A Small Massacre at Bombay- Pakistan and The Salafi Peace Corps- The Detroit CEOs Rediscover Jack Kerouac and The Joy of The Road- Asinine Husbands of Arabia, Unite!
Bombay, Bembay, Mumbai: It is hard to call it Mumbai when since childhood I have heard almost everyone call it Bombay- many even called it Bembay in the dialect of the (Persian-American) Gulf. And how can they change Frank Sinatra and the bar that he knew in 'far Bombay', where they served some 'exotic booze if she can use it' ? Another factor that makes one cling to 'Bombay' is the fact that an extreme right-wing Hindu political group, Hindu Salafis if you will, had forced the name change to Mumbai.
One thing stands out in the whole Bombay-Bembay-Mumbai terror attacks. Most of the murders were random killings at venues chosen to maximize the number deaths and publicity. There was one exception at a small target: the murders at a center for India's dwindling Jewish community. That part of the murders reflects the literal reading by the murderous Salafi Jihadists of ancient Quranic verses and Hadith, and applying them literally to this day and age. This type of warped ideology is what the Pakistanis have inherited from the petro-moderate New Middle East. This wahhabi intolerance is their share of the oil boom.
Speaking of Pakistan: it is fast becoming the center of the war of terrorism. Forget Afghanistan: it is not really a state, but a gathering of uneasy chiefdoms. It is Pakistan that is already at least as Salafi as Afghanistan, but with a veneer of modern institutions and with atomic weapons. The elite feudal landlord classes and the military generals partly control the major cities and towns, but the heart of the heartland is with the fundamentalists. This is what the decades of religious schools, the madrassas, the Salafi petro-equivalent of the (U. S.) Peace Corps, has done for Pakistan. This is the best that the oil boom in Southwest Asia has done for the Muslims of South Asia.
The Detroit CEOs hit the road:
Larry, Curly, and Moe of the Big Three automakers are heading to Washington again. This time they are driving in a hybrid all the way- no individual corporate jets for these forced plaebians. They say that they are in fact carpooling from Detroit to DC. I hear they each have bought a paperback copy of Keroauc's' On The Road'. Not clear who is Sal Paradise and who is Dean Moriarty here.
In praise of asinine husbands:
A Saudi judge has granted a divorce in the case of a wife who called her husband many names, including that he has a weak personality and that he is a humar, an ass (donkey). The wife had just finished talking to her husband on her cell phone and, thinking that she had hung up, called him the names for the benefit of her friends. Apparently both cell phones were open and the man heard what his wife really thinks of him- he no longer has to wonder why she gets a headache every night. Needless to say, he eschewed the good old American costume of seeking a marriage counselor or going on one of those annoying television shows like Dr. Phil- he sued for divorce. In front of the Saudi judge he repeated "I divorce you" three times. His honor the judge, probably mindful of what his own wives say on the telephone about him and his asinine qualities, immediately granted the divorce.
On the other hands, how many other husbands over there would love to hear what their wives think of them, and how many dread overhearing it? Arguably Saudi Arabia, like most countries, has more than its fair share of jackasses of the male denomination.
There have been other incidents where an sensitive husband and wife split over her calling him an ass (as in jackass). Last year, one Syrian bride danced with her groom, and sang to him a hit Arab song of the period "I love you jackass". The man insisted on a divorce right there and then. Apparently there are many men in the New and Old Middle East who are extremely sensitive about their asinine qualities. If the shoe fits......
He is alive!:" Egypt stressed that it supports international efforts to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. But it stressed the importance of avoiding new military conflicts, preferring diplomatic solutions."
"The UAE government has decidd to ban tailors, cooks, and nurses from driving. This group of expatriates will not be granted driver's licenses as a way to reduce traffic congetion."
The Shaikh of Al-Azhar University (Cairo) was photographed shaking hands with Israeli president Shimon Perez in New York. So far nothing unusual: Egypt has diplomatic relations with Israel and president Mubarak meets with and shakes hands with Israeli leaders. But the shaikh has come under media attack anyway, even though the president of Egypt does not come under attack for doing the same thing, a simple handshake. Many Arab leaders attended that New York meeting, including a very old king, and some of them must have shaken hands with Perez- but they must have done it under the table, or in a closet because there are no photos.
The Egyptian shaikh has made matters worse by accommodating his hypocritical critics, claiming, incredibly, that it was a mere coincidence and even hinting that he did not realize initially whose hand he was shaking. Ya, sure.
Cheers
mhg
Comments