Due to As'ad's reneging on his promise to announce this blog on his website, I will close this blog.

This is upsetting.

Belgian Al Qaida woman uses internet to rally women, gets money from Belgian government.

And, no, it doesn't make me right-wing, or pro-Israel, or pro-war, or anti-Arab to be worried about al Qaida.

Autoportrait, Tamara de Lempicka, 1925

Yves Tanguy, Extinction des Lumieres Inutiles, 1927

Man on Horseback Crossing a Bridge, by Utagawa Hiroshige

you can see many of his works here

My computer erased my comments for the previous post three times, so I am giving up until tomorrow. Until then, I will leave it up to you to figure out when and where it is from and who commissioned it.

Roman-style mosaic found in synangogue in the ancient city of Naro, now Hammam Lif, Tunisia, commissioned by a Jewish woman, Juliana, from the 3rd century A.D.

Exploration of the Orinoco River, by Remedios Varo

I love this artist and will be posting lots of her work.

Comments problem

Sometimes haloscan does not show that there are comments on posts even though it shows the comments when you click on the link.

The 19th Arab National Conference communiqué or Not so happy in Yemen

The congress was formed in 1990 by a group of Arab nationalist intellectuals and politicians alarmed by the growing conviction within official -- and some non-official -- circles that the era of Arab nationalism had come to an end. Twelve years after Egypt first broke rank with the Arabs and signed the Camp David accords with Israel in 1978 the stage was being set for the second major U- turn. Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and the Palestinians all went to Madrid in 1991 for "peace talks" with Israel, since which a series of agreements has been signed under the pretext of the promised Palestinian state that has yet to materialise. Israel, meanwhile, won the recognition of the vast majority of Arab states which ended their political and economic boycott of Tel Aviv.

The American imperialist project continues to impose its domination and control of the region by: directly invading and occupying parts of the Arab world as in Iraq; indirectly invading other parts by proxy, as in Ethiopia's presence in Somalia; intensifying sectarian and ethnic divisions in Arab countries, overtly in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Somalia and Sudan; pursuing plans to weaken the Arab regional structure to replace it with a Middle Eastern order at the service of US- Zionist interests.

more

Obama-Muslim apostate?

This author is very likely right that al Qaeda will make a big deal out of Obama's "apostasy." However, what isn't clear is that this theological-political position will either lead to fresh recruits or that it will somehow strengthen the commitment of its current membership to attack American and Western interests in general. Further, she thinks that the declaration of apostasy by al Qaeda will affect the sympathies of much of the Muslim world--that relatively moderate Muslims will embrace some of al Qaeda's positions when they confront the fact that he is an apostate from Islam. This I doubt. What might make the apostasy claim altogether irrelevant is the fact that many Muslims could see Obama as a dark-skinned man, somewhat similar to themselves. It's more than a hunch--Joseph Nye, the political scientist know for the theory of "soft power," believes that the mere fact that Obama more or less looks like he's from the Third World, gives him almost instant credibility.

Only 4 per cent of Iraqis in Syria plan to return home: UN report

There are now 4.7 million Iraqi refugees!

A new report found that 65 per cent of refugees who do not wish to return said that they were under direct threat in Iraq. Some 30 per cent do not want to return because of the general insecurity in their home country and 8 per cent said their home in Iraq had been destroyed or was occupied by others.

Obama's secret war profiteering tax

It happened on July 31, 1928, but the bill came due now.

Barack Obama knows this. Or, just as important, those crafting his policies seem to know this. Same for Hillary Clinton’s team. There could be no more vital difference between the Republican and Democratic candidacies. And you won’t learn a thing about it on the news from the Fox-holes.

Let me explain.

In 1928, oil company chieftains (from Anglo-Persian Oil, now British Petroleum, from Standard Oil, now Exxon, and their Continental counterparts) were faced with a crisis: falling prices due to rising supplies of oil; the same crisis faced by their successors during the Clinton years, when oil traded at $22 a barrel.

The solution then, as now: stop the flow of oil, squeeze the market, raise the price. The method: put a red line around Iraq and declare that virtually all the oil under its sands would remain there, untapped. Their plan: choke supply, raise prices rise, boost profits. That was the program for 1928. For 2003. For 2008.

A step back for women's rights in Egypt

I stole this from this blog.

The Egyptian parliament decided to strike out three items from a Child's Rights law that has been previously approved. The three items are:

The right of the mother to claim her child (give the child her name). But they were generous enough to allow her to get a birth certificate for the child and record the name of the father in it. One Islamist parliamentarian objected even to this and warned that it encourages adultery.

Raising the marriage age for girls to 18

Criminalizing parents who circumcise their daughters

According to the conservatives in the Parliament, these items undermine Islam and are not popular among the people.

Well, if they are in the business of canceling what is not popular amongst the people, shouldn't they cancel Mubarak?

Gambian president plans to kill off every single homosexual

Jammeh also ordered any hotel or motel housing homosexuals to close down, adding that owners of such facilities would also be in trouble. He warned all homosexuals in the country to leave, noting that a legislation “stricter than those in Iran ” concerning the vice would be introduced soon.

Hypocrisy of the day

Why is it okay for Israel to negotiate with Syria and Hamas, but not the United States?

The sound is not the best, but even Daniel Pipes would have to admit she has one of the most beautiful voices ever

Fairouz, We Will Return, from this album

Archaeology & the Garden of Eden

Hieronymus Bosch

Dr. Zarins, who has spent seven years working out his own hypothesis, believes that the Garden of Eden lies presently under the waters of the Persian Gulf, and he further believes that the story of Adam and Eve in-and especially out-of the Garden is a highly condensed and evocative account of perhaps the greatest revolution that ever shook mankind: the shift from hunting-gathering to agriculture.

McCain's Islam hating spiritual guide

Recommended radio show for fans of Egyptian film music

Listen here

Um Kulthum show

Nastik Arabic dictionary calls the zebra 'ataabi. Is this what native speakers know it as, as well? I had previously know it as hmar washi, which means wild donkey, or ass, which is a different creature.

This is a forum for those who commented on The Angry Arab's News Service website's comments section.