Category: Islam

Iraq has a women’s beach volleyball team?

On By Rick McIn Islam, sport - amateurLeave a comment

DOHA, Qatar (AP) — When Salim Al-Nabit and his friends went to see beach volleyball for the first time, they left their wives home.

Al-Nabit said he would watch the bikini-clad women, but he certainly wouldn’t want his wife to do so. He was there, he added, because it was a matter of national honor.

“We don’t see this a lot in Qatar,” Al-Nabit said. “I think most people think it is outrageous. But we accept it because it is important for our country. We want others to see us as a generous and hospitable people, willing to accept their ways, even if we don’t agree.”

Beach volleyball’s penchant for bikinis has touched off a bit of a cultural clash in this conservative Muslim city, which by hosting the Asian Games, a regional sports extravaganza, is trying to bolster its bid to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to the Middle East.

iraq-volleyball2-art_0.jpgThe city has transformed itself in an effort to woo the Olympics. It has spent billions on infrastructure and sparkling new sports facilities, including the 50,000-seat “Aspire” stadium. …

Though 16 Muslim nations are represented at the Asian Games, only one, Iraq, is competing in women’s beach volleyball. And its team, sisters Lisa and Lida Agasi, are Christians.

Beach volleyball bikinis shake up Asian Games in Qatar – CNN.com

Bahrainis use Google Earth to spy on royals’ palaces

On By Rick McIn good news, government, internet, IslamLeave a comment

It was in China in 1998 when it first dawned on me that the internet would bring down that totalitarian regime.

I expect China to suddenly (and surprisingly to some) move to democracy by 2010.

Why?

Because totalitarianism is inherently unfair. It’s a system where those in control stuff as much RMB into their pockets at the expense of those not in control. This kind of injustice is not sustainable once those being robbed find out what’s going on. Every day it gets harder to keep the masses ignorant.

After China, the rest of the non-democratic nations of the world will go the same way. Even the Kingdom of Bahrain.

How happy are the Bahrainis with their Royals once this kind of information get circulated widely?

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Boing Boing: Bahrainis use Google Earth to spy on royals’ palaces

BBC – who stole the Baghdad billions?

On By Rick McIn audiocasts, bad news, government, IslamLeave a comment

Billions of dollars are missing in Iraq.

Where are they?

This 2-part audiocast is a shocker. I’ve listened to it several times.

Iraq has become a vast financial black hole.

Since the war began in 2003, the Americans have spent around $30 billion of their money – and at least $20 billion of Iraq’s own money – in rebuilding the country. But where has it all gone?

Mark Gregory has followed the money trail from Iraq to Washington via a kebab shop in Jordan.

He discovers that there have been allegations of fraud, mismanagement and corruption on such a gigantic scale that much of the money is now untraceable. …

The US-led administration, talking shortly before the return of sovereignty, offered a vision of a country in which the lights worked and clean water flowed from the taps.

But two-and-a-half years after the handover, many Iraqis say their lives are getting worse despite the vast sums allocated for rebuilding.

Mark Gregory explains how profiteering, corruption, bad management and the strength of insurgency have all paid a part in the failure to rebuild Iraq.

BBC results for Baghdad billions

Read a summary on the BBC website: Baghdad’s ‘missing’ billions

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video – Alive in Baghdad

On By Rick McIn government, Islam, videocastsLeave a comment

The runaway winner in the first annual Vloggie awards (Vlog is another bad name for video casts) was Alive in Baghdad.

(That was a surprise to me as they did not have anywhere near the viewership of Rocketboom or other mainstream shows.)

Alive in Baghdad was formed to counter the sound-bite driven, “Live From” news model. Through the work of a team of Americans and Iraqi correspondents on the ground, Alive in Baghdad shows the occupation through the voices of Iraqis. Alive in Baghdad brings testimonies from individual Iraqis, footage of daily life in Iraq, and short news segments from Iraq to you.

The CNN news model which got so popular during the first gulf war is limited at best. I much prefer to hear what the people in Iraq have to say.

See for yourself: AliveinBaghdad.org

To see an interview with the founder click PLAY, or watch the clip on YouTube.

movie – Munich

On By Rick McIn books, government, Islam, movies, philosophyLeave a comment

Munich (Full Screen Edition)Just saw the film Munich , the Hollywood version of the story of Israeli retaliation after the kidnapping and murder of 11 athletes at the 1972 Olympics.

Steven Spielberg directed and the quality is excellent.

I thought it was remarkably unbiased. Both the Palestinian terrorists and the amateur Israeli retaliation team are shown as people, not heroes or villains.

Spielberg focuses on “the cyclic nature of revenge and the moral price of violence”.

Everyone is a loser in this film.

The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist TeamI might have liked the movie better if I had not read the book on which it is based, Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team by George Jonas.

Jonas attempted to document the true story of one of the Israelis, Yuval Aviv, who is played by Eric Bana in the movie.

In the book the assassinations of people on a list who may or may not be involved in Munich was much uglier than in the film.

Well … the movie is “inspired by the true story”. The book criticized as being inaccurate regarding the true story. The facts are muddled.

But one thing is clear to everyone. Assassination and counter-assassination do not work, long-term.

I recommend both film and book.

12,000 Turks march against radical Islam

On By Rick McIn government, IslamLeave a comment

I believe in a separation of Church and State. Theocracy is bad government. We’ve seen that time and time again.

But Islamic secularists are reluctant to voice this view. Perhaps they fear repercussions.

200px-Ataturk23.jpgHere’s an exception. Inspired by Ataturk (who should be a great hero of Islam) brave people took to the streets.

ANKARA, TURKEY — Thousands of nationalist Turks marched in the capital Saturday, vowing to defend the secular regime against radical Islamic influences and urging the government not to make too many concessions in order to gain European Union membership.

Some 12,000 people from more than 100 pro-secular associations waved Turkish flags as they marched to the mausoleum of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey. “Turkey is secular and it will remain secular,” they chanted during a march broadcast live on some TV channels.

Newsvine – 12,000 Turks March Against Radical Islam

world’s tallest tower rising in Dubai

On By Rick McIn economics, Islam, travelLeave a comment

I’m assigning my Dubai correspondent Chris to check this out. Rumour is that the tower on the building will eventually be almost 1km high!

With two stories added every week, Burj Dubai is taking shape as the centerpiece of a 20-billion-dollar venture featuring the construction of a new district, “Downtown Burj Dubai,” that will house 30,000 apartments and the world’s largest shopping mall.

Launched in early 2004, the construction of the tower by South Korea’s Samsung should be completed at the end of 2008 and cost one billion dollars, according to Greg Sang, the Emaar official in charge of Burj Dubai.

Burj Dubai already has 79 stories, taking its height to more than 200 meters (656 feet). But even after having gone that far, Emaar is still not revealing the tower’s final height.

BREITBART.COM – World’s tallest tower rising in Dubai

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artists drawing – on Wikipedia

Dalai Lama defends Islam

On By Rick McIn Islam, philosophyLeave a comment

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The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, has warned against portraying Islam as a religion of violence, saying Muslims have been wrongly demonized in the West since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Promoting religious tolerance, the world’s most influential Buddhist leader said Sunday that talk of “a clash of civilizations between the West and the Muslim world is wrong and dangerous.” Terrorist attacks have distorted people’s views of Islam, making them believe it is an extremist faith rather than one based on compassion, the Dalai Lama told a press conference in the Indian capital.

All religions have extremists and “it is wrong to generalize (about Muslims),” the 71-year-old spiritual leader said. “They (terrorists) cannot represent the whole system,” he said.

Muslims Have Been Wrongly Demonized in West: Dalai Lama

Canadian deported to Syria for torture is cleared

On By Rick McIn bad news, government, IslamLeave a comment

Maher Arar was guilty. But only guilty of being Muslim.

Having heard Arar interviewed, I must say his story sounds legitimate. Authorities over-reacted.

Arar is waiting on a personal apology from the Prime Minister.

A Syrian-Canadian has been totally exonerated of having ties with Al Qaeda — after the RCMP and US Department of Homeland Security conspired to have him shipped to Syria, where he was tortured for ten months.

Maher Arar was passing through the US on the way back to Canada when the DHS detained him. The Mounties sent the US authorities bogus intel about him, saying that he had “links with Al Quaeda” because he was friends with someone who might be an Al Quaeda sympathizer. The US authorities sent him to Syria, where they (and the RCMP) fed questions to his Syrian torturers for months. Eventually, his torturers extracted a “confession” from him.

When he returned to Canada, he publicized his plight and the RCMP responded by smearing him, publicizing his “confession” and saying that he’d gotten what he deserved.

Now a public Canadian inquiry (which the DHS boycotted, refusing to disclose any information) has totally cleared Arar, and the RCMP has apologized for sending a citizen to a corrupt totalitarian state to be tortured because he was friends with someone they didn’t like.

… Three other Canadian citizens were also tortured in the Middle East under similar circumstances: Abdullah Almalki, Ahmad El Maati and Muyyed Nurredin.

Boing Boing: Canadian deported to Syria for torture is cleared

criticism of Islam

On By Rick McIn government, Islam, travelLeave a comment

If you read this blog regularly you know I am pro-Islam.

I have had nothing but wonderful experiences travelling in the Muslim world and am mortified at the stupid things I see in the Western media.

That said, there are aspects of Islam with which I disagree including these listed on the (locked down) Wikipedia page:

  • The use of fatwas to punish violations committed by Muslims (e.g. the death edict against British writer Salman Rushdie).
  • Apostasy in Islam, which is punishable by death under Islamic Law (in some countries).
  • Human rights abuses by the Taliban and other fundamentalist governments.
  • The use of violence by Islamist militant organizations as a means of spreading Islam.
  • The state of women’s rights in muslim societies. (Especially disallowing girls to attend school.)
  • The censorship of criticism of Islam (e.g. Muhammad Cartoons).

    • I don’t list the current debate about whether the religion was historically more spread by the sword than Christianity. It is an unimportant issue. Ancient history. A hot button which diverts attention from the far more important issue of women’s rights.

    Certainly there are many Muslim societies that have evolved past all of these (often exaggerated) criticisms.

    The good works of Islam far outweighs the bad.

    Of course I also disagree with some of the traditions of other religions, especially Catholicism and Hinduism. (Lets save those for future posts.)

    Now unlike some religious defenders, I welcome criticism of my point of view. If you believe I am wrong please post a comment below.