October Surprise -- NOT

U.S. Embassy bombings suspect confirmed killed

An al Qaeda operative wanted in connection with the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombings was killed in April in Pakistan, U.S. officials have confirmed. DNA tests confirmed Muhsin Musa Matwalli Atwah died in an airstrike by Pakistani forces near the border with Afghanistan, the officials said. The simultaneous embassy attacks in Nairobi, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, killed 224 people.

Aah. just found a plastic.com thread on the subject of an October Surprise!..

You know you want it. Perhaps we've seen a glimpse of it and haven't realized it. But.It. Will. Happen. So, here's the question. Just what will the October Surprise be and when will it drop? Karl Rove says he has it. Is it an OBL video, a terrorist capture, a Democratic scandal, record-low gas pump prices, or a brilliant Iraq plan, or something so surprising we can't begin to imagine it? Place your bets, folks. Because, unlike the breaching of levees and the flying of airplanes into buildings, this can be forseen by everyone.

Blaah... Meanwhile....

The 100th US soldier dies in Iraq this month. And we've pretty much lost count of the # of Iraqi's...

Staff Sgt. Billy Brown, an Alaska national guardsman, is believed to be the first Eskimo killed because of the Iraq war. Apparently, it took 20 men a full day to dig his grave through the permafrost in a town 350 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

Earlier last week... President George W. Bush signed the Military Commissions Act, which suspends the right of habeas corpus for terrorism suspects and grants immunity to CIA interrogators and government officials, such as President Bush, for violations of the War Crimes Act.

VP Dick Cheney has confirmed that U.S. interrogators subjected captured Al-Qaida suspects to a controversial interrogation technique called "water-boarding," which creates a sensation of drowning. Cheney indicated that the Bush administration doesn't regard water-boarding as torture and allows the CIA to use it. "It's a no-brainer for me."

Update: Aah...here comes the back-tracking. The White House denies that VP Cheney was referring to waterboarding when he endorsed a "dunk in water" as a way of getting information from detainees. But then what do you expect of people who "misquote themselves while purporting to display candor."

Meanwhile, some countries try to refute criticism over their treatment of prisoners by saying they are only following the U.S. example on handling terror suspects.

Rummy, who in the past has defended the war on terrorism and called Bush critics names - "Nazi appeasers" - because the world faces a new type of fascism, said last week that those "demanding deadlines for progress in Iraq should "just back off," because it is too difficult to predict when Iraqis will resume control of their country."

And the Bush administration changes semantics but little else with their favorite phrase (No..not "Mission Accomplished" but "Stay the course") being redefined to convey the message that they are more flexible than previously stated. Cut and run is still part of the political rhetoric though...

Aah...good to hear there is a plan - albeit a secret plan! ;)

During a debate with his Democratic rival, Senator Conrad Burns of Montana said that President Bush (who this week compared Iraq to Vietnam) has a secret plan for winning the war, but that Bush is not going to share his plan with the world.

Meanwhile, Bush admin says U.S. has milestones, not ultimatums, for Iraq

Meanwhile, the pre-election name-calling reaches a new low with the Republican National Committe running a T.V. ad in Tennessee in which ends with a pretty, blonde white woman is essentially soliciting African American Senatorial candidate Harold Ford...! (And perhaps not surprisingly, it is that racist George Allen's ad man that is responsible for the ads!

And here is a compilation of all the members of the 109th Congress currently under investigation by the DoJ.

And a friend had written to me earlier about this but I had not realized it was the National Guard giving these cut-outs out - thought it was one family that was dealing with the situation by doing this!

The Maine National Guard has been offering “Flat Daddies” and “Flat Mommies,” life-size cardboard cutouts of deployed service members, to spouses, children, and relatives waiting for them to return.- Boston Globe

Watch this haunting observational film that explodes the myth around the claims that the Iraqis are preparing to take control of their own country. Sean Smith spent nearly six weeks with the 101st Division of the US army in Iraq.

Meanwhile, the conservative news radio continues its blatherings... Limbaugh accuses Michael J. Fox of faking Parkinson's Disease symptoms while campaigning for Congress candidates who support stem cell research.

And last but not least.... read more about all the legal wranglings of this woman who had a bumper sticker that said..."I'm Tired of All the BUSH*T." We all are... but this woman was brave enough to put it on her car and got a ticket for it and is now fighting the system for her freedom of _expression. More power to her...!!!

Islam 101

Read this last night while reading the History of Islam for my own edification.. I did not realize the split between Sunnis and Shi'a's goes back all the way to when the Prophet died.

Historic background of the Sunni-Shi'a split

The Sunni-Shi'a split in Islam started with Prophet Muhammad death in 632, which was followed by a dispute over who was to lead the Muslim community, and how the leader was to be chosen. Although the Prophet had said several times, most notably in a famous speech delivered at his last pilgrimage, that Ali was to succeed him as leader of the Muslim community, a gathering of Muslims at Saqifah gave their allegiance to Abu Bakr, as the first caliph after they felt his old age would be a wiser choice than the young Ali. Sunnis also claim that the prophet himself chose Abu Bakr becaue Abu Bakr had led prayers in the prophet's mosque in the last few days of the prophet's life. Sunni Muslims accept Abu Bakr as a righteous and rightful caliph. Shi'a Muslims believe that the prophet had appointed his son-in-law Ali ibn Abi Talib as his successor and that in following Abu Bakr, the Sunni Muslims had strayed from the true path.

I think Islam is too complicated and too big a project for me to read everything about... I'm going to start with Iran - am reading 3 different books on Iran currently but more about that elsewhere... but here is a quick synopsis of the three main sects of Islam

Sunni

The Sunni are the largest group in Islam. In Arabic, as-Sunnah literally means principle or path. Sunnis and Shi'a believe that Muhammad is a perfect example to follow, and that they must imitate the words and acts of Muhammad as accurately as possible. Because of this reason, the Hadith in which those words and acts are described are a main pillar of Sunni doctrine.

Sunnis recognize four major legal traditions (madhhabs): Maliki, Shafi'i, Hanafi, and Hanbali. All four accept the validity of the others and Muslims choose any one that he/she finds agreeable to his/her ideas. There are also several orthodox theological or philosophical traditions (kalam).

Shi'a

Shi'a Muslims, the second-largest branch, differ from the Sunni in rejecting the authority of the first three caliphs. They honor different accounts of Muhammad (hadith) and have their own legal traditions. Shi'a scholars have a larger authority than Sunni scholars and have greater room for interpretation. The concept of Imamah (leadership) plays a central role in Shi'a doctrine. Shi'a Muslims hold that leadership should not be passed down through a system such as the caliphate, but rather, descendants of Muhammad should be given this right as Imams.

Sufism

Sufism is a spiritual practice followed by both Sunni and Shi'a. Sufis generally feel that following Islamic law or jurisprudence (or fiqh) is only the first step on the path to perfect submission; they focus on the internal or more spiritual aspects of Islam, such as perfecting one's faith and fighting one's own ego (nafs). Most Sufi orders, or tariqas, can be classified as either Sunni or Shi'a. However, there are some that are not easily categorized as either Sunni or Shi'a, such as the Bektashi. Sufis are found throughout the Islamic world, from Senegal to Indonesia. Their innovative beliefs and actions often come under criticism from Wahhabis, who consider certain practices to be against the letter of Islamic law.

Books on Iran

Reading the following books these days..

1.      Marjane Satrapi's famous Persepolis and Persepolis 2. Done with the first one ...will start second one soon. 

Her third book, Embroideries, has also been on my to read list for some time now. Seems she also has a new book - here is a snapshot - Chicken with Plums, in which she tells ...

...the story of her great-uncle, Nasser Ali Khan, a musician overtaken by a sense of futility and emptiness over the loss of his tar. Though Nasser Ali Khan tries very hard, he cannot find another tar to replace his broken one. In despair, he takes to his bed, renouncing the world and all its pleasures. Over the course of eight days that follows, his family and close friends attempt to change his mind, but Nasser Ali Khan slips further and further into his own reveries, with unexpected appearance by Sophia Loren. Despite the minimalism of its approach, Chicken with Plums still packs quite a punch. 

I have linked to some other articles and interviews with Satrapi in an earlier post.

2.      The Iranians by Sandra Mackey - The book covers the history of Iran... my plan is to read from the early 20th century with the end of the Qajar dynasty till the current time. So far have read about the rise and fall of the first Pahlavi King, Reza Khan till the end of WW II.

WTF - 2

Proof that the human mind is f-ed up...

1. A Denver woman was ruled criminally insane for stabbing her 21-month-old granddaughter 62 times with a butcher knife after she received “spiritual messages from the geese flying overhead.”

2. German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Wednesday called photos of German soldiers in Afghanistan playing with a skull "shocking and disgusting," and Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said those involved will be dealt with harshly.

One image was published on the cover of the national tabloid Bild, under the words "Schock Fotos." In the picture, a soldier seems to be slightly smirking as he poses with the skull in his raised right hand. Other images show the skull displayed like an off-center hood ornament on the front of a jeep. Another picture shows a soldier holding the skull near his exposed penis.

3. Necrophiliac bestiality - wtf..!!! - A 44-year-old Saginaw man remains jailed today on charges of bestiality after he was seen engaged in sexual acts with a dead dog

4. Disturbing images from China show a distressed woman attempting suicide on the street. The woman tried to slash her wrists with a razor sharp blade, before slashing her throat.

5. Fighting the myth that "sex with a virgin can cure Aids"! Reminds me of the pod I saw on current.tv where an African orphan, who lost both his parents to AIDS, gives us his understanding of the disease - that the condom manufacturers put this disease into the condoms....sadly, ignorance rules!

Documentary videos

Some great documentaries available (atleast for now) on Youtube & Google-Video.

Injection is the real-life story of six health care workers falsely accused and jailed in Libya, the deplorable conditions that led to their arrest, and the simple solution that might have prevented not only this injustice, but millions of needless infections. In Libya in 1999, five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were arrested and convicted of infecting over four hundred Libyan children with HIV in a Benghazi hospital. Libyan dictator Moammar Khadaffi proclaimed before the trial that the nurses conspired with the American CIA and the Israeli Mossad to maliciously infect the children. Scientists and others (including some Bush rhetoric after meeting the Bulgarian president) rallying in their defence aside, I fear that "freeing the Benghazi Six" is only wishful thinking; although for now their death sentences have been quashed (on 25 December 2005) by the Libya's Supreme Court and a re-trial has been ordered.

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Who killed the electric car? (Update: not available any more ... taken out by Youtube due to copyright violations)
The documentary (Review, Trailer, Wikipedia) explores the birth, limited commercialization, and subsequent death of the battery electric vehicle in the United States, specifically the General Motors EV1 of the 1990s. The film explores the roles of automobile makers, the oil industry, the US government, batteries, hydrogen vehicles, and consumers in limiting the development and adoption of this technology. It is due to be released on DVD to the home video market on November 14, 2006 by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.

Daily Show had an interview with the director, Chris Paine.

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Improbable Collapse -The Demolition of our Republic - a documentary about the collapse of the Twin Towers. Speaking of 9-11, to whatever extent polls and surveys may reflect reality, its amazing to me that 84% of people in the US think the government is hiding something about that days events!

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A two-part documentary - Part I and Part II - about the Rape of Nanking - Japanese Atrocities during WWII: A documentary based on 20 years research and consists entirely of archival photos and film-clips.

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A documentary about imprisoned Kurdish female leader Leyla Zana

Superpower for the 21st century - 1

Painting Bihar pink to raise morale...instead of fighting crime! (didnt know there is an Aurangabad in Bihar too!) - via

Authorities in eastern India are painting a crime-infested town pink in the hope that an image makeover will lift the sagging morale of residents who are fed up with the decline in law and order

But waste of money by politicians and stupid shenanigans to raise morale are all fine and dandy in a superpower democracy...atleast India is rolling strong in the 21st century... no? :)

Deities 'oppose' mega power project - via

A man has survived 22 snake bites in the last 10 years and lived to relate his tale of woe. Because of what he has gone through, Sant Ram's family claims he is cursed. As a result, he had developed a particular odour in his body that attracted snakes towards him. On the other hand, Sant Ram can also smell the presence of a snake in his surrounding. - via

And now horoscopes for cattle in Ranchi

And last but the most UNBELIEVABLE but TRUE.... A 'Hindu' monkey goes to jail for sparking communal tension after biting Muslim kids - Raised by a Hindu family, the monkey, apparently bit some Muslim children five years ago, sparking communal tension in the area. The monkey has since been caged in Orissa for the last five years for disturbing communal harmony. - via

But we'll be fine - afterall, India does not take the honors of being the only place with stupid people and politicians with stupid plans.. :)

In China, a panda attacks a man who enters the panda's cage to 'hug' the bear. Man bites panda back.

In Iran, Iran's supreme leader answers asks his followers to not masturbate during Ramadan as he answers this and other topics on his website!

Pakistan decides to remain as antiquated as ever with attempts to reform Pakistan's rape laws have run aground

and in Australia, they want a lingerie subsidy to save marriages

Turkey-Armenia-France

Turkey, Armenia, France And The Nobelist Novelist - A plastic.com thread

Mixed feelings of pride and anger in Turkey, when on the same day that acclaimed but controversial Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk won the Nobel prize for literature, France passed legislation making it a crime to deny the Armeniangenocide. Between 1915 and 1920 the waning Ottoman empire executed a campaign of deportation against the Armenian people, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands to over one million Armenians. Official Turkish sources have always claimed that the deaths among the Armenians were not a result of a state-sponsored plan of mass extermination, but of inter-ethnic strife, disease and famine during the turmoil of World War I.

Apparently, even Pamuk thinks that the French went a bit too far with their legislation criminalizing denying the Armenian genocide i.e. the French law is as reprehensible as the Turkish law he was charged with violating.

This IHT op-ed also basically says the same.. France in denial.

Legislating to make denying the Armenians suffered genocide at the hands of the Turks illegal deserves the scorn of France's greatest exponent of French speech - Voltaire (real name: François-Marie Arouet!!) must be turning in his grave!

Note: Actually, France is one of the few countries where thanks to the Gayssot Act (Loi Gayssot), voted for on July 13, 1990, it is an offense in France to question the existence of the category of crimes against humanity as defined in the London Charter of 1945, on the basis of which Nazi leaders were convicted by the International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg in 1945-46


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Speaking of IHT, while seeing the 1959 French movie Á bout de souffle or Breathless - considered by many to be the first movie in the French New Wave - by Jean-Luc Godard, the heroine was selling the New York Herald Tribune along the Champs-Élysées ... so, I looked NYHT up on wiki and read that

Following the collapse of the World Journal Tribune, The New York Times and the Washington Post became joint owners with Whitney of the Herald Tribune's European dition, the International Herald Tribune, which is still published.

Aah... now I understand why NYT articles appear in IHT everyday..often the title is changed but the article is the same.

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