Arab Spring Misses Riyadh but Lands in New York…………

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In a tense showdown above the East River, the police arrested more than 700 demonstrators from the Occupy Wall Street protests who took to the roadway as they tried to cross the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday afternoon. The police said it was the marchers’ choice that led to the enforcement action. “Protesters who used the Brooklyn Bridge walkway were not arrested,” Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the New York Police Department, said. “Those who took over the Brooklyn-bound roadway, and impeded vehicle traffic, were arrested.” But many protesters said they believed the police had tricked them, allowing them onto the bridge, and even escorting them partway across, only to trap them in orange netting after hundreds had entered………..

Somehow the Arab Spring overflew Saudi Arabia and landed in New York City. It must be the power of that old fear: it was vanquished in Tunisia and Egypt and Libya and Syria and Bahrain and Yemen, but it still rules supreme in Riyadh.
Cheers
mhg



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From the Middle East to the Caribbean: It was the week of “Stupid”………

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Al-Qaeda calls Ahmadinejad ‘stupid’. They advised him to be “logical” not “ridiculous”. The Salafi terrorist group is pissed at the Iranian president for disseminating conspiracy theories about the 9/11 attacks at the UN. Ahmadinejad was probably just trying to needle the U.S. government with his talk, but he also got an unintended benefit by pissing off the Salafi terrorists.

Castro calls Obama ‘stupid’

. Castro maybe at least half right about that. The whole Cuban blockade by the United States is stupid. It has nothing to do with freedom for the Cuban people; it has to do with winning elections in Miami and some other congressional districts. If freedom was the goal of these boycotts, Saudi Arabia would be the first country on the American boycott list (and Bahrain would have NATO planes bombing it).

Cheers
mhg



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Iran: On Religious Freedom, What Religious Freedom?……………

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The lawyer of Yusef Naderkhani, an Iranian pastor sentenced to death for apostasy, says there is a good chance his client will be acquitted. Mohammad Ali Dadkhah made the comments to RFE/RL’s Radio Farda as international anger over the sentence grew. “I have provided the court with explanations that I believe will make the court change its decision, and it is 90 to 95 percent likely that the court will acquit Naderkhani,” Dadkhah said. The 33-year-old Naderkhani converted to Christianity from Islam in 1997, when he was 19. He was arrested in 2009, when he was serving as the pastor of a small church in the northern city of Rasht. A court sentenced him to hanging after convicting him of apostasy. Islamic law in Iran says a Muslim who converts to another faith can face the death penalty. Naderkhani’s wife was sentenced to life imprisonment, but has been released. The Supreme Court upheld Naderkhani’s sentence but said his conviction would be overturned if he repented and renounced his conversion……….

With judges
like these, no wonder the guy converted to something else. We always call for freedom of religion, but only in the West. It is the same story in Iran or in Saudi Arabia or in Malaysia or in almost any other Muslim country. Freedom of religion is professed by all, except Saudi Arabia which openly does not allow any religious practices other than Islam. In some places even other Muslim sects are banned. The fact is that most of our Islamic countries, including Iran, do not respect the freedom of any other religion.

Cheers
mhg



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Human Rights: GCC and Egypt and Jordan and Morocco, Terra Humorless…………..

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This
new rumor about inviting Egypt to join the Gulf GCC could be a way to inject some Egyptian humor into the GCC. Is it to offset Jordanian lack of humor? A humorous Egyptian to offset a surly Jordanian (some claim, probably unfairly, that is the only kind of Jordanian there is), although it might take more than even a sunny Egyptian or two to offset a truly surly Jordanian. Egypt would be a great candidate, humor-wise, to join the GCC. These eighty or ninety million humorous Egyptians will more than offset the 20 million or so GCC citizens who are mostly humorously-challenged (I admit) plus the five million totally humorless Jordanians and any among Moroccans who lack a sense of humor. (My knowledge of Moroccan humor is extremely limited, although I had some great fun with a couple of Moroccan friends I had met in Vienna when we were all younger. I also know something about Algerian humor: they are still waiting for it at the station).
Of course all this would not be relevant to the GCC if the citizens of the GCC were a little bit more humorous (actually if they were a lot more humorous). But we do have a trace of a sense of humor, which is an improvement over, say, Jordanians or even Syrians. (Did I ever write about my experience with Turkish humor? It is probably second only to Jordanian and Palestinian humor in terms of non-existence, but close enough to Syrian and Lebanese).
Anyway, let me cut the bull and say it: the GCC needs Egypt, especially now that it plans to expand into Jordanian territory, terra humorless.
Humor should be considered as a human right, even in Jordan.

But what about all the talk and other stuff about elections in Egypt? Will that mean the potentates of the Gulf will also have to run for their offices in elections? And how can, say, five thousand Saudi princes run for office? Will they have to introduce an elected office titled “prince”? Then the Bahrain and UAE potentates will have to run for the job of “shaikh”. Then wtf will the Omani potentates run for since they have neither princes not shaikhs?
Or will the Egyptians elect another absolute king and stay with him for another 30 years?

Cheers
mhg



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Oh Oh Lockerbie, and STL of Lebanon, and Tony Blair, and the Fab Four………

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Four U.S. senators visiting Libya say they talked to the country’s new rulers about the need for justice in the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing. The four are part of the highest-ranking American delegation to travel to Tripoli since Moammar Gadhafi was ousted last month. Libya was implicated in the bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people, many of them Americans. Scotland has asked the new transitional leaders of Libya for help tracking down those responsible now that Gadhafi is no longer in power. Sen. John McCain of Arizona said Thursday he is confident the new Libyan government will help. “We’d like to know who else was connected with this”…….….

These four senators are ‘an item’ now. Let’s call them the unfabulous Fab Four.
I can tell him who was involved. At least two Western governments, only one of them British. Several Western corporations and major banks. Many two or three faced politicians who feigned concern for the victims of Lockerbie and their families while winking and nodding at the deal the British government made with Libya. Then there is Tony: just follow your nose. Tony the Poodle Blair, the one man “have bank account, will travel; no deal is beneath me” show.
Not that I am convinced anymore that Mr. al-Megrahi was the perpetrator. These “international” investigations and courts sometimes have methods and ways that are not kosher (in almost any religion). Not always, but sometimes. Look how they truly fucked up the STL Hariri investigation of Lebanon: most Lebanese don’t believe that they did an honest non-political investigation, nor do I, nor does any other half-wit who has followed the case. Most also think they and their “findings” are irrelevant now: most except for the March 14 in Lebanon and a gaggle of Saudi Gulf journalists.

Cheers
mhg



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Egypt’s Love Affair with Free Media Resumes, Will Joining the GCC be Next?…………

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Egyptian security officials have raided the Cairo office of Al Jazeera Mubasheer Egypt, roughing up its staff, detaining an editor and confiscating equipment, the news chief said on Thursday. This is the second time this month Al Jazeera Egypt Mubasheer’s office has been raided after Egyptian authorities said the station and its staff were operating without permits. Since its inception in March, the station was unique in that it carried live broadcasts of all major Cairo protests during the uprising that started in December. The station’s news chief, Ahmed Zein, said the station applied for permits, and was promised it would receive them next week.
Zein said security officers dressed in civilian garb forced their way into the office in the Agouza neighbourhood in central Cairo, refusing to identify themselves and shoving the office staff into one room. When a reporter asked them for identification and a search warrant, the security men pushed her ………..


Egypt’s junta is resuming the old Mubarak-era raids on the media. They have apparently resumed their dislike for al-Jazeera, even though the network has made up with the Saudis and supports the NATO “mission” in Libya. It is these types of behavior that would endear the ruling military junta (SCAF) to the potentates of Riyadh and Abu Dhabi, That may explain some recent rumors about a Saudi invitation for Egypt to join the GCC. If true, the next candidate could be Iran or Turkey or Israel (based on “keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer”). On a more “serious” note, the more logical candidates for membership would be Pakistan and Malaysia since the former sends mercenaries to the GCC and the latter has expressed willingness to send mercenaries. These all would come after Morocco and Jordan have joined.
Cheers
mhg



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McCain and Graham Lose Lieberman, Abandon Iraq, Seek to Settle in Libya, about Grits…………

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The four lawmakers — John McCain of Arizona, Mark Kirk of Illinois, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Marco Rubio of Florida — planned to meet with members of the National Transitional Council, which is now governing Libya after the rebels forced Qaddafi from power. Qaddafi’s whereabouts remain unknown, but the new leaders suspect he is hiding in the southern desert of the North African nation. The senators, whose brief visit was largely shrouded in secrecy, also planned to tour Martyrs’ Square and hold a news conference with reporters. They traveled from Malta, where they met with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi on Wednesday……….

I hope the senators had a good chat with Mr. Gonzi in Malta (I wonder wtf happened to old Mr. Mintoff?). Glad to see them lose Lieberman and pick up a couple of new sidekicks. I never cared for that weasel Joe, but that’s okay, he did enough damage. Now it is McCain and Graham who seek bases in the Arab world, almost insist on it. McCain probably travels to the Middle East more than he travel to Arizona except at election time and the same applies to Graham. Which tells you something about the quality of the Arizona Tex-Mex cuisine and the grits in these two states. South Carolina did have good grits when I was a freshman there, at least the university dorm did, but that was probably not in Senator Graham’s hometown.

Cheers
mhg



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Privately Run Public Gulags: Immigrant Detention Camps of America, Britain, and Australia…………..

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The men showed up in a small town in Australia’s outback early last year, offering top dollar for all available lodgings. Within days, their company, Serco, was flying in recruits from as far away as London, and busing them from trailers to work 12-hour shifts as guards in a remote camp where immigrants seeking asylum are indefinitely detained. It was just a small part of a pattern on three continents where a handful of multinational security companies have been turning crackdowns on immigration into a growing global industry. Especially in Britain, the United States and Australia, governments of different stripes have increasingly looked to such companies to expand detention and show voters they are enforcing tougher immigration laws……………But the ballooning of privatized detention has been accompanied by scathing inspection reports, lawsuits and the documentation of widespread abuse and neglect, sometimes lethal ……….

Look for France’s Sarkozy to adopt this idea if his electoral fortunes get worse in the coming months. That should seal his re-election in the ‘new’ France.
This
looks like a definite accelerating trend in the English-speaking major countries now. Private prisons, private security firms for military installations and embassies, and now private detention concentration camps for illegal immigrants. Anybody can tell you that private for profit security companies seek to maximize profits (surprised?) and that the public sector seeks to ensure humane treatment as well as the proper public policy. The twain shall never meet. I know, they say oversight and inspections will take care of that. Harrrrumph.

Cheers
mhg



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Emirati Activists Charged for Flipping off the Potentates and for Terrorism……..

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Six men have been referred to the Federal Supreme Court over charges including perpetrating acts that pose threats to state security, undermining the public order, opposing the government system, and insulting the president, the vice president and the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, the UAE Attorney, General Salim Saeed Kubaish, said yesterday.
The six were named as Ahmed Mansour Ali Abdullah Al Abd Al Shehi, Nasser Ahmed Khalfan bin Gaith, Fahad Salim Mohammed Salim Dalk, Hassan Ali Al Khamis, all Emiratis, and Ahmed Abdul Khaleq Ahmed, who does not carry identification papers, were said.
General Kubaish said the crimes are punishable by the Federal Penal Code and the Federal Law on Combating Cyber Crimes.
He said the six were detained after evidence against them was established by investigations……..

I guess by “cyber crimes” they mean blogging.
They flipped off the ruling potentates, but only metaphorically. Their written demands and comments were very polite, too polite in fact toward the potentates. I’d flip off the potentates and the watermelon court that will no doubt sentence them to prison, unless it is ordered by the potentates to do otherwise.
Cheers
mhg



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Iran and Sudan, Libya and Zimbabwe: should NATO be Worried?………….

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Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday lauded the close ties between Tehran and Khartoum, and underlined that the two countries are resolved to boost mutual cooperation without any limit or boundary. Addressing a meeting between high-ranking delegations from Iran and Sudan, Ahmadinejad described the two countries’ ties as “brotherly, deep and stable”, and noted, “Having a deep and shared understanding of the current historical juncture and developments, the two countries are seeking to increase their cooperation at all levels and without any restrictions.”……….

The Iranians sure know how to pick them. So they lose friends and allies all around the world but gain Sudan.Big deal: Qaddafi also had great relations with Bob Mugabe; what good did it do him, unless he gets Ian Smith’s old ranch for his retirement? Somehow I don’t think that NATO will be too worried about this alliance. I suspect the Saudis will be more worried about this than the West, and not for any strategic power reasons. Their main worry is that the mullahs will start converting Sudanese to the Shi’a sect. These guys are as focused as the Iranians are, but for different reasons. Who said simplicity was bad?
Cheers
mhg



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Multidisciplinary: Middle East, North Africa, Gulf, GCC, World, Cosmos…..