Thursday, July 31, 2008

Cats and Dogs

Saudi Arabia is banning selling and walking cats and dogs on the grounds some men use them to make passes at women.

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Strike in Kuwait

Kuwait's government has blamed employers for a recent three-day strike by guest workers:
"The Kuwait government has acknowledged that abuses by some employers were responsible for a strike by Asian workers and vowed to stamp out such violations, the official news agency Kuna reported on Thursday.

"'The most notable violations were delayed payments to workers, lack of suitable housing and pay deductions,' Kuna quoted Justice Minister Hussain Al Huraiti as saying...

"The government reached an agreement with the workers on Monday to end a three-day strike which turned violent when some workers overturned cars and ransacked offices before being dispersed by police.

"The strike in the country came against a backdrop of soaring inflation, which exceeded 11 per cent in April and May...

"Labour Minister Bader Al Duwaila said on Wednesday his ministry would recommend raising minimum monthly wages after the strikes to 40 dinars (about Dh555) from the current level which a business executive said was 30 dinars (about Dh416)."

There's been a definite increase in labor activism in the Gulf during the past few years, and its good to see workers potentially getting somewhere.

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Wednesday, July 30, 2008

AKP Survives

In a somewhat surprising verdict, Turkey's 11-member constitutional court fell one short of the seven votes needed to ban the country's ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP). The party will, however, have its state funding cut in half. This is officially a warning, but it also weakens the group politically, suggesting the secularist forces on the court may have feared popular outrage on the AKP's behalf similar to what happened last year in the controversy over Abdullah Gul's presidential nomination.

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Olmert Out

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced today that he would resign after the Kadima primary set for September 17:
"Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday that he has decided not to contend in the Kadima primary election and would resign as soon as the new party leader was chosen, due to the criminal investigations that have embroiled him in recent months.

"'I have decided I won't run in the Kadima movement primaries, nor do I intend to intervene in the elections,' Olmert said in an official statement to the public from his official residence in Jerusalem on Wednesday evening.

"'When a new [Kadima party] chairman is chosen, I will resign as prime minister to permit them to put together a new government swiftly and effectively,' he added. The prime minister has been under official investigation in recent months over allegations of corruption in his former capacities as Jerusalem mayor and trade minister."

Olmert's likely successor as Kadima head is current Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, perhaps the country's most popular major politician. The coalition should remain stable in the short term, as none of the parties in it would benefit from elections, especially Labor. As prime minister Livni would almost certainly continue the direction of Olmert's diplomatic policy, though she would ultimately face the same problem he would have of trying to keep the coalition intact through a diplomatic accord with the Palestinians, and perhaps with Syria, as well.

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Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Probing Abu Salim

Sayf al-Islam Qadhafi is investigating a 12-year-old massacre of Islamist prisoners in Libya:
"Saif al-Islam Qadhafi, the son of Libyan ruler Muammar Qadhafi, has promised those responsible for the 1996 massacre of as many as 1,200 Islamist prisoners will be brought to trial (Reuters, July 24; Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation, July 26). Apparently part of ongoing reform efforts in Libya, the announcement still came as a surprise, with few believing the taboo subject would ever be reopened so long as the Qadhafi regime was in power. The Libyan president acknowledged in 2004 that some killings had taken place in the notorious prison but his son now says that “genuine” preliminary investigations have been completed and the case will now proceed to the state prosecutor’s office before going to trial. According to Saif al-Islam: 'Disproportionate force was used in the case of Abu Salim. Mistakes have been made in handling the case… The trial will follow a fair process and those found guilty will be punished. The trial will be open to the public.'

"The announcement, which was broadcast live on state television, came before an assembly of prosecutors, government officials and leading members of Libya’s internal and external security agencies."

The immediate question here is what is happening behind the scenes in the Libyan regime? Will this be used to eliminate internal forces opposed to Sayf's eventual succession to Libya's paramount leadership? Is this designed in part of co-opt some Islamist elements to support the government during a potential transition period?

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Monday, July 28, 2008

Policies

The Manlius Public Library has an internet caution:
"As part of its commitment to provide public access to information, the Manlius Library offers access to the Internet. While the Internet can be a valuable source of local, national and international information which expands the scope of resources available to our users, it is an unregulated medium that changes constantly and unpredictably. Information found on the Internet may be inaccurate, incomplete, outdated or offensive to some individuals.

"The Manlius Library does not monitor and has no control over the information accessed through the Internet and assumes responsibility only for the information provided on its home pages. Library patrons use Internet resources at their own risk and discretion."

Am I to understand that information found in books is never "inaccurate, incomplete, outdated or offensive to some individuals?"

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Saturday, July 26, 2008

Marriage in the UAE

Friday, July 25, 2008

Tehran Paper Banned

Tehren mayor Muhammad Baqir Qalibaf is considered the most serious potential rival to Mahmood Ahmadinejad in next year's Iranian presidential election. Today an edition of the city-run newspaper was banned over allegedly harmful news concerning a debate within Ahmadinejad's government over interest rates.

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The Kuchi Issue

The Rumi posts a story about Kuchi Pashtuns terrorizing an area near Kabul:
"Haji Mohammad Mohaqiq, the representative Hazara (Shia Muslim) in the parliament has been on a hunger strikes almost a week in order to get attention of the government and stop killing his innocent people.

"Kabul government sent police forces to stop the Kuchis but in this video you can see the kuchi-armed groups dressed in Taliban style are walking in front of National Police. Why the police forces cannot take their weapons? What is so special for the kuchies to be armed while the rest of the ethnicities are disarmed?

"The Kuchis have been busy killing animals, student boys with their school backpacks, older men and women, raping girls of Hazara people in Behsood villages.

"The Afghan National TV has been censoring the condition as well as not broadcasting single news, because the Minster of Cultur & Information is a nationalist Pashtun who wants to protect his Kochi brothers. .

"Karzai himself who is also related to Kochi tribes keeps client and allows them to do whatever they want in Hazara Land instead of solving the problems as a President of the country. President Karzai who is thinking of to win next Presidential Election, uses the power of Western countries and NATO forces supporting his Pashtun Nationalistic ideologies and terrorizing the non-Pashtun ethnicities.

"A month before President Karzai warned Pakistani government to stop Al Qaeda entering the borders and he added that it’s my responsibility to take care of Pashtuns people, no matter what country they lives. Karzai as a President of a multiethnic country, is allowed to talk in such a manner? America wants to stop the terrorists by going to Pakistani borders but Karzai wants to take advantage of this circumstance establish a greater Pashtunistan in two sides of the borders."


I don't know what the other side to this story might be, but it does illustrate two major points. One is that anyone who claims the Taliban represents a Pashtun resistance to a non-Pashtun government doesn't know what he or she is talking about. At one time the Kabul government was dominated by the Northern Alliance, which was mostly non-Pashtun. However, it no longer is, and in fact for the past couple of years Afghanistan's non-Pashtun leadership has been in opposition in parliament, not holding the levers of power. The Taliban movement cannot be explained using ethnicity theory, which isn't really applicable to Afghanistan anyway.

Another point is that if Afghanistan is to become a stable country, a lot more is going to have to happen that defeating the Taliban insurgency.

(Crossposted to American Footprints)

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Thursday, July 24, 2008

Stargate Atlantis

After seeing several episodes, the most recent of which was the season two finale "Allies, Part One," I am officially a fan of Stargate Atlantis. The show does resemble Star Trek to a surprising degree, but so far it's been good Star Trek, and the current arc feels like a combination of TNG's "I, Borg" and Voyager's "Scorpion" that's more than the sum of those parts, featuring a cast that's as fun to watch on its own terms as that of Firefly or Babylon 5 in the days of Jason Carter's Marcus Cole and Patricia Tallman's Lyta Alexander. It actually occurred to me that a lot of the show is what the Star Trek prequel series might have looked like had the Enterprise creators not been set on recapturing lost TOS/TNG glory.

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Opposing Rahmon

Popular discontent with Tajikistan's government may be growing:
"But several protests have been held recently in the capital, Dushanbe, as well as in cities like Kulob, Panjakent, and Khorog. In one case, the appointment of a local official prompted a rally.

"'People are not afraid of the government's retaliation anymore,' says 22-year-old Safar, from the eastern Badakhshan region. 'What else can happen to us? With a university diploma in my pocket, I have to work like a slave in Russia, because I don't have any -- literally any -- job opportunities in Tajikistan. The situation can't possibly get any worse than this.'

"The attitudes of many Tajiks appear to have shifted recently, with skyrocketing food prices and energy shortages that left people freezing to death in their homes during the coldest winter in living memory."

Since Tajikistan relies on hydro-electricity for much of its energy supply, the recent drought has hurt more than just agriculture in the country.

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Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Bulldozer Attacks

This sort of thing could quickly become a serious problem:
"A Palestinian bulldozer driver went on a rampage in downtown Jerusalem on Tuesday, wounding at least 16 people, just weeks after a similar attack in the capital left three dead.

"The driver was identified as a 22-year-old resident of East Jerusalem who held an Israeli ID card. Police sealed off possible escape routes into the predominantly Arab area of Jerusalem and were searching for two suspects who fled the scene, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said...

"The copycat attack occurred on the corner of Keren Hayesdod and King David streets in downtown Jerusalem, down the road from the hotel where U.S. Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was to be staying later in the day."

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Saturday, July 19, 2008

Marshall on the Comments

Josh Marshall also weighs in:
"Consider McCain's strategy, which is all bound up with Iraq.

"All understand it is a given that the war is unpopular and that the vast majority of Americans want out as soon as possible. The big of wiggle room is just what's 'possible.' McCain has invested his entire campaign in support for the purportedly nascent Iraqi democracy al Maliki represents and the claim that Obama's support for a timetable for withdrawal irresponsibly risks losing the gains we've achieved and giving Iraq back to al Qaeda.

"Here, with a brush of the hand and in so many words, al Maliki says, 'No, we're good.'

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Ezra Klein is Right

About this:
"Maliki, speaking to the German magazine Der Spiegel, said, 'U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama talks about 16 months. That, we think, would be the right timeframe for a withdrawal, with the possibility of slight changes.' In other words, the head of the Iraqi government endorsed the Obama plan -- both its timetable and its timing -- by name. That's huge. And it's the culmination of a weeks-long effort by the Maliki government to drive their desire for a timetable for withdrawal into the American political conversation. But though they've repeatedly expressed their preference for a timetable for withdrawal, this is the first time they've explicitly supported the plan of one candidate or another.

"Fundamentally, Maliki's comment is evidence of what the Iraqi government sees as the primary impediment to their government attaining real legitimacy: Us. The American occupation is hugely unpopular, and if Iraq is to truly stabilize, its government needs to be seen as independent from the occupiers and opposed to their continued presence. McCain needs to either come out with a new Iraq plan featuring a withdrawal component tomorrow, or explain why he believes America should fight for continued military dominance in Iraq over the objections of the American people, the Iraqi people, and the Iraqi government."


(Crossposted to American Footprints)

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Thursday, July 17, 2008

Relative Weight

In Israel, the focus of the deal to obtain the bodies of Goldwasser and Regev was Samir Kuntar, and Hizbullah has certainly put him front and center. However, in every Arab media outlet I've checked this morning, precedence is given to the remains of Lebanese fighters.

UPDATE: I've posted more observations at American Footprints.

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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Attacking Social Services

It's long been said that Hamas is popular because of its social services. Israel's defense establishment is now on the case:
"Israeli military officials have identified Hamas's civilian infrastructure in the West Bank as a major source of the Islamic group's popularity, and have begun raiding and shutting down these institutions in cities like Hebron, Nablus and Qalqilyah.

"Last week, troops focused their efforts in Nablus, raiding the city hall and confiscating computers. They also stormed into a shopping mall and posted closure notices on the shop windows. A girls' school and a medical centre were shut down in the city, and a charitable association had its computers impounded and documents seized.

"This policy, officials say, is meant to deny the Islamic group, which is committed to Israel's destruction, the ability to use these institutions as a pipeline by which money is channelled to finance attacks on the Jewish state. But the main goal of this campaign is to stem Hamas's growing popularity in the West Bank, and ensure it does not seize control of the area as it did in Gaza a year ago, when its forces vanquished the more moderate Fatah movement headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas...

"In recent months, the army has also closed down an orphanage, a bakery and other institutions in Hebron, which Israel believes are associated with Hamas. In Gaza, meanwhile, Israel and the Islamic group are observing a truce, but this does not pertain to the West Bank where the Israeli military operates freely."

Are they serious? Having Israel attack Hamas orphanages and medical centers is supposed to make Palestinians turn against Hamas?

(Crossposted to American Footprints)

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Releasing Kuntar

Today Hizbullah handed over to Israel the bodies of Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, whose kidnapping two years ago sparked the Second Lebanon War. Israel, meanwhile, is handing over the bodies of several Lebanese fighters, as well as releasing Samir Kuntar, imprisoned for these actions:
"On April 22, 1979, Kuntar's terror cell reached the shore of Nahariya in a rubber dinghy; they shot at a police car and killed an Israeli police officer. At midnight they broke into the Haran family home, and abducted the father, Danny, and his four-year-old daughter, Einat. The mother, Smadar, the two-year-old daughter Yael, and a neighbor hid in a bedroom crawlspace.

"The terrorists took the hostages towards the shore and, when they encountered law enforcement officers and IDF soldiers, Samir Kuntar shot Danny Haran at close range and cold-bloodedly slaughtered Einat by bashing her skull against a rock with the butt of his rifle. In the hiding place at the Haran home, baby Yael suffocated to death from her mother’s attempts to keep her quiet so the terrorists would not find them."

These are the types of actions that, even when directed against Israel, many Arabs will quietly distance themselves from. Augustus Richard Norton comments:
"One may argue that his pending release by Israel is something of a political victory for Hezbollah, as Amal Saad-Ghorayeb does, but it is simultaneously a moral defeat for Hezbollah. This man was not a victim, but a bona fide terrorist. He is not like those Lebanese seized, reprehensibly, by Israel in years past to be held for years as bargaining chips, or those Lebanese jailed by Israel for fighting to liberate their country. Whether Christian, Jewish, Hindu or Muslim, there should be not doubt about the distinction being made here. The fact that Hezbollah has made his release a centerpiece of its policy, and that his release was a rationale for the infamous operation of July 12, 2006, undermines whatever moral claim the group might otherwise make."

Unfortunately, I sometimes think Israel's over-use of the word "terrorist" to describe almost all its enemies will prevent this point from being made effectively, and figures like Kuntar will continue to have a following among those who only hear about attacks on their enemies.

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Thursday, July 10, 2008

Sahar TV in Azeri

I was unaware that Iran beamed Azeri-language programming into southern Azerbaijan:
"The source of the programs is Iran's state-run Sahar TV, whose efforts to broadcast to Azerbaijan in Azerbaijani often overpower domestic signals. They have even been said to reach as far as Baku, about 240 kilometers from the border.

"Much of Sahar's programming deals with religion, leading critics to suggest that the broadcasts are part of a wider effort to export the ideals of the Iranian Revolution. Some of those same detractors accuse Tehran of employing a 'soft power' assault to unduly influence the Azerbaijani public -- or even undermine indigenous culture or tradition.

"The situation has prompted a hostile reaction from Azerbaijan, which last year suspended the licenses of all foreign television broadcasters. Baku claims Iran's broadcasts are illegal and takes issue with the frequent criticism of its government for its political and economic ties to the West."

The roots of this initiative probably lie in Iran's revolutionary ideology, though they also serve to put some pressure on Azerbaijan's government. Azerbaijan is mostly Shi'ite, and so some in Iran probably see the country as a natural place to try spreading Khomeinist ideology. However, fundamentalist Islam has simply never caught on much in Azerbaijan, and when I was there, it seemed clear Azeris were fond of their government, undemocratic though it may be, and hostile to Iran.

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Wednesday, July 09, 2008

Palestinian Hizb ut-Tahrir

Omran Risheq has an article in this month's Arab Reform Bulletin on the growing influence of Hizb ut-Tahrir among Palestinians. HUT was founded in Jerusalem, but is most associated with Central Asia, where it is the primary Islamist opposition in most countries. However, in contrast to the impression given by Risheq's article, their focus is on establishing a caliphate through peaceful persuasion, rather than a military coup followed by world conquest. I'm not sure what accounts for this discrepancy between Risheq's reporting and everything else I've read about the organization.

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Monday, July 07, 2008

Utilities Update

Today I was supposed to get my cell phone, but didn't. According to shipment tracking, there was another address error, so I still don't have any way to contact the outside world aside from occasional wireless bumming. The company involved in both incidents is Verizon, whose customer service is not replying to my on-line inquiries. I can't actually call them because, you know, I don't have a phone.

Pardon my venting.

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Sunday, July 06, 2008

Internet Access

I just moved and was supposed to have internet access the day after I moved in to my new apartment. However, in the single most incompetent mistake I've ever seen from a phone company, they got my city wrong between confirmation and installment, and now I won't have internet at home or a land line until July 17. This is reducing my blogging.

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