heart because you have a PS3 face, maximum you're a Twitterian .

And if you are the special envoy to the Caucasus :
"We will never cope with this task if we do not have the full support of our residents"
sounds reasonable but not realistic in this very moment .

And if you are the boss of the most feared security services in the world :
"Body parts belonging to two female suicide bombers were found...and according to initial data, these persons are linked to the North Caucasus."
one may start to have strange thoughts .

But with those faces you can always tell me I love you in all the languages of the world .
To cut it short, actually the weakness of the Russian government is pretty evident .
An Italian journalist once said that Berlusconi follows Putin's scheme when assembling the government : he always chooses people who later can't bother him with threats, hence weak figures .
It's time to reshuffle some positions in Russia and this must be done immediately but without chaos .
Somebody must study how the situation is really changing in the Caucasus because probably it's not like before .
Warriors from Pakistan and Afghanistan are taking over, and this is changing the balance .
So pitbulls like Kadyrov are not necessary anymore, or are they who are sending a message to the boss ?
Time will tell .

With faces and personalities like those of Peskov, Ivanov and Zubkov [the mentor], Putin should have things done better and would remain in control .

I'd accept a dinner invitation from one with Doku's face, but with body guards ...

The valzer of the black widows

2010-03-30T20:20:00.004+04:00

Investigators have said they were trying to confirm whether the two women were part of what was originally a 30-strong female "martyrs' brigade".

"If people trained by Buryatsky himself were involved in these attacks then the explosions are only the beginning," said a source from Russia's FSB security service.

"Especially since Doku Umarov, the leader of the militants gave Buryatsky his orders and has long promised to spread war across Russia." telegraph

Alexander Bortnikov, FSB chief, said yesterday that from the first exam of the bodies of the suicide bombers, it was clear like water that they were from Chechenya .
A day later, some doubts come to their mind .
Definitely the FSB is not the good old KGB.

When I read Andrew Osborn articles I wonder why I'm wasting my time on a blog while I could be in Moscow to deliver crap and with a salary as well .
Elements to raise anti Islamic sentiments are all there :
the poor exploited Muslim women, the Russian Bin Laden and the Azzam al Ameriki of the Caucasus .
It's always the same movie .
What's missing is the director .

There is a good number of theories about who really wanted this massacre and they're all valid :

NATO is rising pressure on Russia to get a more substantial collaboration in Afghanistan .
Today they proudly announced on their blog that Mongolia is the 45th country to send coffins [pardon, soldiers] to fight over there .
Now, that's what I call an achievement .
And about pressure, let's not forget that Russia is a good partner of Iran in various fields [Buhsher nuclear reactor will be operative soon] but Americans need their backing on sanctions .
It's not a mistery that Georgia is always seeking to sabotage the big bear and they are in the right position to back up Caucasus rebels .
Then there are those who still dream of bringing Putin out of power : it's a group of people which might be found among secret services, sectors of the government, and exiles abroad [Berezovski loves to use his money for his anti-Putin dreams] .

It's quite a complicated picture but one thing is clear : there's no time .
A strong action is needed and Vladimir Vladimirovich must show what he is capable of, in case somebody had forgotten .

I had a suspect

2010-03-30T20:13:00.002+04:00

that Ricky Martin was gay
because he was never in the news with a girlfriend
but I didn't feel the need to know it nor to acknowledge his pride
Ricky I'm happy that you're happy
but don't try to convince yourself and us that it's normal, cause it's not
and we could survive without it as well [in case you had some other pearl to announce to us]
What you do in private must remain private

Shot through the heart of Putin [who gives love a bad name ?]

2010-03-29T12:34:00.002+04:00

Groups of the al-Qaida type, making skilful use of the internet, have developed a narrative of humiliation. Their message to Muslims is simple: look around the world, and you see countless conflicts in which your co-religionists are involved, invariably on the losing side. From this springs the idea that the umma – the worldwide community of the faithful – is under siege, and that every able-bodied Muslim has a duty to come to its defence. Roger Hardy

“Discipline is lame,” Medvedev complained. “It is necessary to value presidential orders. They have to be rigorously fulfilled. Whoever doesn’t fulfill them can take a hike.” The biggest problem is that Medvedev plays an unconvincing tough guy. And the more Medvedev tries to act tough, the weaker he looks. Michael Bohm

I think the world understood we're not a monolith but they can't catch what are we made of exactly .
And we have understood by now that the way of the terrorists, through arms and killings, is not the way drawn by Allah and by the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessings upon him .
There is the straight way to follow, the toughest but sweetest one, which is that to explain our reasons peacefully, searching for a solution through dialogue .
That's the real jihad.
The way chosen by the extremists is the easy one but that's not Islam .

Today Prime Minister Putin is out to Krasnoyarsk territory for a two days visit .
Alexander Khloponin, recently appointed by President Medvedev as vice Prime Minister and special envoy to the Northern Caucasus, was Krasnoyarsk governor from 2002 to 2010 .
I am an not an expert, but it's not possible to put a couple of bombs under the offices of the FSB without the help of an insider or of someone who is very close to the establishment .
I agree with the Italian journalist Stefano Grazioli when he says that this was entirely against Putin .
It was more than a message in a bottle .

When Medvedev candidature was presented, we all thought that he would be just manipulated by Putin .
In the middle of his presidency, we can safely say that it's not like that .
Medvedev is the way he seems because that's his nature : he is a loser .
And am not saying this to offend him, rather I support this view because I am like him .
He is a quiet guy, good in shaking hands and presenting drafts but not in obtaining results .
Dmitry Peskov said in an interview some days ago, that when Putin has a goal, he achieves it regardless of the ways and the timings .
That's what I call to be a winner, even though there must be a price to pay .
So he didn't need a puppet because Dmitry Anatolievich is naturally so .
Even if he assembled his own party together with Vladislav Surkov who is supposed to be a creature of Putin, and then made an alliance with Gorbachev and Lebedev against Vladimir Vladimirovich, that would be pure divertissment .

But at this point we must acknowledge that his presidency and Putin's plans have failed .
Other than changing the world political balance with a great move in Georgia and effective steps in energetic policies , also due to America and NATO's weakness, they didn't go beyond that .
The Caucasus remains a thorn in the heart of Russia .
There's way too many people there : jihadis from the M.E. and other countries, the CIA, the FSB [and am not sure all of them are working for the good of the country], local clans and tribes and God knows who else .

It's about time to make a clean up in Chechnya and in Moscow among security forces and among all those who are going against the Kremlin, but the current President has no credibility for that, nor any other intermediary, not even local governments representatives .

It's about time for Vladimir Vladimirovich to come back to power .
He is the only who can do something to fight terrorism in Russia but he must cut the middlemen or it will be another failure .
And he must understand that repression doesn't work without dialogue and education .
People of Chechnya belong to Russia but they must feel it's so .
He must go there and fight with and for them .

Sleeping beauty kiss

2010-03-28T20:41:00.004+04:00

Then, taking a jab at the girth of his tall and heavy guest, he said the Qatari leader was "better than me at filling a void," before bursting out in a laugh. Press TV

Obesity in Gulf countries is a serious problem, not something to make fun of .
But in this case Muammar picked on the right guy .
Must have been a very interesting summit .

Clandestini

2010-03-28T14:02:00.006+04:00

Around 19,050 of the 25,000 overstayers had been registered with the embassy and fingerprints of 9,000 were collected as part of the repatriation process, which started last month, Wadhwa said. Omantribune

Judging from the faces of the people of Manpower Ministry and the police when they learned my nationality, probably I was the only European among those thousands people registering and going back
The thing is, that being an overstayer is not necessarily a crime or at least, it would be too simplistic to define it thus .
There is a story behind all those papers but it would take too long to explain, and in the end yes we broke the law [or we were forced to] .
I am grateful to the government of Oman to have given this opportunity to clear things [leaving without paying the fines] and at the same time it breaks my heart to see that I came here to build a life honestly and must go away like a thief with a ban of three years [allow me some drama at this point] but that's how it is .
Can't be changed .
What can be and must be changed is the corruption at low levels : the wasta, that must disappear from this country, the mentality of small people who think they can make a living by selling something that doesn't belong to them .
And this leads to a circle of crime and exploitation that never stops .
There were so many in people in Ruwi from Asian countries that one naturally wonders how they got there .
Who let them in ?
There must be a clean up also among governmental officers .
Somebody must take responsibility .
An overstayer is someone who broke the law but who brings with him an incredible amount of sufferance caused by another human being who abused his trust .
There's nothing that can repay him for the tears and the sleepless nights, but justice must be done .
The people of the Ministry and of the police are working very hard morning and evening, being kind to everybody . Of course all are under pressure and some moment of irritation every now and then happens, mainly due to the heat, but is just episodes .
Wish His Majesty was there among the overstayers, because after all they contributed to the making of this nation, but I think is too early for Arab countries to adopt the culture of inclusion of the foreigner .
It will probably come when Western lands will look at Arab Muslims with less suspicion .
All in all, it was a positive experience .
I grew up a lot lately and learned also that friendship is a big word .
If I had to mention my real friends today, I'd say a couple of Omani policemen, a person at my Embassy and a taxi driver, for the extraordinary moral support they gave .
The rest can remain on social networks .
There are people who are not even capable to utter a few words of consolation .
It was a good lesson .
May Allah have mercy on us all and bless the Sultanate of Oman, the most beautiful country on earth .

Walking away

2010-03-16T16:58:00.004+04:00

BUT THEN - bad event occured - I did the work - went looking for my money - GUESS WHAT... turns out I helped this guy for nothing... he doesn't have the money to pay me... and dont think I didn't believe him - I went to his bank and got a statement - s'true as bob - he cant pay me...Gatvol

Muscat is weird and wonderful - I love it. It's a place that has brought me lots of happiness and I hope it will continue to do so for many years to come. Muscat is nothing like the UK, America or anywhere else, it is unique and fantastic. A small place filled with culture and loveliness, people who are proud to be Omanis, people who love their country unconditionally. Eternally Distracted

These are the two faces of Oman : the bright and the dark .
Actually I'm more into the darkest .
It's not the first time but is the worst and I'm forced to leave .
I will always love this country where hope and sun never die and it was completely my fault if I trusted the wrong people, but I wish I knew why some characters [locals and expats] are allowed to live here even though they cheat and steal, while I must go back, giving up my hijira .

The policy of my blog is not to speak about unofficial news but this time I must admit i'm fed up of certain games .
Despite the block of new clearances and the out pass to normalise the work market, still you can find a free visa for a price that goes from 650 rials Omani to more than 1000 or you can buy an investor visa even if you don't touch the roof of the 150000 and of course you must pay at least 200 for a release or a family visa .
And if you're searching for an honest job like I'm doing, you won't find much not even for a slave salary .
This means that there is no balance between repressive and corrective measures .
Well, definitely everything happens for a reason .

On a personal note, I would like to thank Maj. Salem al Abrawi from CID, for having helped me out regardless of the fact that my case was not of any concern for his unit .
It's thanks to men like him, devout to duty and people, that in this country the sun will always shine, but we need more of his kind .

And a big thanks to Ettore Scalia for assisting me in the jungle of bureaucracy .
He is the best employee and most of all, human being, I ever met at the Italian Embassy in these years .

Ciao

Circumscribed

2010-03-12T20:25:00.003+04:00

The government placed some restrictions on privacy and freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, and religion.

The law provides for limited freedom of speech and of the press. The government generally abridged these rights in practice. Journalists and writers exercised self-censorship.

The law restricted free speech via the Internet, and the government enforced the restrictions.

The government limited academic freedom, particularly publishing on or discussing controversial matters such as domestic politics, through the threat of dismissal. Academics largely practiced self-censorship. There were no reported cases during the year in which the government dismissed an academic on these grounds.

There were isolated reports of corruption during the year. The ROP's Directorate General of Inquiries and Criminal Investigation is charged with investigating allegations of police abuse and turns its findings over to the Directorate General of Human Resources for disciplinary action. There was no public information about ROP internal disciplinary action.

The law provides for circumscribed freedom of assembly, and the government restricted the exercise of this right in practice. Prior government approval was necessary for all public gatherings. Authorities enforced this requirement, with rare exceptions.

The MERA monitored sermons at mosques to ensure imams did not discuss political topics or instigate religious hatred or divisions. The government expected all imams to preach sermons within the parameters of standardized texts the ministry distributed monthly. Imams may be suspended or dismissed for exceeding government boundaries. There were no reported suspensions or dismissals during the year. The government monitored, but did not attempt to control the content of sermons in non-Muslim places of worship.

The law criminalizes rape with penalties up to 15 years in prison, but it does not criminalize spousal rape. The government generally enforced the law when cases were reported, but cultural and societal influences may have prevented victims from reporting rape.

Allegations of spousal abuse in civil courts handling family law cases were reportedly common. Victims of domestic violence may file a complaint with police;

Despite legal and some social progress, including the appointment of women as ministers, ambassadors, and senior government officials, women continued to face discrimination. Aspects of Islamic law and tradition as interpreted in the country discriminated against women. The law favors male heirs in adjudicating inheritance.
state gov

Ammerigan reports remind me of the first and last, as of now, trans vaginal ultrasound I had few years back : the most painful thing one may experience and only the gynecologist knew what was going on down there .
They should provide the evidences for what they're saying because the way they put it, seems we're living in Guantanamo [which is their pride, speaking of human rights] .
One who reads the report, without knowing this country, its history, the reality of the capital and that of the rural areas, the religion, will hardly plan a vacation or a work term here .
I am not saying everything is perfect, but with the CNN and Fox News that are the government carpets and the abuses committed by American police, why throwing stones if you live in glass houses ?

Fat awa

2010-03-08T21:19:00.003+04:00

A second aspect I have examined is the justification that Muslim rulers in Arab countries or non-Muslims are not enforcing Islamic law so there is an obligation to fight against them. This is absolutely wrong. In no context is any organisation allowed to take up arms on their own and say we are defending Muslim land or we are avenging the aggression of non-Muslim powers. This is a matter for a state and its government. Thenation

There has been a good number of fatwas in the past years against terrorism and al Qaeda, specially from scholars of Saudi Arabia, old friend of Pakistan, but up to now they didn't get much space in the media while dr. ul Qadri was in the mainstream media of the West lately .
This proves that the situation is quite desperate .
I don't know how Karzai will introduce the 600 pages to his loyals but the problem is political : until they do not convince people that the governments of Yemen, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, are legitimate, there's no Hadith or Quranic verse that can help .
And in a Muslim nation the mufti is part of the state .

Meanwhile early morning I heard that Azzam al Amriki had been captured and sentenced to death, while now news have been denied .
Let's hope he reads the fatwa and sends a video .

Confidential blockings

2010-03-06T20:11:00.001+04:00

I am not much into internet lately because I must solve a personal problem, but I was reading about the blocking of the Dragon blog and didn't even have really time to read what he wrote lately on my feed .
My guess is that the culprit are a couple of gay lesbian posts .
We never got along as I do not like his blogging methods, but allow me to say this :

in an Islamic country where the horoscope is placed on the front page together with the prayer timings list, where the most exciting issue to discuss on Twitter is Nexus arrival or what one is having for breakfast, where it's not rare to see people dressed indecently, where rules on what's allowed to write and published is barely hinted and not clearly outlined, where the official press [apart rare cases] is reluctant to go into the details of real life problems, where the burden of providing information and ideas is entirely on bloggers . . .
. . .in other words, in a country where everything and its contrary can happen, can be said, done and seen, regardless of rules, what do you expect one to write about ?
There can be no right to block for the simple reason that there's no clear limit and we all go by instinct .
If the Minister of Information and the TRA set up a table with journalists and bloggers to discuss all these issues, then I can accept blocks and jail also .
But there has to be a precise directive for us, to rely on .

Holy jeans

2010-02-26T21:32:00.003+04:00

"Any Muslim in any part of the world who works with Switzerland is an apostate, is against Mohammad, God and the Koran,"
"The masses of Muslims must go to all airports in the Islamic world and prevent any Swiss plane landing, to all harbours and prevent any Swiss ships docking, inspect all shops and markets to stop any Swiss goods being sold." Telegraph

I was going to the port today but then I read that there's no ship built in the land of chocolate .
Muammar says this stuff in Benghazi .
I have my doubts he would in other places, because one might ask whether he has any money in the country of cows .
We'll see how this crusade goes .

MUSCAT // While most young women her age are expected to marry, raise children and obey their husbands, Nashwa al Kindy – the only known female Omani biker – prefers to zip down the motorway at high speeds.
“The man to marry me must accept who I am. Not many of them approve of a woman riding a bike with men. Ideally he should be a biker and share many of my interests and pursuits,” thenation

No man will accept you for who you are in the same way you won't do with him .
A relation is made of small compromises .
When I was young my heroine was Michelle Mercier with her magnifique Angelique and I wanted to marry a prince or a king .
I liked as well to wear jeans and T-shirt
Those are phases in life that can't be skipped .
Later one is forced to live reality .
I'm afraid that Arab Muslim countries are following European trends : women must be liberated and if one wants to dress "traditionally" or "Islamically", that is considered something to be ashamed of .
You are free to keep your jeans and jump on bikes, but leave me my veil and long dress please .

Fake names and fury

2010-02-23T21:48:00.004+04:00

Despite volumes of valid historical and geographical documents that prove authenticity of the name of Persian Gulf, some Arab regimes have tried to violate international norms in using fake names for the strategic waterway.

The Persian Gulf has a pivotal place in the Iranian history and culture, and any move to rename it will provoke the fury of the Iranian nation and government. Fars News Agency

My solution :
we cut the Gulf in two, half Arabian and half Persian and in the first half of the trip the display will show it as Arabian and the same for the second.
But then the Arabians will start fighting for the name .
Omani gulf, Emarati gulf, Bahraini gulf ...
So I think it's better to call it for six months as Arabian and the other six as Persian .
Also we may try a unified name like Persar or Arabpers but it would be difficult to find an agreement .

Deeply truly sorry Buddhist

2010-02-19T20:19:00.003+04:00

I was recently disappointed when Andre Agassi confessed that his hair and pony tail of the golden era, were just part of an arranged wig or extension .
The reason why I was upset is that his image was part of his success : his type of tennis was not my cup of tea but he was a successful teen, something in between a pop star and an athlete .
In the same way McEnroe shouts were part of the package but the main course was his tennis : simply divine .
And I was not happy to know that Ron Dennis is a little bit racist according to the pilot of an airplane who had a dispute with him, but didn't make much of a difference to me because that's why I adore him : his pugnacious personality helped him to build his success in good and bad .
And how to forget the good old times when Paulo Roberto Falcao was accused of being gay because his friend Pato was always with him and at the same time he was having a relationship with a married woman in Roma ?

So tonite we know that Wooden Cube is sorry for what happened and bla bla .
And also that all this mess took place because he didn't observe Buddhist teachings .
And his wife didn't beat him because domestic violence was never part of their menage .
That was probably the only decent part of the story because that's how a woman should react when her man cheats her .
But anyway what happens between them is strictly private, which is why he felt the need to hold a press conference followed by all major news networks .
I mean : did we need it ?

Caring

2010-02-15T19:19:00.003+04:00

That's all this blind man cares about?! I expected him to encourage MOH to care for the poor patients who lose thier lives due to mistakes and recklessness. I guess massage pose a greater danger!!! Arabnews

Curious about how the Mufti knows about possible fishy activities taking places in some health centers .
And after all, he did his job, which is being concerned about people virtues . Am sure he cares also about poor patients but no one is ever happy with what one in his position says or does .

Interesting initiative of Arabnews : opening to comments and enabling the sharing of the article will enhance the circulation of ideas .
Hope also Omani newspapers will follow .
They are losing grounds behind Tweets and blogs .

Reciprocity

2010-02-15T19:15:00.002+04:00

Italy's foreign ministry confirmed the measure and said it was in retaliation for Switzerland's recent decision to publish a blacklist of 180 Libyans banned from entering the country. Reuters

I agree with the principle, but should be done only on Swiss citizens .
And of course the Brits are always the lucky ones ...

Oranges and apples

2010-02-09T20:30:00.000+04:00

Despite the usual virginal attire and her army of priests, Yulia couldn't do it .
Analysts and commentators are wondering on the failure of the orange revolution and the defeat of Putin's candidate .
In reality a revolution, specially if controlled from the outside, can't bring anything new but in this case it served the purpose to create the environment for a better future .
It will take several years before Ukraine can go back on track .
And the blonde lady was not Putin's candidate because she's sneaky as a woman can be, in the same way Yanukovich is not pro-West or pro-Kremlin .
Nowadays ex-USSR countries need to find a balance .
History can't be cancelled and definitely Ukraine is still part of Russia but must find its way in the world .

Prayers

2010-02-09T20:17:00.002+04:00

It is with the deepest regret and sadness to advise that my Prince, my life partner, the love of my life, Abdullah, passed away in the early hours on 08 February in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Noone fought harder than him in his battle against a very aggressive leukemia. However I now know where he is, Who he is with, and that he is no longer in pain. American Bedu

As I am a dreamer, I was fascinated by their love story .
But life is a mix of tears and smiles which is what makes it such a great gift from God .
May Allah have mercy on his soul and make it easy on Carol, a great courageous woman .

Confidence

2010-02-09T20:03:00.004+04:00

Majorities in six of the eight predominantly Muslim
publics included in the study express confidence in Saudi King
Abdullah to do the right thing in world affairs. However, while
support for the Saudi leader remains high, confidence levels have
slipped since 2007 – with the greatest decline found in Lebanon.
Moreover, Abdullah provokes a sharp divergence of opinion
between many of the religious groups in the countries surveyed. pew research center

Saudi newspapers are celebrating with fireworks without presenting the paper as evidence .
Given the high scores obtained by King Abdullah in American protectorates and the related decline of Shia leaders and OBL, I have my doubts on the genuinity of the survey .
Indeed people are tired of violence but that's not enough to declare him as leader of Islamic nations .
He didn't bring many results . Saudis have the feet in too many shoes and that's their limit .
Arab countries need a more balanced leadership which is not dependant on Anglo-Americans and NATO .
Sultan Qaboos is the only who can try a solid mediation for the end of the conflicts in the M.E.
It's about time for him to come back on the front line .

Stunned after tomorrow

2010-02-09T13:47:00.003+04:00

"The Iranian nation, with its unity and God's grace, will punch the arrogance [Western powers] on the 22nd of Bahman [Feb. 11] in a way that will leave them stunned," washingtontimes

Must be some fireworks .
We are in the East so we're gonna miss the surprise .

We value greatly our friendly relations with the Sultanate of Oman. On the agenda now is the question of expanding mutually advantageous cooperation in the trade and economic and energy sectors. We are also interested in building up our cooperation on regional security issues, including the joint fight against piracy at sea. kremlin

Oman-Russia : that would be the alternative to patriots and to American spreading carpets Gulf puppies .
They share very close views on politics and both reject interference in other countries internal affairs .
That will be a couple which would open the doors to a multi polar world .

Patriotically

2010-02-02T16:59:00.000+04:00

The U.S. announcement of the defensive measures therefore has three audiences: Iran, Israel and the American public. Israel and Iran obviously know all about American efforts, meaning the key audience is the American public.George Friedman

Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, secretary general, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Sultanate’s position on such matters is fixed and that it does not accept bids from anyone or enter into alliances or axis against any state.

Al Busaidi also stressed that the country does not allow its territory to be used to carry out any military operations against any country in the region. Timesofoman

A missile defense system is, in American language, a declaration of wanted war, so Sayyid Badr statement is technically correct for whatever developments there will be in the future .

Maybe Iran has built the biggest bomb of all times, but as of now, we don't have enough data to be certain of this .
The reason why all major networks broadcasted Tony Blair hearing last Friday for more than six hours and many of us were in front of the TV to watch it, is that we don't want for any reason whatsoever, to see the repetition of the history of the last twenty years and more, in the near future .
If there must be a war, it has to be on solid grounds, without lies and approximations .
If a terrorist threat is detected in al Qaeda locally, that must happen since the beginning, that is for example, since when President Saleh created it as his own army, and not just today .

It's about time for American governments to understand, that if they need gas for their European friends, then they can go to Tehran and negotiate to buy it .
If they think that countries like China and Iran are a threat to international security, they can open a serious dialogue with them, not like what they've done til now .
If the Saudis think that their oil production monopoly can be broken like it happened recently by Russia, and as forecasted, in the near future by Iraq and Venezuela, they must be brave enough to work with their own resources, without sending jihadis to destabilize the Northern Caucasus and destroy Iraqi oil fields .
If they know that Iranians are plotting to break their leadership in the region through small wars, they must find orthodox ways to reaffirm their dominion over Shia governments .

In other words, we need credible people and not puppets who destroy regions and later become special envoys to them, earn hundreds of thousands of dollars for legal advices or participation to seminars, and risk to be elected at the presidency of the EU .

The Sultanate is trying to mediate not only because in need of Iran commercial partnership, but because understood that the time of modern colonialism has come to an end and the tactics of divide&rule are not giving results anymore .
The other Gulf states seem to stick to the old mentality of their own little games for power .
They miss a long term vision, which today Sultan Qaboos alone, has : a nation can serve its people and empower them, only if the government is strong and independent enough .

Mickey Mouse goes to Israel

2010-02-02T13:10:00.004+04:00

The Italian leader brought seven cabinet ministers along on the trip to underline the importance of bilateral ties.

"This shows that we consider Israel one of the European countries, and you, Benjamin, you know - because I told you years ago and reiterated in our meeting in Cernobbio near Lake Como - that as long as I am one of the shapers of politics, my greatest dream is to include Israel among the European Union countries," Mr Berlusconi said at a welcoming ceremony with his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The Italian premier said Italy and Israel have an affinity because of their place in history: "We are here to show our recognition and our pride in the fact that we are part of a Judeo-Christian culture that is the basis for European culture." EUObserver

When he goes to the M.E., he'll say something similar about the Arab Muslim culture .

Silvio can sell camels to the bedouins, but for the time being he lost my vote .

And by the way he is the only to believe to be a shaper of politics .

Holy beefs

2010-01-31T14:08:00.004+04:00

In remarks at Georgetown Law School on Jan. 21, Petraeus said the U.S. now has eight Patriot missile batteries stationed in the Gulf region - two each in four countries. He did not name the countries, but Kuwait has long been known to have Patriots on its territory.
A military official said Saturday that the three other countries are the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain - which also hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet headquarters - and Qatar, home to a modernized U.S. air operations center that has played a key role in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Ap

When the issue is about spreading carpets to Americans against Persians to defend Israel, the guesses on those that are in a list of four, are quite restricted .
Also the Gulf deserves to have a Poland .

Osama goes green, Tony Bee goes

2010-01-29T20:20:00.001+04:00

Friday

2pm Tony enters the room
He's well dressed and tanned
He seems self confident
Starts a sermon on the change of risk assessment after 9 11
He says that they killed 3000 but could have been 30000
Am wondering what if 3 but Tony doesn't catch me
My pasta Barilla is divine
Time for nap

5pm Tony still there, now stuck on the 2nd UN resolution that didn't come
Third world countries were undecided, France and Russia made a wall, the Arabs wanted to get rid of Saddam
It was clear to him and Jack [Straw] that Saddam was going wild
I love Caramel Twix
Time to finish some documents

8pm Tony almost lost his voice while explaining how they didn't find things how they were supposed to be in Iraq
He's pontificating on Iranians faults, maybe thinking of next strike
He's lecturing on sectarian divisions : Sunni, Shia, Kurds
Way too many people
I don't have time to cook
Grissini should be fine

Meanwhile coupla nights ago Obama said he won't quit
Osama sent another message pointing fingers against Ammeriga for climate change
Millivanilli was enthusiast at London conference : they will cut debt, shower Hamid with money, organise a Facebook group for the Talibans who want to switch sides
While standing for the final picture, Arab foreign ministers [Alawi included] had a "what am I doing here" expression
Hillary said she won't stay for 8 years with Obama
Apparently he eats too much onion

All well that ends well

Not coming

2010-01-28T13:45:00.001+04:00

At the Family Bookshop

Balqis : Salam alaikum

Bearded man : Walaikum salam

Balqis : I am searching for Sheikh Mohammad al Arifi book English translation, they translated only one in English

Bearded man [as if she had asked for Bin Laden list of concubines] : Sheikh al Arifi not coming here

Balqis : don't you know if in the future maybe ...

Bearded man [with a "do not insist" look] : not coming here

Lessons of the day :

The Brad Pitt of the Sheikhdom is unlikely to visit Oman any time soon

Do not ever investigate further on different lines of thought, other than your sect/madhab

Do not ever smile when you talk with a brother/sister

From Obama to Obama [how does it feel to be on your own like a complete unknown]

2010-01-24T20:49:00.005+04:00

The message I want to convey to you through the plane of the hero Omar Farouk [Abdulmutallab], reaffirms a previous message that the heroes of 9/11 conveyed to you, Osama TV

The fact that Ussama or who organized this hoax, compares the idiots of 9/11 to the panties boy, that says it all .
Al Jizz journalists today are excited like children when they get their gifts under the Christmas tree : this is the first time the ghost sends the message to TV first .
Last but not least, our hero calls for a free Palestine : not even A. R. Rahman fans would leave a concert to listen to his crap .
By coincidence of course, the message comes four days before London conference on Afghanistan .
I have the feeling that Panetta boys are screwing around ...

Past two in the morning, a statuesque dancer emerges for the grand finale. Dressed in a red rhinestone bra and panties, with a black shimmy belt and an ostrich-feather crown, she gyrates her hips as Omar watches, mesmerized.

"Thank God my father doesn't run the world," Omar says, grinning.

Rolling Stone

Religious restrictions for the other half of the moon

2010-01-23T20:46:00.002+04:00

Now a few words about fraud and references to the internet. Half of what is displayed on the internet is porno! Why quote the internet? If you have evidence, take it to court. VeeVee

The most recent situation involving Google has attracted a great deal of interest. And we look to the Chinese authorities to conduct a thorough review of the cyber intrusions that led Google to make its announcement. And we also look for that investigation and its results to be transparent.

The internet has already been a source of tremendous progress in China, and it is fabulous. There are so many people in China now online. But countries that restrict free access to information or violate the basic rights of internet users risk walling themselves off from the progress of the next century. Now, the United States and China have different views on this issue, and we intend to address those differences candidly and consistently in the context of our positive, cooperative, and comprehensive relationship.

Now, ultimately, this issue isn’t just about information freedom; it is about what kind of world we want and what kind of world we will inhabit. It’s about whether we live on a planet with one internet, one global community, and a common body of knowledge that benefits and unites us all, or a fragmented planet in which access to information and opportunity is dependent on where you live and the whims of censors.

Some nations, however, have co-opted the internet as a tool to target and silence people of faith. Last year, for example, in Saudi Arabia, a man spent months in prison for blogging about Christianity. And a Harvard study found that the Saudi Government blocked many web pages about Hinduism, Judaism, Christianity, and even Islam. Countries including Vietnam and China employed similar tactics to restrict access to religious information.

And last Friday in Egypt, 30 bloggers and activists were detained.
Hillary

The Russian Prime Minister is known for his colourful expressions and his dislike for the amenities of modern times like internet . He can be a funny chap at times, just misunderstod .
I am not sure how he calculated the exact ratio but I gather he is happy with his domain because it belongs to the other half .
Apart some pictures here and there of him bare chested or engaging in sexy judo moves, his website is pretty decent .

Obama and Hillary finally understood that without invading a country or raising voice selectively on human rights, Ammeriga won't be remembered in history .
Why only China went mad after her statements and not Egypt and Saudi Arabia [not publicly at least] ?
Because Chinese have no deal with the United States : there's no meeting of bloggers or scholarship sponsored by the State Department, no students exchange, no think tank affiliated to governmental institutions, no oil sale, no proxy war .
There's no way Americans can keep China under control .
On the other hand USA are highly indebted with China that is now selling its quota of treasury bonds and Hillary has no other thing to do than barking at the moon [the other half] .

Part-time grata

2010-01-20T18:57:00.001+04:00

KUWAIT: In the first official statement on the issue of Saudi cleric Mohammad Abdulrahman Al-Uraifi one week after it flared up, Interior Minister Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah said Uraifi can enter Kuwait as a person but not as a preacher.
Uraifi can enter Kuwait as a Gulf citizen who does not require a visa, but not as a preacher" the minister told reporters outside the assembly. Kuwaittimes

"The best of you are the ones who learn the Qur'aan and teach it to others"
Saheeh Al-Bukhaaree #5027

On the authority of Abu Saeed Al-Khurdari, who said: I heard the messenger of Allah say: "Whosoever of you sees an evil action, let him change it with his hand; and if he is not able to do so, then with his tongue; and if he is not able to do so, then with his heart; and that is the weakest of faith." Related by Muslim.

A Muslim can never separate his religious inclinations from his life because they are the same .

If Sheikh al Areefi is in a shopping mall, in the street or in a office in Kuwait and sees a child disrespecting his mother, a Muslim woman not properly dressed or a husband abusing his wife , he must do everything in his power to correct them, otherwise he will have neglected his duty .
Of course in order to do so, he must explain why they're mistaken and for this he must use sources from the Quran and the Sunnah .
In other words, he will have to preach .
This is valid not only for a scholar but for each one of us .

The decision is hilarious to say the least, but at this point they couldn't do better .
All this has happened because Kuwait has somehow interfered in another country's affairs .
This is a dangerous attitude that Arabs are learning from their Western friends and in this case involves sectarianism .
Hope it will remain an isolated case .

I believe that the Saudi religious authorities very well knew about the subject of the sermon .
The Sheikh clearly gives a look every now and then at a paper in which probably he sketched out the main topics of his discourse .
The khutba was held in the first half of December, a period in which Saudi troops were affected by heavy losses on the ground and it was about time to give a strong signal to all those involved .
Shia religious hierarchies are part of this chess game .
The attack to the Iraqi Ayatollah was not a coincidence and was the right move to make.
If Yemen falls in the hands of the rebels, and this is likely to happen if the Persians and the Iraqis don't mind their own business, the destiny of the Gulf becomes a great question mark .
The protest of the Kuwaitis came by accident [or maybe not but it was not planned] and became just the cherry on the cake .

Beekepers

2010-01-20T18:42:00.000+04:00

I tend to spend most evenings reading apiarist manuals and commenting on beekeeping forums on the net, to the detriment of our sex life. I am interested in sex, but at this point I am more interested in bees. Is this kind of relationship normal? How can I bring my partner round to enjoying my interest in beekeeping with me? Dear Mariella

We spent a wonderful time together and visited places like the pyramids, the national museum, markets, deserts and so on. In that time we really felt that we belong together and that we wanted to spent one life in future. Future husbands and wives of Saudis

It's always like that .
You fall in love with a guy, exchange sms, emails, gifts, walk with him on the beach .
Then after you convince him to marry you, he prefers bees to you .

Sagas

2010-01-18T20:56:00.008+04:00

A security source however told Kuwait Times that Areefi was never officially banned from entering Kuwait and his name was never
placed on the black list, adding that all the reactions and statements issued by MPss and activists were totally unfounded. Kuwait Times

Improvisation here is the crux of the matter. In my opinion, if he had written the sermon he would have reconsidered what he was about to say, especially as he knows that Sistanii is an important figure and a Marja to the Shiaa communities inside and outside of Saudi Arabia aawsat

Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia Sheikh Abdulaziz Aal al-Sheikh stressed that those delivering Friday sermons should take into account the intellectual level of worshippers.
"The educated and the ignorant come together to the mosque…and they have different capabilities with regards to comprehending [complex issues]. Everybody should leave the mosque with a [positive] result." Islamonline

As I understand it, the Saudis are a bunch of ignorants and Sheikh Mohammad is a warmonger .
Both conclusions are false, and the fact that he enraged Saudi clerics hierarchies together with Shias, proves that he is one of a kind .

Being my Arabic still on the moon, I can give an opinion on this issue based on translated talks which are available on YouTube .
Sheikh al Areefi is a man blessed with great knowledge and critical mind .
He doesn't spend his time pontificating from a cave .
Well known in the Arab world as well as abroad, he's often outside, talking with people because that's the strength of Islam : it's a religion that lives through human beings .
I'm very sceptical on the reports about this specific sermon because it's not his habit to speak to people "improvising" .
No scholar of his level would do that, since people of knowledge are men of substance making use of the proper approach .
If he called Muslims of the Shia sect back to the ways of the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, that was just his duty .
Raising critics towards the Iraqi Ayatollah, that would be unusual, I agree, because he's considered an untouchable since he helped a lot before and during the elections .
It's a fact though, that if the Gulf region is striving to find political stability is primarily due to sectarianism pushed to extreme by religious leaders .
Time has come for the untouchables to be called to their responsibilities .
The Kuwaitis used Sheikh Mohammed, who is often described as controversial because he has this strange attitude to speak directly and truthfully about problems, for their internal disputes and to reinforce the idea of Shia political leadership in the M.E .
I wouldn't raise the flag so easily if I were them, because assuming they are united on religious issues, their political views on governance are very different .
They can also win their proxy wars in Yemen, Lebanon or other places, but then they must decide which model of government they want to apply and I am not sure it will be so easy .

Update : finally found the famous sermon and I am still convinced of what I wrote .
For those who are not familiar with Islam from inside or with the politics of the M.E., the speech will sound tough and rough, but it's quite a picture of our reality .
I don't think he exaggerated .
The problem is political .
I don't think the sermon was truly improvised .
It served the purpose ...
link

Wars

2010-01-16T17:37:00.000+04:00

“If any party insists on aggression, or invading the country or carrying out military or security intervention, then jihad becomes obligatory according to Islam,” said a statement signed by 150 clerics, announced at a meeting of dozens of prominent religious leaders. Thenational

Sheikh al Zindani is one of those elements that makes the job of Memri much easier.
He shouts a lot but he's not such a danger .
Americans are striving to find a new Bin Laden, simply because Islam is truly a religion of peace and regions where Muslims are causing troubles are places where the central government is having its share of blame for not having a peaceful relation with its citizens .

This new campaign in Yemen seems another hoax serving the aim to strengthen Obama's image and to let us think that London conference will be something meaningful .
If the purpose is a proxy war with Iran to force them to give their gas to the Europeans for Nabucco, the meeting held few days ago, between Alexander Medvedev, Gazprom vice-president, and Hossein Shirazi, Iranian deputy petroleum minister, to discuss a "road map of cooperation in energy sector", should ring an alarm bell .

There are actually three fronts of war in Yemen : the Houtis in the north, al Qaeda [which was created by president Saleh himself and has nothing to do with the original in Afghanistan] here and there, and the separatists in the South .
They are all running their battles against Saleh but separately .
Once America decides to step in permanently, they will unite and that will put in danger the entire region .
Hopefully Obama advisers know that .

"We emphasised the necessity of adopting a solution to end the crisis. If it continues, it will bring not only instability for Yemen but influence the whole region," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told reporters after talks with his Omani counterpart Youssef bin Alawi.
"We insist on finding a solution to the crisis in Yemen, a solution that is based on negotiations," he added. Reuters
"We believe that the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman should be free seas for international sailing and no change should take place in there and they should not turn into a place ruled by parading fleets of warships," "Iran can act as the strategic economic point in the region," Alawi said. farsinews

A statement in Tehran has the value of a statement that remains in the land where it was released .
But in this moment the Sultanate, is in the position to accomplish a mediation that can change the curse of history and H.M. private visit to UAE and Kuwait few weeks ago, must be read in this perspective .
Being not a country so rich of oil and gas, it can gain power on regional and world platforms, from pure politics .
It's a chance not to miss .

It is high time we took advantage of the memorandum of understanding we signed with Russia which requires cooperation in the use of nuclear energy. Omantribune

Some weeks ago we were all taken by surprise by the billionaire deal finalised between UAE and South Korea .
Maybe they are also leaders in the nuclear field, but they were primarily chosen because they will not exercise any pressure on the Emarati political choices at internal and international level .
This is the road for Gulf countries .
Russia can be a reliable partner because its main concern is just to keep its "privileged sphere of influence" on the ex-USSR countries, but Oman is not in a hurry .
A nuclear deal must be accomplished, studying all its pros and cons .

Swine Scams

2010-01-14T23:28:00.001+04:00

These estimates suggest that an autumn–winter pandemic wave of pH1N1 with comparable severity per case could lead to a number of deaths in the range from considerably below that associated with seasonal influenza to slightly higher, but with the greatest impact in children aged 0–4 and adults 18–64. These estimates of impact depend on assumptions about total incidence of infection and would be larger if incidence of symptomatic infection were higher or shifted toward adults, if viral virulence increased, or if suboptimal treatment resulted from stress on the health care system; numbers would decrease if the total proportion of the population symptomatically infected were lower than assumed. PLoS

''False pandemics: a threat to health'' will be one of the major themes of the session. Council of Europe

The U.S., U.K. and Germany are among nations seeking to cut orders of pandemic vaccine from companies including London-based GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Paris-based Sanofi-Aventis SA and Basel, Switzerland-based Novartis AG because of overestimated demand. Bloomberg

When Margaret Chan declared the status of pandemia, I said to myself : "here we go, this is mine" .
I never miss a disgrace, but I just had my usual neck pain, sinus inflammation and a gastroenteritis that I will remember for the rest of my life .
If I don't catch a disease, that means is a hoax .
But I knew for experience : pharmaceutical world is dirty .
Well here in the Gulf it's not a problem to pay these industries because it's well known that we swim in gas and oil [my personal thanks to the Omani Ministry of health for fixing the price of Lipostat on 50 Euros when in Europe it's less than 10, and for not allowing other brands or generics to enter the market] .
But for other countries the bill might be a serious issue .
So my solution is this :
send the surplus to China .
The Chinese population is huge so am sure they still need vaccines, plus with media censorship they don't know they're being cheated .
If we promise to the Chinese government not to bother them with the human rights thing, they will accept .

"It is absolutely unacceptable to kill these highly sensitive, helpless animals for such a useless experiment," said Johanna Stadler, director of the Vier Pfoten animal rights group.
The experiment under the leadership of university clinic for anaesthesia in Innsbruck involves burying 29 pigs over two weeks, broadcaster ORF reported. Some animals are fully covered in snow, while others are buried to their neck. iol

Had never thought of a pig as a sensible animal, but it might be .
Yea I agree is cruel, but somebody is needed for the job .
I wouldn't define it useless .

The prince and the pauper

2010-01-12T20:15:00.000+04:00

The riots also shone a bright light on a side of the country rarely seen in tourist itineraries. On Sunday, the authorities began bulldozing the makeshift encampments outside Rosarno where hundreds of immigrants live in what human rights groups describe as subhuman conditions. They are often paid less than $30 a day picking fruit, a job that many Italians see as beneath them. Organized crime syndicates are known to have a strong grip on every level of the Calabrian economy.
The workers live in “semi-slavery,” added Mr. Di Giacomo, who said, “It’s shameful that this is happening in the heart of Italy.” NYTimes

Few weeks ago I was listening to Naleni reports about the increased police checks in Ruwi .
These new specialised corps apparently enter the houses pushing down the doors as if they were looking for al Awlaki [see how I am trendy ? OBL is just history nowadays] .
She said : "They say Qaboos ordered this, because this year is forty ...".
"No" I explained with a devilish smile, "it's the Americans . They say they will not do business with Arabs if they're not good with foreign workers ."
Naleni was not very convinced by my explanation and how to blame her ?
Thinking about it now, the whole FTA ordeal was just another evidence that America is your friend only if you obey to their orders .

As if making fun of Dubai tower was not enough, now the talk of the week is the verdict on the affair of the Emarati Sheikh .
The whole world is shocked by the unfair outcome .
The entire region is amazed by this injustice .
Oman is wondering how this could happen .
Not even Saleh al Sheibany with all his harem of widows, witches and second wives, enraged people this way .

And what happened ?
We all watched the video : an Emarati prince, a member of the Royal family, abused with extreme violence an Afghan guy .
The court found him not guilty because accepted his reasons that is, he was under the effect of drugs and the video should not have been shot in the first place .
In an interview the abused chap declared that he had pardoned the Sheikh and the issue was closed for him .
All well that ends well ?
No .
The coverage of the event made the headlines of the most important media around the world .
According to the journalists and the activists of the rights of the humans, the trial was a farce and the verdict was a fake .
It's a possibility .
I never give judgements on events I haven't witnessed by myself but the point is, that I can't understand the shock .
I think that injustice exists since the man came on earth . It's part of life .
I honestly don't understand the fury of the Western media .
Didn't they ever witness injustice in European or American courts or is it just in Boston legal that Alan Shore can sell smoke to the jury ?
Doesn't slavery exist in the West ?
Why do their pens wake up only when Hannibal al Ghadafi and his wife beat their housemaid in Swiss ?
Why are they shocked when Filipino girls are kept like slaves in a German hotel by some Emarati princess in vacation ?

I am not defending the Emarati Sheikh, but I cannot stand hypocrisy and double standards .
Truth is that values can't be imposed .
Trade unions, the fight against human trafficking, compassion toward foreign worker, do not grow on trees .
There are parts of cultures which are good and some that are bad and must be cut away .
Islam came to abolish slavery and to remind to people that we are all equal in front of God and it's part of Arab tradition .
An FTA is just an agreement to boost business, no more no less .

The world is on fire

2010-01-07T18:12:00.001+04:00

Oh, Yemen is next to Oman!!! …Quick question - WHERE’S OMAN? I know that the Yemen thing complicates the war on terror, but on the plus side, getting attacked is really the only way we Americans learn about world geography. The daily show

The positive side of this war is that finally people will know where Oman is, but I don't think Obama will move his target here .
Yankistanis are like dogs when they pee : they do it to establish their territory and they keep it for a looong time .

When my auntie, a retired teacher of history and literature, didn't have time to prepare the subject for the test at the end of the semester, she gave the one I used for the title .
She said that there's always a war around the world, so she surely was on the safe corner .
The first I came to Oman in 2001, it happened by accident .
I was fascinated by the Arab world and I was close to convert so I wanted to visit a country which fully represented its history and culture and Yemen was the perfect one .
But the travel agency required a group of four people due to its dangerousness and of course no one wanted to join me in one of crazy adventures, so I don't remember for which reason, I pointed the finger on Oman on the map and there I went .
My parents were still disappointed though, because of the war in Afghanistan .
I remember my dad begging me not to go while watching images on TV, but the only way to push me toward something is to ask me exactly for the opposite .

I've been browsing the net in search of which treasure Americans are after, this time, because it's clear by now that it's not out of bounty that they start a battle, and not because it's really needed .
But I found what more or less I already knew, that is rich of gas mainly and oil as well .
To be honest I don't think that this time, energy is the only purpose to create a monster, rather a series of issues :
Obama didn't achieve much .
His image is weak at home and outside, after the health reform and the disasters with China and Russia .
He needs a war but given that also kids know that a country can't be militarily active on three fronts, he chose a small war [at least he thinks it's like that] .
Of course the oil remains the main reason, but in this case we're talking about that of the Saudis .
With all their reforms and mixed genders universities, there's still discontent among the population and the oppressed Shia minority can become a serious threat if backed by Yemeni rebels .
An American intervention is also a signal to Iran, whose presence among Yemeni fighters is not a secret . Waiting for the Iranian regime collapse, which following the news might be behind the corner, it's good to keep an eye to its citizens abroad for holidays .

I suspect Obama advisers suggested this move because they think that a war in Yemen can be successful and very quickly .
It is not like that because as always they miss the point, which is the tribal reality .
We've seen this in Afghanistan and Pakistan . The main problem is to understand mentality and alliances and to gain consensus, not giving them money to buy their loyalty like planned in the budget for the war in Afghanistan, but making them protagonists .
Karzai very well expressed this in an interview to Al Jazeera a couple of days ago, launching an appeal to American forces to stop useless battles and killing of civilians .
They need the approval of the population .
These words also make clear that the era of the puppet dictators like Musharraf, who take money and keep control with the army, has finished, because locals for one have understood that these methods do not solve issues, just raise tensions and keep foreign forces in place for at least 10-15 years, blocking any hope to create a real democracy and to boost economy .
Yemenis too start to suspect that this war won't take a short period of time to end and in fact they almost uncovered the lie .
Members of the government in an interview said that their problem is more of an internal fight than a terrorist threat .

It seems that a world without a leadership can't survive .
So who's gonna replace Ammeriga ?

Libido

2010-01-05T07:22:00.005+04:00

“Far from the truth… most men with two wives do that because their first one turned the house into sheer hell,” Mr Kindy said. “At my age, I want peace of mind and not constant nagging all day long. The home of my second wife is an escape route when the first wife starts to blow the roof.” thenational

I never understood exactly what men wants, which is why I'm a spinster [other than the fact I usually attract only weirdos].
But one thing I learned : usually when a man falls in love, he just sees a nice woman and that's it .
He lets events unfold .
When we fall in love, our brain gives immediately birth to a plan, a long term project :
man is our burj, our tallest tower.
We fall for a man and want him for what he is, but being marriage our main goal, we must reduce the collateral damages, that is his negative sides .
So after some time, we want to change him and later we tell him that he's changed : he is not the man we used to love .
Of course he will be puzzled about all these mood swings and after some time fed up .

I remember time ago I was talking with my dad on the phone and the topic was dinner .
He said : "do you think I, in my own kitchen, in my own house, am free to prepare a simple salad ?"
Mum gets mad because he spreads water here and there while doing it, so she prepares it for him and he doesn't like the final result of course .
She loves talking to everybody, in every moment of the day, from the dog to the postman .
One day she came to me and my sister exclaiming :"Your father's gone mad, he's wearing ear plugs "
I think she understood she had passed the limit but she was more concerned about my dad's behaviour .
Like every woman, she refuses to admit her faults .

I don't think sex is the main reason to go for a second wife, specially here in Oman, but as mr. al Kindy put it, the issue is another .
A young wife is nicer and more patient : new generations have learned the lesson from their parents .
They know how to obtain things without making a fuss .
She too will become a monster in twenty years time, but by then, her first husband will be old like a monument or gone forever .

Names

2010-01-04T20:25:00.000+04:00

So apparently now it will be called Burj Khalifa .
It's only the beginning ...

One by one

2010-01-03T23:25:00.003+04:00

Omar Bin Laden told Asharq Al-Awsat Friday that he believed that his siblings would return from Iran soon, one by one, rather than all at once, and "they will return to the embrace of the homeland, under the banner of the just and honourable [Saudi] government, believing in the holy [Quranic] verse 'No bearer of burden shall bear the burden of another' [Surat al-Anaam, Verse 164] which is the best well of comfort for them with regards to integrating with the community with their family and relatives."
aawsat

So the rumour that Saad, the apparent heir, had been killed, was false .
If they go back all together, they might get a discount .
Apart the DSL, they seem to live in paradise. I'd stay there if I was in their shoes .

For his part, 29-year old Omar Bin Laden, the fourth son of Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden, spoke of his hope that the Saudi government would intervene on behalf of his siblings in order to secure their release to Saudi Arabia.

Yes, via Yemen ...

Happy endings

2009-12-31T11:50:00.002+04:00

While Obama was completing his public show against security flaws, my mind went back in time when a member of Italian military security corps, a Carabineer, was given 48 hours punishment by his superior, after having been an entire day on the road to protect us, for having used a razor to shave himself .
Electrical devices were prohibited in the barracks . Not sure they still have this rule .
Different countries, different problems .

So the Gregorian year is closing with a shy boy who, like the majority of those of his age, was a member of forums and social networks because he had issues in relating himself to the world, and had his panties full of explosives .
The most immediate consequences of his act are the body scanner in airports and raids on Yemen .
Since it was unexpected, it will take time to take these measures, most of my readers will think .
No .
Amsterdam proudly has already a machine where each single little fat roll on your tummy can be examined and the NYTimes, couple of days ago, came up with the news that the CIA sent its agents to train Yemeni officers one year ago, the Pentagon is about to invest about 70 million $ in the next 18 months over this war and Bee Tray Us paid a secret visit to Yemen few months ago .
We were knowing all this but paid little attention, the average reader will think .
No .
Unless you're madly in love with world politics like me and check every now and then al Jizz, imPress TV, Yemeni online news and blogs, there was not a single line about this corner of the world becoming all of a sudden Yemenistan .
You might have caught news that the Saudis are rejecting intruders from Yemen, while in reality they're killing thousands of civilians with obviously no concrete result, which perfectly makes sense since the enemies are terrorists and the Kingdom spends billions on arms purchased from America and Russia .
Til few days ago the world was a paradise then we woke up and it turns out that a shy Nigerian boy who was perfectly normal according to Emirati authorities and Dubai university headmaster, where he was studying, and to his Yemeni mates, is a dangerous guy trained by al Qaeda .
To make it complete, he apparently was in contact with that same Awlaki who was the spiritual adviser of the Fort Hood shooter and his father had several times alerted the American Embassy on his son peaceful tendencies .
Does all this story sound credible ?
One thing I can say : if you take a look at the picture of the Yemeni Bin Ladens [back from Guantanamo], they definitely do not have the same charisma of their mentors, so the man of the Nobel will need something stronger in the future to convince us .
In the meanwhile let's go and reduce Yemeni population and reshape Yemeni borders .
It's long time I am saying that the only way to keep this problem under control and avoid foreign interferences, was to welcome Yemen officially in the GCC .
Now it's too late .

Speaking about safe heavens, we're all witnessing these days the demonstrations against Iranian government .
Nejad starts to be a little nervous about it, so he organised a counterdemonstration of his supporters and promised that all those who go against the government, will be killed, for a change .
The UN, which is always aware of what is going on in the world, said that they're shocked about the violence .
Not clear where Moussavi and Karroubi are .
State agencies says they escaped and their relatives says they're still in .
The new Gregorian year will tell .

Balanced punch

2009-12-29T18:05:00.002+04:00

"The lowly and downgrading remarks by some foreign officials show the black stain on their record in their... contradictory interactions."
"They should not pin their hopes on them. Britain will receive a punch on the mouth if it does not stop its nonsense. BBC

This is a man .

"It was the balance of forces -- including missile defense, air defense and offensive weapons systems -- that preserved peace even during the Cold War," CNN

It's logical .
A defense missile system without arms on the other side, is a waste of money .

On fire again in an abundance of caution

2009-12-28T20:15:00.006+04:00

“I got to know him as a racing driver and, even then, I always had every confidence in him. He knows exactly what he's doing and he knows as well that I'm always supporting him. Michael simply needs challenges - that's just the way he is. I can really understand his decision and, to be honest, I actually think its great!” crashnet

“A passenger on today’s Northwest flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit spent an unusually long time in the aircraft lavatory,” she said in the statement. “Due to this unusual behavior, the airline notified T.S.A. and the agency directed the flight to taxi to a remote area upon landing to be met by law enforcement and D.H.S. NYTimes

I remember time ago, on a stop in Dubai, they gave me a shawarma which had odd effects on my intestines .
I didn't stay long time but approached frequently the place .
Since then, I just just eat bread, crackers or chocolates .

When Schummi announced his come back everybody showed enthusiasm, and Corinna was up in the sky .
Rumours say they are quite a stingy couple so maybe she wants some more money, but I suspect she just wants to kick him out of the house .

Marry me

2009-12-28T18:13:00.001+04:00

Friday night my sister sent me an sms asking whether we [Muslims] celebrate Christmas .
At the end of the day I was so fed up of Christmas carols, Christmas movies, Christmas cartoons, that I answered with a simple No .
She rather insisted asking : but wasn't Allah born ?
I never enquired about how she and my father feel on my conversion because unlike my mother they never expressed an opinion nor opposed me so I was a little surprised, specially by the choice of words : she said Allah and not God, as if they were different, but that's common among non Muslims .
Another thing that left me puzzled is the concept of God who is begotten or begets .
After nine years I completely deleted the dogma from my database because it's so absurd to believe in it or only to take in consideration the possibility .
Anyway I answered, explaining also our position on prophet Iesa .

Father Christmas was at lulu last week, distributing candies for the joy of parents and children .
My mum never let me take anything edible from strangers .
This new generation of parents is more flexible .

Before going away Wednesday night, Naleni said she would go to Church on Thursday .
She was waiting for a Christmas wish but I had decided to be strict this year, so I just smiled .
She was clearly disappointed .

Mother called on Thursday morning saying she wanted to be the first to wish me Merry Christmas as it was not possible last year .
That touched my heart and I replied with a happy holidays .

My aunties called on that same evening and my cousin described how people in her place are still shocked for the earthquake and their faces look like dead even though they're alive .
I wished them happy holidays and merry Christmas .

Mother called again on Christmas and we exchanged wishes .
I realised later that the only member of my family I hadn't spoken to, was my father, so I called him and wished him a merry Christmas .

To make it complete, I did the same with Naleni .

It was a wishing weekend .

I am still convinced that we should not congratulate people on their festivals based on beliefs which are opposite to ours . It's clearly stated in the hadeeth .
The problem is that we don't live in true Islamic and Muslim societies like that of the Prophet Mujhammad peace and blessings upon him .
We use make up and perfumes, listen to music and watch movies, drink alcohol and mix with the opposite gender because we live in a multicultural society and think that the only way to relate ourselves to people of different traditions is that of imitating their worse habits which of course are against our religion .
We base our lives on compromises .
We take from them and in the wrong way and we don't give them our best, probably because we think we do not have or because we feel ashamed of what we have and are .
And we also think we're still on the right path while we're on a highway called innovation .
If we don't reform ourselves and go back to our roots, wishing merry Christmas and happy new year is just the cherry on the cake .

Connections

2009-12-27T18:10:00.003+04:00

Abdulmutallab was on the US Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment (TIDE) security watch list, which includes about 550,000 people.
However, the Nigerian was not on the smaller Terrorist Screening Data Base (TSDB) and was not flagged for mandatory extra airport security screening or included on the "no fly" list.
US authorities told The Associated Press news agency that the suspect came to the attention of intelligence officials in November when his father went to the
US embassy in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to express concerns about his son.
al Jazeera

Credible enough for the man of the Nobel to send few thousands troops to Yemenistan to kill couple of civilians .
How comes Sha Rukh Khan was on list A ?

Radical Islamists have claimed responsibility for the murder of an Orthodox priest in Moscow last month via an extremist website. Father Daniil Sysoyev was shot dead in his church on November 20. RT

More than a month to claim responsibility, that's too long .

a 4 degree rise in temperature in the Sultanate of Oman or Saudi Arabia would change it from really hot to really hot. Telegraph

The article is the evidence that every Tom, Dick and Harry can be a blogger and write on a newspaper, rejecting any responsibility for what he wrote cause he received an email by a guest contributor .
In 1970, shortly after Sultan Qaboos came to the throne, Oman had probably just finalised agreements with BP and Shell and the participation in CRU set up, was one of them .
4 degrees does make a difference also for hot countries and considering that Oman depends on fishery products, it's even more important .

Golden words

2009-12-22T19:30:00.000+04:00

Always working for peace in the Middle of the East .

The geologist and the others at Cop15

2009-12-21T17:29:00.006+04:00

"Any measures that might affect oil demand should be accompanied by a counter-measure that minimises their effects on oil producing countries,"
"Our objective ... is to protect our interests,"
"the world must develop and that is not possible without energy,"
"I am a geologist and I know that such views are baseless."
Afp via petrolio blogosfere

In Italy when someone states something very very gross but very much, we say he has the face like his butt .

I had understood this climate thing is getting big when I forgot to put the AC on, a couple of hours before going to sleep, to prepare the room cause I get sick if I leave it on during the night : I had to change T-shirt three times in 5 hours last week .
As far as I remember, December has never been so hot here .
Another hint of the gravity of this issue was Obama speech : it was not sugar coated as usual .
He said he was there for action [finally, I thought] .
He held talks with the new kids on the block [China, Russia and India] and ignored completely Euros and 3rd world countries .
And we saw the results .
While Jonah Hull in Cop15 was commenting with the same serenity with which he jumps between a war in Georgia and a bomb in Kabul [I don't how he can always smile like a happy boy], al Jizz, to highlight the fact that this is about rich vs poors, set up a live broadcast from Africa where children are starving [so we all felt more guilty] and South America where effects are already tangible : the journalist showed a dry potato, saying that this would happen also in the rest of the world very soon .
At this point, I was collapsing .
After pizza, fries are my favourite food .
Don't know what will happen to me .
The Chinese [the new masters of the world in case anybody noticed] were hard like iron .
They didn't grant more than what would go beyond their interests [and remembering Bejing smog in August 2008, their attitude makes sense ] . They are the Saudis of Asia, after all .
The only credible chap was Lula : half shouting half crying as if he was asking for another Olympic, he tried his best but didn't succeed .
In the end, the Sudani representative [Lumumba or something similar] said that the draft was immoral and coming from a UN sponsored conference, that was a shocking result [not sure he followed UN endeavour in the last 10-20 years] while Ed [one of the Millivanilli brothers] declared that if not really a success, Cop15 was at least not as bad as it seems .

All well that ends well .

Farmlife

2009-12-19T14:46:00.001+04:00

Yes, I love Mafia movies, but no I don’t want to be part of them. Yes, I like hot chocolates, but no I don’t want a virtual one. Yes, I’d love to cook and have my own restaurant/cafe - but not online. I know I have a big brain, so what's the deal?
Faith

I just adopted a bull and keep collecting eggs and wool, while planting rice and poinsettia .
I have also a pet and a coffee shop .
As long as it remains virtual, they're relatively easy to manage .
But I remember the farmers in my village telling me about their life starting at 3am to collect vegetables and going to market to sell them . Must have been pretty different .
The Zynga games introduced on Fb are a mirror of our desires .
There's no smell of poop when we play there .
That's why we like it so much I assume .

Back to real life and animals, I was reading about a shoal of seven sperm whales gotten ashore in Peschici [Puglia region, Italy] .
In the stomach of four of them, they found everything which we the humans usually throw in the sea, plastic in particular [bags and boxes], that according to experts, they probably swallowed because it looks like squids, the only species they can eat .
The other three were just following, since these animals rely a lot on the group, and died together with the rest .
Definitely not something we should be proud of .

Pictures and video, courtesy of Cautillo, Corriere della Sera .

To join or not to join

2009-12-18T14:29:00.003+04:00

A statement released Wednesday, said to be from the wife of Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's Egyptian deputy and second-in-command, encouraged Muslim women to join jihad as an "obligation." NBC

"Fighting is not easy for women, because she needs a male guardian at her side," Hassan purportedly said. independentonline

The wife of al-Qaeda’s second-in-command, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has appealed to Muslim women not to join the jehad themselves, but to support their menfolk in holy war, US monitoring groups said on Thursday. In a letter released by al-Qaeda’s media arm As-Sahab entitled ‘A Message to the Muslim Sisters’, Omayma Hassan Ahmed Mohammed Hassan called on the female faithful to support their husbands and male mujahideen, and properly rear their children. agencies

I can't join .
I am a sheep by nature .

The reason why the people of the land of chocolates and cows voted against the minarets, and there's a huge chance that more will follow, is not because churches must be allowed in Muslim territories [specially in the Kingdom of Ssssssss] as many commentators tried to let us believe, but mainly because they do not understand these hysterical statements and most probably because the Muslim community there, is not much integrated .

Jihad does not mean holy war but striving in the way of Allah against our weaknesses and for our faith .
And even if there was a holy war, that's not the case of Chechenya, Palestine and Iraq .
Like it or not, sister Omayma and her hubby must understand that those places have their elected governments and those who are calling for jihad, are not part of an Islamic state which is at war against another country : they are minorities that must fight for their rights in an Islamic way, that is, through dialogue and respect of the institutions .
They must call for their rights as citizens .
They are not representative of the Muslim nation : we, the so called moderate Muslims [this innovation in vocabulary is another gift from their unIslamic behaviour] are tired of their violence, tired to have to explain that they're running a distorted interpretation of militant Islam .

Children never held me in much sympathy and I must confess the issue has always been mutual, probably because I was a sad child so I don't have good memories of that period .
So please if you go for jihad or however you call it, don't leave me your kids cause I'll make them sad .

Hassan also urged Muslims to turn to the "media of the mujahideen, because the western media only reports half the truth."

Some months ago Press TV reported about prince Bandar Bin Sultan being first under house arrest and then escaping to Morocco .
Few weeks later, according to Saudi media, he was reconfirmed as commander in chief of national security .
You can read all the sources you like, but using brain .
That's the secret .

Common interests

2009-12-17T21:19:00.007+04:00

"Let me say one thing very clearly as NATO Secretary General: NATO will never attack Russia. Never. And we do not think Russia will attack NATO. We have stopped worrying about that and Russia should stop worrying about that as well."
NATO

"We need to look at what more we can do together to train the Afghans to secure their own country; to provide them the equipment they need to fight; to stem the flow of drugs into our schools and back-alleys; and to support the UN-mandated, NATO-led mission." Reuters

"I have proposed that Russia provide a helicopter package," he told CNN. "I hope the Russians will consider my proposal positively." CNN

This is the same guy who never accepted to apologise to Muslims after the cartoons controversy, while he was Prime Minister .
Fogh sounds more like the name of a pet but maybe is normal up there in the north .

So he spent three days in Moscow begging for military equipment and Afghan police to train in Russia[those were the days for the Soviets] and at the same time, he told them clearly that NATO still hopes to give a ride to Georgia&friends and has no intention to support the Euro security pact sketched by Pres. Medvedev [definitely odd] .
After this premises, he reassured them that NATO has nothing against Russia [how not to believe him ?] and is puzzled by the fact that Russians are suspicious about the West .
At the end of the trip he's still hopeful for a positive response .

Doubts :

can you understand why we're still fighting in Paki-Afghan mud with such refined brains ?

If Chrissie&Obama plan is so perfect and all NATO members are so happy to send more coffins over there, why should we need also Vodka ?

Helping hands

2009-12-16T17:56:00.001+04:00

The Russian Orthodox Church, with its unique experience of surviving the harshest persecutions, struggling against militant atheism, reemerging from the ghetto when the political situation changed, recovering its place in society and redefining its social responsibilities, can therefore be of help to Europe.

For the Russian Orthodox Church, there cannot be only one ideological model, nor a single system of spiritual and moral values to impose indiscriminately on all European countries. The Russian Orthodox Church hopes for a Europe based on authentic pluralism, a Europe in which the diversity of cultural, spiritual, and religious traditions is fully represented.

Moreover, we believe that every country must have the right to develop its own model of relations between state and Church. Legislation that is limited solely to guaranteeing citizens the right to religious freedom creates, in reality, the conditions for a savage competition among religions and confessions. We must instead create together the conditions to keep the democratic freedoms of an individual, including his right to religious self-determination, from clashing with the rights of the national communities, and to preserve his integrity and fidelity to his own traditions, social ethics, and religion. Arch. Hilarion Alfeyev

I am not particularly worried by this sudden fire of love between Roman Catholics and Orthodox on European soil .
I rather support it, because I think it's less harmful than an alliance between Muslims and Catholics, something which is already happening in France for the scarf .
The problem with Roman Catholics, is their strong determination in dominating, and this is what made them lose touch with their followers : their fight for power alienated them from reality and that's why vocations decreased and churches are empty .
As perfectly explained by Arch. Alfeyev, a key figure of modern Russian Orthodox Church, history teaches lessons and the Orthodox in the post-soviet era, learned them well .
If one strives to impose its rules and regulations on a multi faith or secular country with a certain past, results obtained will be poor because nowadays people in the West do not want to feel suffocated .
In a place where religion and culture proceed with steps of different lengths, it's better not to force things .
The model practiced by the Orthodox in Russia is the more favourable for us Muslims who want to live in peace : they are the first to promote peaceful coexistence with other religions, provided that these respect the laws of land and the unwritten rule according to which they are the unharmed arm of the government .
It's a compromise which is easy to accept for Muslims, the silent majority that wants simply to practice its faith out of Muslim ruled lands .
While Catholic hierarchies in Italy were reacting hysterically to the proposal of studying Islam at school, the Russian Patriarch finalised a deal with the President of Russia and representatives of other faiths, to start a pilot project in some regions of the federation, aiming at the study of the history of religions .
This is why the Catholics will never learn and remain losers : they need to dominate with the stick and are not able to do with a feather .

Brushing off polarities

2009-12-16T17:43:00.001+04:00

The GCC on Tuesday also brushed off mounting economic threats including Iraq’s plans to massively boost oil output as they strode towards launching their own single currency. Agencies

It's since Saturday, the day major contracts on oil and gas exploration fields in Iraq were awarded, that Saudi Arabia&friends are doing a massive use of Imodium .
If Iraq keeps the pace, it will become the greatest oil producer in the region .
It was amusing to see Lukoil winning the main bid without Russia shedding a single drop of blood on the ground .
Tony Bee last week had just finished to explain in one of his super paid interviews, the necessity to overthrow Saddam regime .

Iraqi war was another brick in the wall of American empire decline, a step toward the so celebrated multi polar world .
Not having anymore a personal Rambo, we must rely on our own resources .
On the one hand, Gulf countries have understood that building their security system might be more convenient than being the US-allied six-nation bloc and on the long run, they will aim to cover not only oil fields .
On the other, NATO is striving to maintain its credibility : the draft presented to European governments by the President of Russia is of course still far from being approved and it's been flavoured with a "is only additional to NATO" spice, but the substance is to push out of the games, the useless and old atlantic alliance .
Rasmussen trip to Moscow to beg for Russian help in Afghanistan, is a sign .

At a recent regional press conference, I was surprised to learn that the GCC countries were secretly planning to scale down 40 per cent of its expatriate population. That would mean at least six million foreign workers would leave the Gulf by the end of 2015.
Well, the real reason, I suspect is the erosion of the local culture that some government officials are worried about, not really about creating jobs. Trading on soft lines 16 Dec 2009

But if the Swiss and other Europeans were self-assured about their own identities, their Muslim fellow-citizens probably would not strike such fear in their hearts. And that might be the problem.
Until recently, too, many Europeans believed in their kings and queens, flew their national flags, sang their national anthems, were taught heroic versions of their national histories. Home was home. Foreign travel was for soldiers, diplomats, and rich people. "Identity" was not yet seen as a problem. Ian Buruma

Another consequence of multi polarity at a social level is that we will all live in our Farmville, with bells and chocolates in Suisse and camels and minarets in Arabia land, no chance to switch .
Going back to our own identities without a leading power calling for integration and unity, means to enhance differences between blocs .
I am starting to think this is the best way .
No more headaches, for now ...

Breakfast at Tiffanistan

2009-12-05T21:52:00.002+04:00

These are the three core elements of our strategy: a military effort to create the conditions for a transition; a civilian surge that reinforces positive action; and an effective partnership with Pakistan. Obama

This is the new strategy : sending 30000 people, to make friendship with the Talibans .
Others are requested from NATO allies and Rasmussen is sure at least 7000 will be added .
The French, who are not nice people but have square testicles, said that they won't send a soldier more than they have already there, unless there is a change of strategy .
And they said this after the speech .
The Turkish refused because they sent troops recently [or better because they understood that Obama won't help them for the EU membership which is actually just a dream]
The Italians and the Poles [the people of the cross] will send one thousand each .
The Brits, after having been brainwashed by Gordie, probably will contribute with few hundreds .
The day of the announcement, a psycho in CNN studio [a guy who had fought there, so he claimed], while showing NATO forces on a graphic with flags [the majority at the border with Pakistan are Americans] was shouting at 6am Omani time : "this is an American war !".
I agree .
Then send your people .
While speaking at West Point, Obama looked at his right and left, to address the cadets, and at the camera directly, to address the Talibans .
And the Talibans answered that they could care less .
Apparently in a phone call with Karzai, he stressed that he won't give blank cheques anymore.
And Karzai today said that he's willing to meet Mullah Omar for negotiations .
Now can you imagine the scene ?
Troops withdrawal will start in 2011 according to Obama, completed not before 2013 the Italian Minister of Foreign affairs said .
All well that ends well .