Archive for the ‘Islam’ Category
world’s tallest building opens today
When I was in the Dubai airport a couple of weeks ago, the place still looked to be booming.
Despite the much reported financial crisis in Dubai, some investors are already predicting a turnaround. My guess is that Dubai’s still a great long term investment.
The Burj Dubai – which means Dubai Tower – opens Monday with a fun-filled ceremony complete with fireworks and a hair-raising parachute jump.
The skyscraper, now the world’s tallest building, soars a half mile into the air, can be seen from 59 miles away and has 160 floors. …
what do you know about Bangladesh?
I thought I was “worldly”, … yet I knew almost nothing about Bangladesh before going there as a volunteer this Fall.
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The first thing people talk about in the capital Dhaka, is the traffic.
You might average 20km/hr. Walking is sometimes faster.
Actually, if you can get off the road, the countryside is green and lush. It’s one giant flood plain.
Bangladesh is a fast growing economy (growth 6-7%/yr), devoutly Muslim … but with few security problems. The nation is focused on economic growth, looking to bring millions out of poverty. Agriculture and clothing manufacture are the main industries.
It’s surprisingly progressive, the first Muslim-majority country to establish an all-women United Nations peacekeeping force. They have a woman Prime Minister.
Instead of blaming problems on the U.S.A. as a distraction, leaders in Bangladesh are “seeking five billion dollars of foreign investment for power and gas projects to end a chronic energy crisis”.
I think they’ll get 5-10 billion. Bangladesh is a good long term investment.
Happy Victory Day, Bangladesh!
Bangladesh celebrated Victory Day Wednesday, heralded by a 21 cannon salute that rang through the capital at dawn, while the president laid a wreath at the National Memorial in Savar to commemorate those who gave their lives for independence.
On this day in 1971, the Pakistan army surrendered to the allied forces of Bangladesh and India at Ramna Racecourse Maidan in Dhaka, ending the painful nine-month war that saw a new nation emerge.
National Parliament building (Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban)
more Bangladesh photos
Terrorist – John Updike
John Updike was one of our greatest living authors. He died in January.
Updike chose to write an important book on an important subject.
The central character is age-18, the son of an Egyptian exchange student who married a working-class Irish-American girl. The young man agrees to become a suicide bomber for Allah. He will blow up the Lincoln Tunnel under the Hudson River in New York.
Of course the novel is skillful. Insightful.
I learned more about Islam from this short novel than from anything else I’ve ever read.
I’d read other Updike books and expected not to enjoy this one.
Like most Updike novels, most other literature, this book is depressing. With a very negative world view.
American culture in the eyes of a devout Muslim is disgusting. (The terrorist has some very good arguments.)
The ending surprised me. It was not what I expected.
That surprise redeemed the book for me. Somewhat.
I still don’t recommend you read Terrorist, unless you want to better understand what might motivate an intelligent, thoughtful fellow human being … to want to kill you.
Bush dodges shoes
There’s simply no upside to the War in Iraq.
America would have been better off, and safer, if they had never invaded.
The legacy of George W Bush:
… the journalist stood up and threw a shoe from about 20 feet away. Bush ducked, and it narrowly missed his head. The second shoe came quickly, and Bush ducked again while several Iraqis grabbed the man and dragged him to the floor.
In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. Iraqis whacked a statue of Saddam with their shoes after U.S. marines toppled it to the ground following the 2003 invasion. …
This is a farewell kiss, you dog!
No doubt Muntadar al-Zeidi, a correspondent for Al-Baghdadia television, an Iraqi-owned station based in Cairo, Egypt, is a hero now in the Middle East.
Once the Americans quit, they’ll be blamed for decades for not staying.
how to beat your wives
Saudi author and cleric, “Dr.” Muhammad Al-’Arifi advises men on how to beat their wives.
“Admonish them — once, twice, three times, four times, ten times,” he advised. “If this doesn’t help, refuse to share their beds.”
And if that doesn’t work? He asks.
“Beat them,” one of the 3 responded.
“That’s right,” Al-’Arifi said.
Corporal punishment was the norm in Canada in my lifetime. (I never did get “The Strap” in school, but many of my pals did.)
Today teachers would be jailed for it.
But in many cultures, especially Islam, it’s still considered correct tough love.
The treatment of women in Muslim countries is horrible, overall.
When I was in Buddhist Sri Lanka a few years ago, teachers and parents were astonished that you could not hit kids. “How do you teach them anything?”, one gymnastics coach asked me.
Godless Pat Condell hates Saudi Arabia
Pat Condell (born 1 November 1951) is an English stand-up comedian, writer, and Internet personality. An outspoken atheist, Condell hosts a series of widely-viewed short video monologues denouncing religion.
He’s actually an unpaid internet sensation, racking up over over 15 million hits on videos like this.
… some profanity
I’ve often taken a pro-Islam stance on this blog … as a reaction to the unfair demonization of all Muslims everywhere. Over 99% of anti-Islam rhetoric is over-the-top.
But in this case, I’m happy that Pat Condell has a platform to speak his piece. Saudi Arabia is a fair target. Why did George Bush invade Iraq instead of the homeland of the bin Laden family?
Almost all of the plane hijackers were Saudi Arabian.
Saudi oil money protects that backward nation. It will be interesting to see what happens when the oil money runs out.
Mall of America vs West Edmonton
Jotting this from the Mall of America.
Pretty blah. Just a mall. Few special attractions. A surprising lack of variety in stores.
Statistics on the biggest and best malls of the world are contested:
The title of the largest enclosed shopping mall remains with the West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada since 1986. West Edmonton Mall is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the “largest shopping centre in the world” and “world’s largest parking lot”.
One of the world’s largest shopping complexes at one location is the two-mall agglomeration of the Plaza at King of Prussia and the Court at King of Prussia in the Philadelphia suburb of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA. The King of Prussia mall has the most shopping per square foot in the US. The most visited shopping mall in the world and largest mall in the United States is the Mall of America, located near the Twin Cities in Bloomington, Minnesota, USA. However, several Asian malls are advertised as having more visitors, including Taman Anggrek Mal, Kelapa Gading Mall and Megamal Pluit, all in Jakarta-Indonesia, Berjaya Times Square in Malaysia and SM Megamall in the Philippines.
Beijing’s (Peking) Golden Resources Mall, opened in October 2004, is the world’s second largest mall, at 600,000 m² (approximately 6 million square ft). Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is advertised at 700,000 square metres (7,530,000 sq ft). SM Mall of Asia in the Philippines, opened in May 2006, is the world’s third largest at 386,000 square metres (4,154,900 sq ft) of gross floor area. The Mall of Arabia inside Dubailand in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, which will open in 2008, will become the largest mall in the world, at 929,000 square metres (9,999,700 sq ft).
Actually, the Mall of Arabia does not open until 2010 according to the official website.
Not sure what the dinosaur is doing there …
The Dubai Mall may eclipse West Edmonton first when it opens late 2008:
movie – Kite Runner – delayed
I read the book. Here was my review then:
Kahled Hosseini – The Kite Runner. 2003. Books set in Afghanistan are hot in 2006. This critically acclaimed example is a great eye-opener for those who do not know that part of the world, like myself. It is intense. Painful to read. It reminded me of A Separate Peace, by Knowles. By the last page, however, I was disappointed. Far too cliché and predictable. It is lame in the way formulaic TV movies are lame.
Still, I am very keen to see this important movie.
Author Khaled Hosseini has come out in support of a decision to delay the film version of his novel The Kite Runner over fears for the stars’ safety.
Studio Paramount Vantage has put the film back by six weeks, after three young Afghan actors said they could be targeted over a homosexual rape scene.
The studio has also arranged for three families to go and live abroad.
Hosseini said he “applauded” the decision. “Afghanistan has become a pretty violent place,” he added.
The overall message of the film is tolerance, love, friendship and forgiveness …
“If the boys and their families think there is a reasonable risk of threat to them, then you have to take all of the steps that you can to make sure they are okay,” he told the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper.
“I applaud the studio for delaying the release of the film even though it goes against whatever commercial wisdom there is.”
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Kite Runner author supports delay
To see the movie trailer click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Mother Of All Heists – $500 Million stolen
The principle motivator for the USA attacking Iraq, I feel, was to put taxpayer dollars into the pockets of rich Americans. Rich Republicans. The Bush regime assumed they’d recover the money — somehow — from Iraqi oil.
But they had no incentive at all to put US taxpayer dollars into the pockets of rich Iraquis. This is just the Mother of all Blunders.
From 60 Minutes:
(CBS) This segment was originally broadcast on Oct. 22, 2006. It was updated on June 14, 2007.
President Bush says the United States can’t leave Iraq until the country can govern and defend itself. Right now a number of inconvenient facts suggest it can do neither. Everyone knows about the chaotic security situation, but less has been reported about the rampant corruption that has infected a succession of Iraqi governments. In a story that first aired in Oct. 2006, Iraqi investigators told 60 Minutes that at least half a billion dollars that was supposed to equip the new Iraqi military was stolen by the very people the U.S. had entrusted to run it.
As correspondent Steve Kroft reports, it has been called one of the biggest thefts in history, the mother of all heists, and it happened right under the noses of U.S. advisors. But neither the United States nor its allies have shown much of an appetite for pursuing it.
related post – BBC – who stole the Baghdad billions?
two more soldiers killed in Iraq – but who’s counting
Not George W.
Lost Voices – Why the deaths of Yance T. Gray and Omar Mora are particularly galling.
By Fred Kaplan in SLATE
On Monday, while Gen. David Petraeus prepared to testify before two House committees about the successes of the surge, seven of his soldiers died when their transport vehicle overturned in a highway accident west of Baghdad.
Two of those soldiers, Staff Sgt. Yance T. Gray, 26, and Sgt. Omar Mora, 28, were part of another group of seven—the seven noncommissioned officers of the 82nd Airborne Division who wrote a brave, well-reasoned op-ed in the Aug. 19 New York Times, calling the prospect of victory “far-fetched” and appraisals of progress “surreal.”
One of the other NCOs, Staff Sgt. Jeremy A. Murphy, was shot in the head during a firefight before the op-ed piece was published. (Rushed to a military hospital, he is alive but recovering slowly.)
It is sad and appalling that nearly half of the authors of that op-ed are now casualties of the war that they publicly criticized but more than willingly continued to fight. (The last paragraph of their piece read: “We need not talk about our morale. As committed soldiers, we will see this mission through.”) …
The Iraq war claims two soldiers who wrote a critical op-ed. – By Fred Kaplan – Slate Magazine
