Kalb-Baladi

Monday, September 25, 2006

Mubarak Impression: This Guy Is Good

Ramadan Booze Ban

Dry law has been introduced in Ingushetia on the occasion of Ramadan. Up to 22 October the sale and consumption of alcohol and smoking in public places is banned in the Russian republic. The ban introduced by Ingushetia's authorities has met the requests of religious Muslims, said the Ingush presidential administration commenting on the decree signed by President Murat Zyazikov. The Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper says that ahead of the ban, the republic's religious leaders toured major shops asking salespersons not to display alcohol. The same rounds were made by clerics in Chechnya, as a result of which it is practically impossible to buy alcoholic drinks in the republic, the newspaper says. Muslim leaders of Karachay-Cherkessia and Stavropol Region have also made statements on Ramadan and how it should be observed. In particular, clerics appealed to doctors not to perform abortions. The Muslim leaders also demand that the only sex shop in Karachay-Cherkessia should be closed and sex ads in newspapers and on TV should be prohibited.

Saturday, September 23, 2006

What A Waste


This picture is of police officers destroying bottles of illegal alcohol confiscated in a pre-Ramadan anti-alcohol campaign, in Jakarta, Indonesia.

What a shameful waste of good booze.

BTW, I heard on the news today that according to an unconfirmed report, there is a rumour that Osama bin Laden died of typhoid last month.

If this turns out to be true, I will celebrate it with a bottle of the best illegal Indonesian alcohol.

Friday, September 22, 2006

The Future Is Bright In Saudi Arabia

Saudi Interior Minister said there was no question of the morality police, charged with upholding morals in the conservative monarchy, being dissolved. Asked about calls in Western media for the religious police to be disbanded, the minister said: "They talk about an organ that promotes the good and prevents the bad. Its dissolution has been rejected in the past, it is rejected today, and it will be rejected tomorrow." The 4,000-strong force known as Mutawas, many of them men in long beards, commonly go around malls, restaurants and other public spaces to make sure men and women not related by blood do not mix. They usually intervene if they spot any public display of affection between the sexes or see anyone they deem indecently dressed. In most parts of the kingdom this means no shorts for men and the abaya, a mandatory black head-to-toe cloak, for women. The Mutawas also enforce the kingdom's ban on women drivers and the public practice of religions other than Islam.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

And Blasphemy In Nigeria

Hundreds of Christians sought refuge at police headquarters in a predominantly Muslim Nigerian town Thursday after rioters protesting alleged blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad attacked and burned churches, Christian homes and businesses, residents and police said. Violence broke out in Dutse, the capital of Nigeria's northern Jigawa state, Wednesday after thousands of Muslim youth poured out on the streets to protest alleged blasphemy by a Christian woman, resident Emeka Nworah said. It was unclear what the offensive statement was that sparked the rioting. Some said it was a market dispute, while others said she made a statement against Muhammad days earlier. Several churches, homes and businesses belonging to the city's minority Christians were set ablaze and destroyed in the rampage. Police confirmed the violence.

Read more about this bullshit

Whenever I read about this kind of news, I feel like screaming out a bit of blasphemy myself.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

Fuck The Saudi System

Jedda Saudi Gazette website in English 20 September carries a report by Suzan Zawawi in Riyadh:

"Women not allowed: Only male guardians can file medical error complaints"

It says: "Saudi women were outraged at yet another case of discrimination. Female guardians of medical error victims cannot file complaints. This right is reserved only for male guardians. Unfortunately, with the current system only the male guardian can file a medical error complaint, such as a father, but a mother cannot," explained Ahmad Al-Mohaimeed, a legal adviser at the National Guard Hospital."

Read full report

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Christians Jews and Muslims United

A twice-delayed gay pride march in Jerusalem will take place on November 10 after agreement for a date was reached Monday between Israeli police and human rights groups, officials said.

World Pride 2006, a festival for gay, lesbian, transsexual and transgendered people, was initially scheduled to take place in the Holy City on August 6-12, with the gay pride march billed as a highlight.

The event, which had angered the city's Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders alike, was cancelled due to Israel's war in Lebanon.

So all religious leaders in Jerusalem hate gays. It seems that hate is this the only thing that Christians Jews and Muslims can agree on? Scary.

"Transparency and Democracy" in Egypt

A leading member of Egypt's ruling party has hinted it could nominate Gamal Mubarak for president despite his repeated statements that he does not want the post held by his father since 1981. President Hosni Mubarak has dismissed the idea of an "inheritance" of power by Gamal, but the comments by Hossam Badrawi were a sign that an initiative to push him towards the post may come from allies in the party. "It is our right as a party to nominate whoever has the qualifications for leadership and it is his right to accept or decline," Badrawi told the ruling party's newspaper. "This is not inheritance (of power) because, at the end of the day, it must take place in a framework of transparency and democracy," he said, in reference to a scenario in which Gamal would be the party's candidate for president. Analysts, opposition politicians and diplomats believe Gamal, 42, has been positioned to replace his 78-year-old father. His rising public profile this year has fuelled the speculation and there are no obvious alternatives.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Islamic Courts... Fuck You!

The Islamists controlling much of southern Somalia on Saturday flogged two unmarried teens for romancing in private, an indication that they mean to apply strict Sharia law in the Horn of Africa nation.

In the latest in a series of moves that have fuelled fears of a Taliban-style takeover, a 22-year-old boy and a 19-year-old girl were given 30 lashes each at a public ceremony in northern Mogadishu's Sinaay district after they were caught making out.

Witnesses and court officials said the pair were trailed by Islamic militia and then busted, but it was not made clear whether they were actually having sex.

Last month, the Karan Islamic Court in Mogadishu, which is part of the Islamic Courts Council, fulfilled a sentence on 2 men accused of selling homemade alcohol and 1 man for smoking marijuana.

The 3 men were publicy flogged 40 times each by Islamist militias, who also dumped the alcohol to the ground in front of witnesses.

Islamic courts in Somalia... FUCK YOU.

Sunday, September 17, 2006

In The Name Of God

Gunmen killed an Italian nun and her bodyguard at the entrance of a hospital where she worked in Somalia, in an attack some feared could be linked to Muslim outrage over the pope's recent remarks about Islam.

The 60 year old nun, was shot in the back four times by two gunmen armed with pistols.

The shooting took place at S.O.S. Hospital for women and children in northern Mogadishu where the nun, who spoke fluent Somali, worked since 2002.

The two men who killed her thought they were defending their religion and their prophet. They thought they would go to heaven for shooting a 60 year old helpless nun in the back.

Friday, September 15, 2006

Benedict Controversy


This is what the fuss is all about:

The Pope quoted from a book according to which, he said, the Byzantine emperor Manuel Paleologos II had said: "Show me just what Muhammad brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached."

The Pope used the words "I quote" twice before repeating the emperor's reported remarks on Islam, which he described as "brusque".

Some Reactions in Defence of the Pope:

- The Vatican said Pope Benedict XVI had not intended to offend
- Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Carey, said Muslims must learn to enter into dialogue without "crying foul".

On the Other Hand:

- Pakistan's parliament today unanimously adopted a resolution condemning him for making "derogatory" comments about Islam and seeking an apology from him for hurting the feelings of Muslims.
- Muslim leaders around the world have criticised his use of the emperor's words.
- The Lebanese prime minister, Fuad Saniora, instructed Lebanon's ambassador to the Vatican to seek clarifications on the pontiff's remarks.
- Syria's grand mufti sent a letter to the Pope in which he said he feared the comments would worsen inter-faith relations.
- The Muslim Council of Britain has called on the Pope to urgently clarify his remarks. "The Byzantine emperor's views about Islam were ill-informed and, frankly, bigoted," Dr Muhammad Abdul Bari, the organisation's secretary general, said.
- An influential Iranian cleric joined the chorus, calling the comments "absurd" and claiming they showed the pontiff knew little about the religion.
- Turkey's most senior Islamic cleric also asked the Pope to apologise for the remarks, which raised tensions ahead of the pontiff's planned visit to Turkey in November.
- In Egypt, Mohammed Mahdi Akef, the leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, joined the calls for an official apology, saying the remarks quoted "do not express correct understanding of Islam and are merely wrong and distorted beliefs being repeated in the west".

I think there is alot of over reaction. The Pope is not a cartoonist his is a scholar. If anyone has any objections to what he said, then he/she shuld engage in a civilized dialogue instead of cheap demagogism. This is my view.

Benedict though must remember that he is not just a scholar. He is the fucking Pope. Maybe he should be a little bit more careful with what he says because being under the spotlight all the time means that he can very easily be misinterpreted and what he says may be taken out of context.

Update:

Pope Benedict said he is sorry about the offence caused by his speech, so case closed... I hope!

Islam is Growing


Islam and radicalism is not only growning in the Middle east. I took this picture in London!

A British newspaper had a piece about a British born Muslim on trial because he is accused of plotting terror bombings in Britain.

Omar Khyam, 24, who is alleged to have been a member of an Al Qaeda cell praised Taliban in court and spoke about how he attended a training camp in Pakistan for foreigners.

The weird thing is that this guy is 100% British. He was the captain of his school's cricket team. His grandfather was an officer in the British army and he was brought up in a moderate Muslim home that did not pay much attention to religion, but as a teenager he began going to radical Islamic meetings and the rest is obvious.

In court, Omar Khyam said, "9/11 made me happy because America was and is the greatest enemy of Islam and they had put puppet regimes in Muslim countries and dictatorships through which they secure their interest. he was asked, "Which countries?" and his answer was, "The majority of the Middle East. Saudi, Egypt, Jordan."

I believe that radical Islam is a reaction to the screwed up state of Muslim nations where there is so much injustice and suffering. Have you ever wondered why there are no terrorist attacks against Japan (although Japanese are considered non believers by Muslim Fanatics)? The West on the other hand has been the target of many attacks.

It has nothing to do with being Christian or Shintu or Budhist or whatever. It has more to do with the perceived historic role of the West in fucking up the Middle East and other Muslim countries.

Is the West responsible for the dictatorships in these countries? Debatable, but the problem of radical Islam is going to get worse before it gets better, I think. And it won't get better before democracy and freedom prevail in Muslim countries.

This is not as simple as it sounds because the Mslim world is so fucked up today, that democracy will bring theocratic regimes (e.g.: Hamas in Palestine and the Muslim Brothers in Egypt).

Oil is another problem. As long as there is oil in the Middle Eatern wells, the West will support the oppressive regimes in the region because turmoil is not good for the markets. Subsequently, nothing will change in countries like Saudi, Egypt and Jordan. You'll get more angry young people who hate the West and blame it for everything they suffer from and the bloodshed goes on.

Depressing :(

Thursday, September 14, 2006

Maktoums Accused of Big Time Slavery



The rulers of the United Arab Emirates are being accused in a lawsuit of enslaving tens of thousands of young boys over the past three decades and forcing them to work under brutal conditions as camel jockeys.
The lawsuit was filed last week by unnamed parents of boys as young as 2-years-old who were allegedly abducted, enslaved and sold to serve as a backbone in the sport of camel racing. More than 30,000 boys could have been victimized in what the suit calls «one of the greatest humanitarian crimes of the last 50 years.»
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum, the crown prince of Dubai, and Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid al Maktoum, the deputy ruler, were the most active perpetrators of the crimes, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit was filed in Miami because the members of the royal family maintain hundreds of horses at farms in Ocala, Florida - among their billions of dollars in U.S. assets.
«The defendants robbed parents of their children and boys of their childhoods, their futures and sometimes their lives, for the craven purposes of entertainment and financial gain,» the lawsuit said.
Telephone message left at the United Arab Emirates embassy in Washington, D.C., after hours were not immediately returned. John Andres Thornton, the Miami Beach-based co-counsel for the children, said Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum had been served with the lawsuit on Monday while buying horses in Kentucky.
The lawsuit claims the boys were taken largely from Bangladesh, Pakistan and elsewhere, held at desert camps in the UAE and other Perisan Gulf nations, and forced to work. It claims some boys were sexually abused, given limited food and sleep and injected with hormones to prevent their growth.
«Sheikh Mohammed and Sheikh Hamdan treated their camels better than they treated their slave boys for the simple reason that the camels were far more valuable,» the lawsuit said.
Camel races are immensely popular in the Persian Gulf. The UAE banned the use of children as camel jockeys - long favored because of their light weight - in 1993, but young boys could still be seen riding in televised races for years afterward.
The problem was highlighted in the U.S. State Department's June 2005 «Trafficking in Persons Report.»
The sheikhs are heavily invested in U.S. horse racing and the crown prince owns Bernardini, the winner of the 2006 Preakness Stakes. They also own Dubai Ports World, whose involvement in port operations in Miami and elsewhere sparked Congressional concern, and the Dubai Holding Co. and its subsidiaries, which own hotels, apartment buildings and health care facilities.

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Catching Bin Ladin


Moderate Muslims around the world are asked by every Tom Dick and Harry to take a strong stand against terrorism and to confront the terrorists who are tarnishing their religion.

So being a very moderate Muslim, I decided to do my bit and help the CIA catch Osama. I searched for months until I found the perfect plan in today's Evening Standard, which I proudly present to the CIA and here is how it goes:

Have you ever seen that picture of OBL on his horse? That's his preferred mode of transportation wherever he is. Well, the idea is to to get a mole to fit a spring loaded knife that is soaked in anthrax beneath his saddle. As soon as he mounts his horse the CIA agent will use a remote control device to trigger the hidden mechanism and, hey presto, six inches of anthrax coated cold steel will shoot right up where the sun don't shine. How about that?

Stingray Backlash


The actions of a single stingray fish in Australia has led to a vicious backlash on the whole stingray population.

Stingrays, I sympathize with you.

Read this:

At least 10 stingrays have been found dead and mutilated on Australia's eastern coast since «Crocodile Hunter» Steve Irwin was killed by one of the animals last week, an official said Tuesday, prompting concerns of revenge attacks on the normally docile fish.
The popular television star was killed last week when a stingray barb pierced his chest as he filmed a TV show off Australia's Great Barrier Reef, prompting an outpouring of grief in Australia and among his fans worldwide. The dead stingrays have been discovered on two beaches in Queensland state, including two that were found Tuesday with their tails lopped off, state fisheries department official Wayne Sumpton said. Sumpton said fishermen who inadvertently catch the diamond-shaped rays sometimes cut off their tails to avoid being stung, but the practice is uncommon. Michael Hornby, the executive director of Irwin's conservation group Wildlife Warriors, said he was concerned the rays were being hunted and killed in retaliation for the TV star's death. He said killing stingrays was «not what Steve was about.»
«We are disgusted and disappointed that people would take this sort of action to hurt wildlife,» he said.

I hope they dont start profiling fish.

Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Bin Houdini


A few days after 9/11, I saw an interview on TV with an intelligence expert. He described Osama as "dead man walking". He said that Bin Laden would be history within 6 months to a year. I cant believe that five years after the September terror attacks Bin Houdini is still a free man pusuing his favourite hobby (making home videos) unless "intelligence" is not the right word to describe the dozens of agencies that are hunting him down. Come on you lazy bunch get rid of him and make the world a safer place. That's what tax payers pay you to do.

Monday, September 11, 2006

Five Years After 9/11


The World Will Never Be The Same Again

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Bush on Mubarak and Iraq


A post by Bec on Sandmonkey’s blog referred to a recent interview that George Bush gave in which he spoke about Egypt and Iraq. It’s interesting

The interviewer says, “I try to dig a little deeper on Egypt, where the political opening of 18 months ago seems to have been abruptly closed by President Hosni Mubarak, with a muted U.S. response to the arrest of the moderate opposition leader, Ayman Nour. Has the U.S. given up on promoting reform in Egypt?”
"Of course we have not given up," Mr. Bush says. "We were disappointed" about Ayman Nour. Does he believe Mr. Mubarak should release Mr. Nour? "Yes, I do, but he'll make those decisions based upon his own laws." Mr. Bush says he's spoken to Mr. Mubarak's son and heir-apparent, Gamal, about Mr. Nour, "and I have spoken to Mubarak a lot about democracy. And, equally importantly, I've talked to . . . a group of young reformers who are now in government. There's an impressive group of younger Egyptians--the trade minister and some of the economic people--that understand the promise and the difficulties of democracy."

The pace of Middle East reform will vary by country, he adds. In Kuwait, they now let women vote. "And so if you look at the Middle East from 10 years to today, there's been some significant change. Jordan changed, Morocco, the Gulf Coast countries, Qatar," and of course the nascent democracies of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Regarding Iraq, Mr. Bush is a bit reflective, if also insistent about the costs of failure. "I'm not surprised that this war has created consternation amongst the American people," he concedes. "The enemy has got the capacity to take--got the willingness to take innocent life and the capacity to do so, knowing full well that those deaths and that carnage will end up on our TV screens. So the American people are now having to adjust to a new kind of bloody war.

"Now, my view of the country is this: Most people want us to win. There are a good number who say, get out now. But most Americans are united in the concept--of the idea of winning."

On that point, I ask Mr. Bush to address not his critics on the left who want to withdraw, but those on the right who worry that he isn't fighting hard enough to win. "No, I understand. No, I hear that, Paul, a lot, and I take their word seriously, and of course use that as a basis for questioning our generals. My point to you is that one of the lessons of a previous war is that the military really wasn't given the flexibility to make the decisions to win. And I ask the following questions: Do you have enough? Do you need more troops? Do you need different equipment?" The question I failed to ask but wish I had is: Does this mean that, like Lincoln, Mr. Bush should have fired more generals?

With sectarian strife in Iraq, some critics (such as Sen. Joe Biden) are saying the best strategy now is for the country to divide into three--Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni. Mr. Bush says partition would be "a mistake," though he does add that "the Iraqi people are going to have to make that decision." But he says Iraqis didn't vote for partition when they approved their new constitution or new government, and "this government has been in place since June; 90 days is a long time for some, but it's really not all that long to help a nation that was brutalized under a tyrant to get going."

Mr. Bush is most emphatic when he links Iraq to the larger struggle for Mideast reform. "In the long run, the United States is going to have to make a decision as to whether or not it will support moderates against extremists, reformers against tyrants. And Iraq is the first real test of the nation's commitment to this ideological struggle. . . . I believe it strongly. One way for the American people to understand the stakes is to envision what happens if America withdraws." He has been hitting that last point hard in his recent speeches, and it is the linchpin of the argument Mr. Bush will make through November against the Democrats who insist on pulling out immediately.

Jokes About Muslims


Making jokes about Muslims is a risky business these days because some are known to take offense at mockery and even to issue the occasional fatwa. Muslims are accused of lacking a sense of humour and of the inability to laugh about themselves.

Let's prove these accusations wrong. Here's one:

A man walks into a sex shop and asks for a blow-up doll. The shop keeper asks him, "Do you want the Muslim version or the Christian version?"

"What's the difference?", the man asks.

The shop keeper explains, "The Muslim version blows herself up. Boom boom."

Hasema: The Islamic Swimsuit


A new Islamic swimwear for ladies (known as Hasema) is taking by storm the beaches in Egypt, Malaysia, Turkey and many other Muslim countries.

Just google Hasema and you will be amazed.

I dont know what Hasema means, but it could be derived from the Arabic word Heshma (modest).

Saturday, September 09, 2006

Crossing the Road in Cairo

الجنس للمعاقين Sex for the Disabled

في الدنمارك قرروا إن المواطنين المعاقين من حقهم أن يستمتعوا بالجنس زي الناس الأصحاء، ومن حقهم يناموا مع شراميط (رجال أو نساء). ولذلك كلفت هيئة الشؤون الاجتماعية في بعض المدن الدنماركية موظفيها باصطحاب المعاقين لبيوت الدعارة ليستمتعوا بنصف ساعة من الجنس. ويقول مسؤول محلي في إحدى المدن الدنماركية إن ممارسة الجنس تمنح الرجال والنساء المعاقين جسديا أو ذهنيا راحة نفسية وتمكنهم من أن يعيشوا حياة أفضل

In Denmark, Danes have decided that citizens who are disabled need sex too, and should have equal access to prostitutes. To that end, some cities have arranged for social workers to escort disabled people to prostitutes for 30-minute visits. A city official explained that sexual help to a physically or mentally handicapped person offers him or her a much higher quality of life and helps uplift spirits.

Sunday, September 03, 2006

Losing Peter


An alarming story about a Parisian youngster. He was a normal kid who enjoyed sport, hanging out with his friends and listening to French and American rap music. Peter Cherif is a North African Muslim and his girlfriend Barbara was a white French teenager, half Christian and half Jewish. This was not an issue for either of them though. He fell under the influence of a dodgy Imam in a dodgy mosque and ended up with the insurgents in Iraq. He was arrested in Falluja and was sentenced by an Iraqi court to 15 years in prison. This tragedy is being replicated accross Europe and the Middle East.

Friday, September 01, 2006

This is way too liberal for me

Dutch paedophile party seeks support for election

A political party formed by Dutch paedophiles tried to win more support for its campaign to legalise sex with children so it can run in national elections in November.
The Brotherly Love, Freedom and Diversity party (PNVD) was launched in May and its campaign for a cut in the age of consent from 16 to 12 and the legalisation of child pornography and sex with animals has provoked widespread outrage in the Netherlands.
Party officials said they had gathered over 100 signatures so far but needed to collect several hundred more in the next month to be allowed to run in the Nov. 22 general election.
"We think the child should have the freedom to engage in these contacts with peers or with adults, if and when they choose so," party chairman Marthijn Uittenbogaard told a news conference in the parliamentary press centre in The Hague.
"What we think is really going on is that people are afraid of the emancipation of children. It is the adults who do not allow the child to have these contacts," he said, adding that research showed children found unforced sex positive or neutral.
The PNVD says it wants to lift the taboo on paedophilia which it said had intensified since the 1996 Marc Dutroux child abuse scandal in neighbouring Belgium. Party secretary Norbert de Jonge said society was too "sex-negative".
In July, a Dutch court rejected a bid by a children's rights group to have the party banned, saying it was protected by democratic freedoms and judges could not take lightly a decision to ban a political party.
The Netherlands, which already has liberal policies on soft drugs, prostitution and gay marriage, has been shocked by the new party. An opinion poll showed that 82 percent want the government to do something to stop the party.
Justice Minister Piet Hein Donner has said he found the party's ideas repugnant and the government would monitor it closely in case it committed an offence or incited others to do so, but said its fate should lie in the hands of voters.