Better than pilsner?            But will they deter the infidels?

Iran misfires:
Iranians have fired some new missiles, some with a range that reportedly can reach Europe, which makes little sense. A few media reports claim that the Iranians doctored (photoshop-ed) one picture to show more missiles than actual. This comes on the eve of expected US naval maneuvers in the Persian-American Gulf later this month, and it has served to make the Gulf states even more nervous.

They have been firing missiles occasionally over the past couple of years, but it is not clear how accurate they are, or what type of warheads they can deliver. I am NOT from Missouri: I can visualize some concepts without actually seeing them. But in this case I'll really believe it when I see it.

Lebanon- North to Tripoli:
Battles continue to erupt in the northern city of Tripoli (largely SUnni) between Sunni Islamist militias and members of the armed Alawite minority. The Lebanese can't agree on who is responsible. Hizbullah and her allies claim that the Hariri- Saniora groups, and their Arab backers, have over the past year instigated Sunni militancy as a buffer to Hizbullah which is Shi'a. The Hariri-Saniora side claims alternately that either Syria or Hizbullah or both are responsible. The Alawites are allied with Hizbullah,and the Sunni Islamists are pro-Hariri, and they seem to suddenly be well-armed, well-financed, and hell-bent on confrontation.

Arabian breweriesr: not your Redhook or Sam Adams
Demand-induced inflation has not only hit petroleum and food items: it has moved up to a higher (or is it lower) rung of the food chain in Yemen. Demand there for camel urine has gone up recently, as alarabiya reports that women especially have been using it increasingly to cure many ills, such as hair loss, kidney disease and others. Others claim it is good for the skin and strengthens the gums. I haven't seen any mention of its effects on ED, yet. Many women travel to a region of Yemen known for the quality of its camel urine. No they don't call it 'the brewery' and the place is nothing like Woodinville or Redmond, but I wonder if the product is anything like Redhook IPA or Blonde.

One university co-ed said that she has been using the camel product since Middle School and that it has worked, and that all women in her family use it. One bottle (o.75 Liter) costs $4, which is quite expensive for Yemenis who have the lowest standard of living in the Middle East. (Hell, it would be expensive even for the average American who might balk at paying $4 for a Latte of Seattle’s Best). The high price has led camel owners, predictably, to water their animals more often in order to increase production, the economic equivalent of drilling for oil offshore in the USA, as suggested by Bush, McCain et al. Just think: Clyde could have struck it rich and moved to Beverly, Hills that is.

A few years ago an Islamist shaikh, also in Yemen, claimed that he had found a cure for AIDS and there was some speculation in the media at the time whether he used camel urine among the ingredients. I though at the time that his whole claim was a pitcher of camel urine.

Some years ago I knew a woman who used to wash her hair every day with beer, not camel urine- real European beer. In my parched, dry, small homeland right on the Persian-American Gulf, where the brew had to be smuggled in and sold on the black market at exorbitant prices. The lady 'of the oligarchy' would use bottles of the golden stuff on her tresses each day while we plebians were supposed to go thirsty, forced to obey the shaikhs and imams and desist. Actually we didn't desist much, but that is not the point. The lady's black tresses looked shiny and great, but as for the rest of her, well, you know what they say about a sow and make-up.

At least one former Indian leader was also known to imbibe urine, but his own instead of camel's. Neither of them lived very long.
Cheers
mhg

m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com