Lebanese Violence Up, A Wahhabi Valentine's Day: Love West of Aramco, A Nappy-Headed Chelsea Clinton?
Violence escalates among the Lebanese factions.
Arab ministers meet to tighten screws on satellite channels.
A bleak Wahhabi Valentine's in Arabia: why the arfaj and tarthuth are no substitutes for red roses.
Chelsea Clinton and the Imus-ing of a good reporter.
Algerian men's real woes.
The Gulf tarthuth plantIncidents of violence are increasing in Lebanon. They are increasingly taking a sectarian flavor, as in Sunni vs. Shi'a, with the Christians split between the two sides. This rift was precipitated by the war of the Summer of 2006 between Hezbullah and Israel. With the results of the war at best a standoff (from an Israeli point of view), the sectarian and militia equation in Lebanon was drastically changed. When a guerilla force fights a regular invading army to a standstill and keeps it from achieving its goals, it is a victory for the guerilla force. In fact when any Arabs army does not lose to the Israelis in a complete route within, say, five days, it can be considered a sort of victory- that is how low the bar has been moved in the Middle East.
Anyway, there has been irresponsible talk of a civil war, famously recently by Mr. Jumblatt who inherited the Progressive Socialist Party and its Druze militia and all the villages it owns, along with their inhabitants, from his late father. Unfortunately, the elderly kid is nothing like his father.
The perceived victory for Hezbullah also had implications for the regional balance of power: it is well-known that Iran supports Hezbullah while Saudi Arabia and the United States support the Hariri-Saniora rump cabinet- in fact Sa'ad Hariri keeps residences in Riyadh, but it is not known if Mr. Nassrallah owns any residences in Tehran or Qom (highly unlikely). During the war of 2006, Saudi and some Gulf media even tried to discredit him on the Arab street by claiming that he had gone into hiding in the Iranian embassy- a highly unlikely move for a leader who is as politically clever as Nassrallah.
In Iraq, violence seems to be taking different forms, but it has been unmistakably increasing over the past few weeks.
Goebbels-degook: Arab propaganda ministers are usually called minsiters of "information" nowadays- in the old days, more honest days, they were brazenly called ministers of "Guidance and News". I remember when I finsihed graduate school in the United States I shipped some videocassetes with my books back home. The "ministry" censors zeroed in on a movie I had recorded, Chariots of Fire, claiming that it was "nice to Jews", as one tubby and bearded censor told me. They kept my film, saying it was banned. What really really irked me, still irks me, was that a few weeks later the state television station, which is run by the same ministry, showed my film. They showed the very same Chariots of Fire, Jew and all! And I have wondered if they confiscated my tape so that they could show it for free.
They are meeting in Cairo, these ministers and chief censors, no not like old Cato the Censor, to discuss "regulating" satellite television broadcasts. There have been complaints that they aim to curb the increased degree of openness and the resulting criticism of Arab regimes on the new satellite news channels. It is noteworthy that in recent months, the most vocal and most outspoken Arab satellite channel, al-Jazeerah, has been tamed. It has been largely muzzled as far as exposes of news that embarrass Arab governments are concerned.
No Love in Arabia: Saudi authorities have banned the display or sale of red roses around Valentine's Day. The good news is that they still allow the sale of dark shoe polish which is the favorite among the men, especially among he potentates, for dying facial hair.
The reports also indicate that the Saudis have banned all red gift items, but they allow the sale of yellow roses in deference to a certain (white not high-yeller) former governor of Texas.
Perhaps a more native plant, like the arfaj plant, would be acceptable as a symbol of love? I was going to recommend the tarthuth desert plant, native of the Gulf shores, but then I realized that its shape is highly and deeply suggestive- I would imagine that if a man sent a tarthuth plant to a woman other than his wife the hairy "vice" squad will swoop on him before you can yell "Polygamy!". Love between the opposite sexes is frowned upon West of Aramco.
Hillary Clinton is asking for David Shuster's head. The good reporter has been suspended by MSNBC, but she wants an Imus done on him- she wants him fired. And the craven executives just might cave in and give her what she wants. MSNBC is slighhtly biased toward Barack Obama, and someone mentioned that he was active in sovering the White Water investigation. But after all, Chelsea is no nappy-headed ho...definitely no ho.
Do we care?: Aaafaq is supposed to be an Arab reform web site, so I am not sure how this item fits into its agenda. It reports that an Algerian professor has concluded from his research that at least four million Algerian men suffer from sexual impotence (erectile dysfunction). He claims that this is partly caused by political-security tensions as well as tough economic conditions (I wonder if president Bouteflika also suffers from ED).
Cheers
mhg
m.h.ghuloum@gmail.com
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