We've Moved 2 www.sudanesethinker.com Yaay!!

We're Moving!!!!

2006-09-01T11:45:00.000-07:00

People, I'm joining the big boys now. Muahahaha!!

The Sudanese Thinker is making the move to Wordpress. Damn I'm going to miss this place.

Blogger and Google, thank you so much for giving me a home and a platform that enabled me to speak out my mind. I'll always be a Blogger fan at heart. One love!

Anyways in 5 4 3 2 ONE!

Let's get the party started on my new location shall we??

WWW.SUDANESETHINKER.COM

It Has Begun

2006-08-31T10:20:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine just arrived from Sudan recently. He brought along good news which I later confirmed after 3 phone calls to different people I know back home. Moreover reading the Arabic comments here provided further confirmation.

Public anger is reaching critical levels and the ruling dictatorial NCP is going through a period of extreme paranoia. This is the reason they were so brutal against the protesters. There's a very noticeable change in the overall mood of Sudanese people. It has begun. It seems like we've finally had enough. The NCP is on guard all the time. They're facing intense external and internal pressure. Everyone is going through a "pressure cooker" period and that's good. The majority of the Sudanese people silently support UN troops even though some of them suspect sinister American intensions. The reason is simple. They now hate the NCP much more than they hate America. Others remain undecided and want to avoid another Iraq. I could qualify as one of those since I would like to see a truly humanitarian solution to the problem in Darfur by supporting AMIS instead of UN troops. That could probably never happen though.

In light of those latest developments, I would like to face the reality and I would also like to convince myself of a critical point. Darfur is not a disease. It is merely the symptom amongst many symptoms of a much bigger disease, mainly the ruling NCP and tribalism (which the NCP continues to promote and encourage by the way).

Even if Darfur is solved in a humanitarian way, it would only be curing the symptom. The disease would still be alive and as a consequence so will corruption and oppression. Who knows? Maybe in a few years time we'll even witness another Darfur unfolding. Hence the long term solution is simply getting rid of the ruling NCP. The only way to truly advance forward is through revolution and simply put, revolution means blood and sacrifice. There is no peacefull revolution. All revolutions are bloody. We need to accept that fact and decide if we really want one or not.

Freedom and justice will never be handed to us. No it won't and especially by the NCP it won't. Handing that will mean the collapse of the NCP and they'll never allow that to happen to them. They're at the point of no return. A long list of people are now wanted for war crimes. It's those people who have too much to lose and will never risk rotting in jail. The more important point to take notice of is that the majority of the Sudanese people on the contrary have totally and absolutely nothing to lose.

Mark my word people, we're moving into a new phase in Sudanese history. I might be reluctant to agree to a bloody revolution since I'm afraid I do have somethings to lose. Others increasingly don't. Ladies and gentlemen, it has just begun!

Today Is Malayia's 49th Independence Day

2006-08-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

It's exactly 12.05am right now and it's officially the 31st of August. I can already hear celebrations all over my university campus. Malaysia today proudly celebrates its 49th Independence Day i.e. Merdeka. Even though I'm not out there singing the Malaysian national anthem, Negara Ku, I'm still here in my room celebrating with all Malaysians in spirit.

On the 1st of January this year, Sudan celebrated its 50th independence anniversary. There's a huge difference though. What have we Sudanese achieved in those 50 years compared to Malaysia? Nothing much! It saddens me to say it but that's the truth. What Malaysia has been able to achieve only in its past 22 years under the great leadership of the honorable Tun Mahathir is far from remarkable. The country is steadily moving towards its vision of becoming a developed nation by the year 2020.

I congratulate Malaysia for its achievements and I ask those cynical Malaysians to cheer up. They should appreciate what they have. The reason they don't is because they haven't seen any of the other depressing things happening elsewhere. Malaysians, unlike us Sudanese, have a government that has the interests of its citizens in mind. That's the kind of leadership we need in Sudan. I hope that will happen during my lifetime.

Happy Merdeka Malaysia!

Allahu Akbar Jihaaaaad!

2006-08-30T08:39:00.000-07:00

Remember my previous post entitled "Presenting You with a Lesson on Jihad In Islam"? I hope you do because I have an announcement to make. I'm a Mujahid and I'm on a mission of holy Jihad. Here, check this out on Big Pharaoh's blog. I'm loving every single word of it and I endorse it 100%. It represents me and my political ideologies to the fullest. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about it. Jihad all the way baby! Allahu Akbar!

Bush Offers to Meet With Omar al-Bashir

2006-08-30T04:35:00.000-07:00

Bush has offered to meet with Sudanese dictator Omar Hassan al-Bashir. Is Bush trying to offer "carrots"?

A State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Frazer carried a letter from Bush to Bashir, which generally discussed Bush's concern about Darfur. She told Bashir that cooperation on Darfur could bring many benefits for Khartoum, though the official declined to specifically confirm them.

Could "many benefits" be referring to lifting sanctions? I doubt it and even if that is the case I don't think any "carrots" will work at this stage. Bashir has already made himself a target for the Sudanese Islamist groups. If he accepts UN troops, jihad will officially be declared against him and his gang. This is getting more complex by the day and meanwhile innocent people in Darfur still continue to die.

Hat tip- Shamarat

Sudanese Protesters Beaten

2006-08-30T04:24:00.000-07:00

It's funny really. The Sudanese government has no problem allowing demonstrations against Israel or UN troops. However when the people protest against it they beat them up.

Riot police fired teargas and beat a journalist in central Khartoum on Wednesday as opposition parties and supporters gathered to demonstrate against a recent rise in petrol and sugar prices, witnesses said.
A Reuters witness saw riot police snatch a TV camera from an Al Jazeera journalist filming the crowd. The police chased him, beating him with sticks while firing teargas at those around.

Riot police carrying batons and shields sped in trucks through the streets of central Khartoum dispersing any crowd attempting to demonstrate.

Yaaay to Sudanese freedom of speech.

I Like "Clitoris" Goes Platinum!

2006-08-28T23:40:00.000-07:00

I Like "Clitoris" hit 45 comments. Yaay! My first post with 35+ comments. I need to think of other topics hotter than anal sex and femle genital mutilation now. Hmmm... What about 69 and threesomes? I'm sure the discussion will end up forming 2 opposing teams ie. Atheists VS Believers in God. Thank you Darwin, if you never came into being, all the readers would have most probably agreed that anal sex ain't right. Anyways, let's cut the sex talk for a while and get back to political rants shall we?

Debating UN Troops & the Conspiracies

2006-08-28T22:39:00.000-07:00

The only reason I called this blog "The Sudanese Thinker" is because my brain is always thinking about something, anything. You don't need to be Einstein to call yourself a thinker. Afterall Chimpanzees think too.

I've been thinking about Darfur, the conspiracies and the ongoing debate on accepting UN troops. The thinking, various comments, posts on other blogs and rethinking have paid off. I've made a transition into a new mental state regarding the situation and I have a more refined opinion now.

The opposition to UN troops started mainly because of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) aka Bashir and his gang of corrupt butchers. Eventually various youth organizations caught the flu and joined in the "sneezing". Following that, various tribal leaders from Darfur voiced their opposition. A considerable portion of the Sudanese public became opposers too. All of this happened thanks to the propaganda machine of the NCP. It is common knowledge in Sudan that America and even Israel backed up the SPLM during the 20 year north-south bloody civil war. This common knowledge provides the fertile ground on which healthy conspiracy theories can thrive. Bin Laden's & Zawahiri's calls for Jihad are a final "cherry on top".

If Sudan was a target for exploitation, Darfur would receive much more attention in the Western media. It doesn't get enough. Moreover, the ruling NCP themselves announced many times before that they're eager to improve Sudan's relations with the United States. Hence, it doesn't make sense that the White House will go through all the trouble of planning a conspiracy. The White House has got enough problems and wars at hand. I'm against the UN troops coming in because as I said it will mean war and more suffering. However if the ruling NCP agrees to them, then the risk of war will considerably be reduced. In case the NCP does agree, I would be more welcoming of the UN troops but I will still have my worries. Afterall, UN troops didn't achieve much in Rwanda and Congo so I wonder what they'll be able to achieve in Darfur. Al-Qaeda and the Sudanese Islamists are another issue too. Will Al-Qaeda act upon its threats? Will the UN troops be able to respond to them? Will the Sudanese Islamists declare war upon Bashir and his gang? I don't know. All I know is that if the "others" want the ruling NCP to accept UN troops Darfur, carrots or assurances should probably be provided.

Anyways, the Broadway show continues. This is all such a waste of time. The Security Council debates Darfur and Sudan boycotts. How lovely? They'll talk, they'll drink coffee and finally they'll eat some cheese cake. At the end Sudan will give a no no.

If people want to talk about Darfur from a humanitarian perspective, then UN troops will make things worse and Darfur will become a warzone. However if people want to talk about Darfur from a political perspective, then a bloody revolution is the only way to settle the problem. Both are bad scenarios and that's why I support strengthening the AU troops. Nobody is opposed to them and if strengthened they can provide the protection needed in Darfur. I don't understand why it's so hard for others to understand that.

There's a recent development though and I don't know if it's good or bad. Remember when the Sudanese government said it has its own plan of sending 10,000 of its troops to Darfur? Well apparently, the plan is unfolding. Large military build ups are already being reported. Hmmm. I don't think the innocent Darfurian civilians are going to appreciate the fact that the same people who were responsible for their misery are now the ones going to be responsible for protecting them. We'll see what happens.

Caring for Circumcised Women

2006-08-28T21:45:00.000-07:00

This is related to my previous post on FGM.

Nawal Nour, MD, a Sudanese-American, is the director of the African Women’s Health Practice at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. The only clinic of its kind in the United States, it addresses the medical and emotional needs of female immigrants who have undergone genital circumcision in their homelands. In 2003, Nour was named a MacArthur Fellow for advancing initiatives in international women’s health.

As part of the Lowell Humanities Series, Nour discusses founding the clinic in 1999 and her experiences with patients she has treated. She also provides background on the historical and cultural context of the practice of female genital circumcision.

(source)

Hat tip - Hipster & Shamarat

I Like "Clitoris"

2006-08-26T11:34:00.000-07:00

I like "clitoris" and I shall assume that all men like "clitoris" too (well okay, not all men). The question that I want to ask to women though is, do you like your clitoris?!

In Sudan and the Muslim world, there are still barbaric practices taking place. New born girls are still subjected to mutilation of their precious reproductive organs. Their clitorises are either cut off or burnt with a red hot metal object. In extreme cases the vagina even gets sewn leaving only a very small hole so that when the girl grows up, she experiences great pain during sex.

All of this savage cruelty is done to girls just so that their temptations get reduced. That way no girl will feel the need to engage in sin. Hence, she wouldn't bring any dishonor or shame to her family.

I’m telling you people, if there’s anyone who takes this whole “honor” thing to a whole new and extreme level, then it’s probably us Muslims.

I know of girls who go to such extreme measures just to satisfy themselves without risking pregnancy or breaking of the hymen (which most sew back by the way). What do most of those paranoid girls do? They take “it” up the anus. Sorry for the mental image but I just had to discuss this.

This nasty tribalism and extremism must stop. Forced morality is not true morality. It’s simply nothing but oppression in my opinion.

UPDATE: Anal sex is a pretty big deal to many people but not to others it seems. Interesting! In Islam anal sex is forbidden just like tattoos are. I never understood why to tell you the truth. I just think taking "it" up the anus does seem a little inappropriate. Don't you think so? I mean come on, that's where your stinky poop comes out from. On the other hand though, your stinky urine does come out from the front. This has got me thinking.

The anus: Is it a one way or 2 ways highway?

Maybe I Should Support UN Troops

2006-08-26T00:12:00.000-07:00

This is interesting.

Khartoum's many Islamic groups have delivered a clear message.

"And if they [UN Troops] come we will fight them until they leave."

Sudan's Islamists say they are not entirely in agreement with Al Qaeda's methods but Ahmed said they would happily take help from anyone to prevent U.N. troops deploying.

Islamist leaders said even Bashir would have cause to fear them if he gave in to international pressure on a Darfur force.

"Bashir cannot give in now, his people would not respect him, even his wife would not respect him if he did," said Malik.

Maybe I should support the UN troops now huh? The Islamists might just seriously turn against Bashir and his gang. Great news I guess =)

All jokes aside though, it seems like there's not going to be any peacefull and non-bloody way out of this. I see trouble coming and I smell instability cooking. I'm worried.

(Hat tip: Sudan Watch)

I Turned 20 Today

2006-08-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

When I turned 18 two years ago, I was on campus busy with my database project. After that I stayed up until 5am doing my laundry. I wasn't happy but I wasn't sad either. I didn't care much.

Today I turned 20 and I'm actually sad. It isn't because of how I would be spending my birthday. It's something else. At 12.15am I hung up the phone after talking to a friend who wanted to be the first to wish me a possible 100 candles and that’s when it dawned upon me. I wasn’t happy and my heart was crying in the middle of a smile. I'm 20. I'm a teenager no more. It was such a strange and distractive momentary paranoia. Soon after, my wishful thinking turned towards ignorance. I wished I was ignorant. After all, ignorance is bliss and my Kindergarten days were certainly bliss. We sang happy songs and learned alphabets and numbers. Sesame Street and chocolate milk were a must. Everything was so full of joy wrapped up in bubbly innocence. There was no Lebanon, no Darfur, no Hurricane Katrina, no tsunami, no nothing. It was just Sesame Street, chocolate milk and happy songs.

I want Kindergarten back but I can't. The train doesn't seem to be getting any slower and it's not like there's any U-turn. Moreover the tracks are heading towards the unknown and the views on both sides all seem so jaded. Kindergarten was beautiful. Kindergarten is beautiful. It’s still there. I see it and it sees me. I smile at it and it smiles back at me. Kindergarten is beautiful and I so badly want it. I so badly want to reach out to it. We all so miserably want to reach out to it but before then, before we’re able to, we’ve got to reach deep within. Once we’ve done that, we wouldn’t feel the need to reach out anymore because we would have already done so. Kindergarten is indeed beautiful.

When You're Born With It

2006-08-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

I’m convinced that there are some things you’re just born with. The whole nurture VS nature debate is the context of this post, just in case you were wondering or felt like going off topic.

I don’t believe there’s something called bad qualities. A stubborn little boy is a bad kid, right? Wrong! A stubborn kid is just… stubborn. It’s how he uses that stubbornness that defines him as bad or good. If his mama tells him to clean his room and he stubbornly objects, he’s bad but if someone tries convincing him he’ll never achieve his goals and he stubbornly refuses to accept that idea, he’s good.

The same goes for Muslims. We Muslims are super emotional and we get mad pretty easily. We’ve got a lot of anger and frustration bottled up so is that bad? No, it’s not. In fact I think it’s good. The catastrophic bad part though is that we’re directing all that anger in the wrong direction, namely America and Israel. Take that anger, light it on fire, take that fire and turn it further into an inferno BUT… Direct it all at our own bloody governments for God’s sake. Okay, fine, fine. You can leave a tiny legitimate bit for Israel and America. Happy?

Back to my point. If you’re angry, stubborn, wild, cold-hearted etc. and people tell you to quit being so, the hell with them. I’m pissed off, I’m stubborn, I’ve got rage, and I embrace all. However, I try my best to put all of those emotions into good use so put yours into good use too. Find a constructive outlet alright? If you… we do, we might just start managing changing this entire loony radicalism and tribalism garbage we’re witnessing. Let's just try something different. Pretty please with a cerry on top.

Anyways, me off to bed. I'm really sleepy and not in a very good mood. I'll tell you the reason in my next post.

Jihad As a Form of Entertainment

2006-08-24T00:14:00.000-07:00

My mom's background is in psychology. She always tells me that the greatest enemy youths can succumb to, is too much free time. Here I'm posting a very thought provoking comment made by Finnpundit in a previous post of mine.

Islam doesn't much discuss the problem of entertainment, and leisure, does it? When societies get affluent enough, there will be a surplus of free time. The notion of "struggle" becomes an anachronism. I don't see why jihad needs to be thought of as a given. How about a life of living it easy? It's possible, you know. And if everything needs to be seen as a struggle, then doesn't that imply something about the person holding that view?

When I think of all the wealth in Saudi Arabia, with free medical care and cradle-to-grave social security, and masses of young people with nothing to do, - as immigrants do all the hard work - I can see all that free time creating conditions for some twisted forms of entertainment.

In a world where leisure is prevalent, the jihadist will probably see jihad as a form of entertainment.

Today Is the 22nd of August

2006-08-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

Yup, today is the 22nd, we're still breathing and Iran hasn't blasted any country. I guess we can chill now right?

Anyways, I'll be gone for 2 or 3 days. Assignments, quizes and tests to focus on. Peace!

Look Who's Been Kidnapped!

2006-08-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

Interesting and revealing article about the IDF's kidnappings of Palestinians.

Hat Tip : Hipster

(Raccoon, it seems like she's awaiting your reply =D)

Like my favourite saying goes: It takes 2 hands to clap!

Cyber Space Break Up & Mutation

2006-08-22T06:40:00.000-07:00

A close friend of mine called me today. She's seriously depressed and probably a little traumatised. Why? She broke up with her boy friend online, ONLINE!! Now she feels bad about it. You women are weird sometimes!

Another random story I want to share with you is about a close Russian friend of mine. He's pissed at me because I gave him a nickname after our whole gang went for a swim. His now notorious nickname is Triple Nipple. Why? He was born 3 months after the Chernobyl disaster in a nearby town. Go figure!

Great Sudanese Plan For Darfur

2006-08-22T06:25:00.000-07:00

The Sudanese government is just hilarious. First... they unleash the crazy Janjaweed and "bam" Darfur turns into a big mess. Then... the Darfur mess just gets messier. After that... the international community turns the heat on them. What do they do? They start a propaganda campaign telling the "easy to manipulate" Sudanese people that the UN's intention is evil. Bwahaha funny! Al-Qaeda then jumps in with their nutty call for Jihad in Darfur... International pressure continues and wala... the Sudanese government comes up with an ingenious plan to stop the violence in Darfur... The plan? Send 10,000 troops from the Sudanese army to protect the miserable civilians !!! Brilliant butchers aren't they?!

Sudan, Iran & The Arab League

2006-08-20T10:02:00.000-07:00

The Arab League on Sunday backed Sudan's rejection of UN troops in Darfur. They'll "try" to fulfill their "commitments" to provide six months' worth of financing for the African Union mission. My fingers are crossed.

(Hat tip - Sudan Watch)

In other news, Sudan's alliance with Iran is apparently strengthening. Great developments huh?

Iranian visiting envoy said Iran is resolute to implement cooperation agreements reached with Sudan, said Iranian Minister of Agriculture who is currently visiting the country.

He said that the strong ties between Iran and Sudan necessitate more consultation between them toward confronting the colonialism conspiracies, and holding discussion on a number of international issues.

If these develpments keep the UN troops out and help reinforce the AU troops instead, I don't mind them at all. However when it comes to democracy, screw both the Iranian and Sudanese regimes. I'm with the West. Why? It's simple really, democracy there is alive and kicking. Dear Muslims, can you deny that? Can you deny that your fellow Muslim brothers and sisters in the West have more rights and freedoms than the ones in Muslim countries of the Middle East? Can you? Hell, even Arabs in Israel have more rights than those living in Arab countries.

Continue supporting the likes of Bin Laden and Ahmadinejad until you find yourselves living under their harsh and extremist Talibani style Sharia infested rule. I'm sure you'll be smiling then.

Pussy Cat Dolls in Malaysia

2006-08-19T10:00:00.000-07:00

About a month ago The Pussy Cat Dolls performed here in Malaysia. I was supposed to go for the concert but due to my stinking luck, their timing wasn't convenient. I had just arrived from US and I was still jet lagged and tired. Something interesting happened after their show though.

The Pussycat Dolls played to a sold-out arena in Malaysia, considered a moderate Muslim nation, in late July.

A local city council fined organizers for allowing the chart-topping singers to wear skimpy costumes and perform "sexually suggestive" routines at a recent concert.

Absolute Entertainment, the local organizer of the Pussycat Dolls concert, was fined $2,714 for flouting decency regulations.

The Malaysian government plays the game in a smart way. The fines are symbolic in my opinion. The concert gets to happen and whoever wants to go can go while at the same time conservative Muslims can chill out after knowing a punishment has been rightly enforced. Everyone is happy this way.

Concerts and rave parties happen here all the time. When conservative Muslims complain, the government calms down their worries by enforcing "strict" restrictions on events. For example when Linkin Park came here about 3 years ago, they were told not to you obscene language during the concert. They didn't and the concert turned out great. I went and it was good! Mariah Carey was told to wear a decent outfit when she came. In other words, she was supposed to cover up her bazooka-sized watermelons. She did. Rave parties here are cool though and they don't usually have much restrictions on them but most of the time security is very tight. They're as wild as they can get.

A few months ago, I went for DJ Tiesto's rave party. How was it? Too good... Just way too good. Absofreakinglutely. Oh ya! Imagine 6pm all the way until 3.30am. Too good! Unfortunately a friend of a friend of another friend overdosed while tripping on E and died. Sigh! Don't get the wrong idea though, me good boy and I don't get high. I just like the loud bass and the crowd.

The Malaysian government does quite a good job in trying to make everyone happy. It's a delicate balancing act and it's hilarious. Read what my friend Aimster has to say though. Babe, I hear you!

Campus Activism

2006-08-19T07:26:00.000-07:00

Last week here on campus there was a "Support Lebanon" campaign. The campaign was successful and a lot of money was raised for the victims. The money was given to the Lebanese Embassy in Kuala Lumpur. Moreover a petition requesting a stop to Israel's bombing was signed by all those who donated including me. It got sent to the US Embassy here.

One of the guys organizing the campaign was a Sudanese. I gave him an idea about making a similar campaign for the sake of the miserable ones in Darfur. He didn't like it and said it could raise sensitive issues. According to him the publicity will make us seem "pitiful" in the eys of others and it could create tension amongst the diverse Sudanese community on the university campus. For example he said that if we were going to raise donations for Darfur, we should also do the same for those in south Sudan. He had a point and so I agreed. However he said there will be others who still won't be happy with the whole idea of "begging for money". I just didn't understand that. When the Pakistani earthquake occured, the Pakistani community on our campus set up their own successful campaign. I'm sure to them it wasn't "begging for money". They were simply helping their country mates and I think it's a very honorable thing.

My friend also wondered to whom we were going to give the money after we collected it. "What about the Sudanese Embassy?" he asked. Ya, sure thing and last night my grandmother planted a tree on the moon too. The Sudanese dictatorship would probably swallow the donations as they do most of the time. "Why don't we give the money to aid agencies working in Sudan then?" I asked. "They'll probably steal it too" replied my friend. Each one of us wanted to go with a different strategy and each one of us had his own doubts and worries.

We continued arguing. I had enough and so did he. "I don't want to get involved in this. It's just too complicated" he finally said before getting up to leave. I didn't know what to think at that moment. A slight feeling of despair crept into my mind and soul. I decided to ask the other Sudanese what they thought. They all raised the same concerns and said it would create problems. They told me to "just let it be". By now the despair was too overwhelming.

It's not an easy task organizing such a campaign all alone while also keeping up with classes. Maybe I give up too easily or maybe I just try too hard. I don't know which one it is. I guess it's too difficult for me to accept reality sometimes and in the process all I do is just drain out myself. My problem is that I'm either very passionate and caring or dead and cold like a stone. Ask the girls who know me well and they'll tell you. Those who aren't close to me will profess my very cheerful and goofy nature. It's true but that's only scratching the thick surface.

Before hitting "Publish", I think it would do you good to know that when Katrina hit, a campaign here on campus was launched for the sake of victims too. The majority contributed generously but unsurprisingly there was a minority that didn't want to donate to "nasty evil America". "Those f*ckers can take care of themselves" shouted a guy I know at the booth girl. Sigh!

It's time for my "six-stringed" best friend to come out of his case. An E major blues solo drowned and compressed in a little reverb and delay ought to do it. That's a little sound engineering talk for you right there. If you know what a Shure SM57 is, you're my new buddy. Peace!

Those Filthy Criminals

2006-08-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

As if Darfur isn't enough. I'm furious. I swear, I really am and I'm doing my best not to start cursing on this post.

Sudanese authorities bulldozed houses and removed by force Darfuris living in an area south of Khartoum, the United Nations said on Thursday, adding there had been reports of people killed and injured.

"Residents said bulldozers had begun demolishing hundreds of houses at around 8am that [Wednesday] morning, with hardly any notice [given] to families," UNMIS said in a statement.

More than 12,000 Darfuris live in the Dar es-Salaam area, around 45 km (28 miles) south of Khartoum, having fled famine in the arid west in the 1980s.

The Interior Ministry did not comment, despite repeated calls.

Forced relocations have become increasingly common in and around Khartoum as land values have skyrocketed, forcing millions of primarily southern Sudanese to move from their small plots of land...

Land prices have soared and the government wants the land to build houses or sell to investors.

Welcome to the life of the 80% poor and broke Sudanese in Sudan. May those filthy criminals responsible correct their mistakes or burn in hell for all eternity. Amen!

U.S. Dismisses Sudan President's Threat

2006-08-18T12:41:00.000-07:00

The Bush administration responded to Omar Al-Bashir's "threats".

The debate on UN troops hasn't ended yet and it doesn't seem like it will end any time soon. I'm tired. They're wasting precious time arguing. As I've stated previously, AU being in command is the best option we have. Bashir's regime doesn't trust the UN troops coming into Darfur under chapter 7. The UN should just accept it. They should also take Al-Qaeda's threats seriously. Darfur will turn into a war zone if the UN troops come into it without the Sudanese dictatorship's consent. That ought to make things real "humanitarian" for the people there.

Presenting You with a Lesson on Jihad in Islam

2006-08-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

Hi, I’m Drima, I’m Muslim and I practice jihad everyday of my life. Jihad in Arabic literally means struggle. There are three types of it in Islam.

The first and most admired jihad in the eyes of Allah is the jihad of fighting evil temptations within one’s self. It’s a noble and spiritual jihad. Believe it or not, it also includes jihad against the other type of so called “jihad” (which we will get to in a minute) that extremist Islamic scholars preach.

The second most significant type of jihad is that which benefits society. A father who struggles and toils daily to feed and support his family is practicing jihad. A teacher sitting with a little girl and trying to explain to her a difficult chapter in her science textbook is practicing jihad. A medical scientist who sits in a lab for hours trying to discover a cure for a dangerous disease is practicing jihad. A policeman and a detective working hard to catch criminals are also practicing jihad. Hell, this blog itself is a form of jihad. On it I practice ijtihad (creative and critical thinking) which also falls under this category of jihad.

The third, least significant and by now notorious type of jihad is that of waging war in self defense. Islam and the Quran lay out clear rules concerning this type of jihad. Innocent people especially women, children and the elderly are not to be harmed. Even a tree is not to be uprooted. It’s clear that based on this; Al-Qaeda’s acts on the dark day of September 11th do not qualify as jihad. Add to that, the Bali, Madrid and London bombings. They’re all a clear violation of Islamic law regarding jihad. They’re all nothing but disgusting acts of terror.

Iraqi insurgents blowing up other innocent Iraqis are practicing terrorism. The targeting of innocent Israeli civilians is also an act of terror and I don’t care what people like Sheikh Qaradawi say. He’s stated that suicide bombings against Israeli civilians are justified. To him an Israeli civilian is an aggressor because he is essentially an occupier. Oh really? Well what if amongst those civilians is a child that was born in Israel. It’s not like it was that child’s decision to be born there. Is it okay to blow up children too because they're evil infidel occupiers? I don’t think so. Occupier or not, innocents should never be targeted on purpose because that in my opinion is plain terrorism. (Hiroshima & Nagasaki?)

The only thing that qualifies as jihad from an Islamic perspective is when military targets are harmed. If they’re targeted using the method of suicide bombing, then the only thing that’s sinful in this case is the act of suicide itself.

After having read all of the above, which jihad do you think is more necessary for us as Muslims to engage in? Which one do you think we are in dire need of? I’ll give you a clue: the first type is the most significant and most pleasing to Allah and the third type (which majority of so called Muslims don’t even follow according to the proper rules) is the least significant. So which one(s) do you choose and why??

It's Slowly Happening

2006-08-16T02:01:00.000-07:00

A Sudanese blogosphere is slowly taking shape. I'm so happy. My vision is coming true. Here's a small round up of some entries.

Bashir got it wrong, again! - Juba Blog

Why Science Fails to Explain God - Hipster (Long post)

Amanda In South Sudan (Recommended)

Lost Identity - Fluent Sudani (Must read)

This is so cool. I'm getting excited here. Interaction will certainly produce more fruitfull discussions. Oh ya by the way, I've got a surprise coming up for you all quite soon and in case you're wondering, I spent 8 hours yesterday in the library and finished off most of my assignments. I deserve a little blogging break don't I? Anyways, enjoy all the posts for today. I have to go and hit the books again. Peace!

Dr. Phil For President!

2006-08-15T21:44:00.000-07:00

Yaaay Dr. Phil for President people! Wooohoo! I'm telling you, if there's anyone who can bring peace to the Middle East, then it's probably him. The guy can fix the most screwed up relationships and glue everything back better than it even was before.

Dr. Phil: Nasrallah, why do feel strong resentment towards Olmert?

Nasrallah: He kicked me out of my home.

Olmert: Ya well too bad. It's my home now.

Nasrallah: Bastard!

Dr. Phil: Now calm down, people. Do you both still love each other?

Nasrallah: *Silent

Olmert: Hmmm... I hate to admit it but yes I do.

Nasrallah: You still do? *tearing

Crowd: Owwwwh!

Dr. Phil: I want you to hold each other's hands and look into each other's eyes. Let it out.

Bzzzz (Commercial break) Subway Eat Fresh

Dr. Phil: We're back now ladies and gentleman. So do you have anything to say?

Nasrallah: I love you man!

Olmert: *bursting out in tears... I love you tooooooo!

*Nasrallah & Olmert hugging and crying!

Crowd: Owwwwh!

Dr. Phil: Owwh, now isn't that wonderfull? I guess, you can move back in and live together again right? I'm sure holy Abraham will be proud of you both. Afterall, we're all his children aren't we? Love is the only answer.

That was such a wonderfull episode, wasn't it? I mean damn, I'm actually wiping my tears here. Dr. Phil for president! *sob *sob... So touching!

Darfur Rebels: Who's Who?

2006-08-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

Darfur rebels: Who's who

You'll have heard of the G8 (Group of Eight industrialised countries) and perhaps G22 (group of 22 developing countries that have lined up against the United States and European Union in world trade talks). But do you know who G19 are?

No, it's not another club of nations nor the latest "boy band" to hit the charts. It's actually one of two recently formed rebel groups in Darfur, so called because it was formed by 19 members of and advisors to the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) at peace talks in Abuja who then broke away from the SLA leadership.

In May, a peace accord was signed between the Sudanese government and an SLA faction led by Minni Arcua Minnawi (now a special assistant to the president), but it was rejected by the leader of a rival SLA faction, Abdel Wahed Mohammed al-Nur, and another rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).

Not surprisingly, perhaps, that deal has had an unsettling impact on the rebel landscape, as well as causing resentment among many Darfuris, leading to increased violence and a more difficult operating environment for aid agencies.

This week, a group of relief agencies pointed out that July was the worst month of the three-and-a-half year conflict in terms of attacks on aid workers, with eight being killed. "Since the signing of the agreement, Darfur has become increasingly tense and violent, which has led to the tragic deaths of far too many civilians and aid workers," Paul Smith-Lomas, regional director of Oxfam, said in a statement. "A full and comprehensive ceasefire must be implemented immediately."

Oxfam, which has had to close some of its offices in north Darfur, has pointed to growing fighting between rebel factions as one of the reasons for the deterioration in security - and there are fears this could get worse.

So who are the main rebel groups, and what do they want? Here's a quick overview:

SLA (Minnawi's faction): This is the only rebel group that has signed the peace accord, with Minnawi since being appointed as special assistant to the president. This makes him number four in the Khartoum hierarchy, and number one in Darfur - meaning he would head a provisional government planned for Darfur. His group has been accused by rights organisation Amnesty International of killing and raping civilians to try to force them to support the unpopular accord.

SLA (al-Nur's faction): This group rejected the deal, and there are reports that al-Nur may have been toppled by commanders in the field. This faction is popular in camps for the displaced as al-Nur is a Fur and thus belongs to Darfur's largest ethnic group.

Justice and Equality Movement (JEM): This group also rejected the deal. JEM is not particularly strong on the ground, and according to the head of the U.N.'s Sudan mission, Jan Pronk, during the talks it seemed to have had its eye more on gaining power in Khartoum than peace in Darfur.

National Redemption Front (NRF): The recently formed NRF is a coalition of rebels opposed to the peace deal, including JEM, former commanders from both SLA factions (al-Nur has disassociated himself from the group) and the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance.

The Sudan Tribune's website has a copy of NRF's founding declaration, including its objectives. It calls for "a just system of sharing wealth and power between the various regions of Sudan", "regional self rule" and "fair participation" in national politics.

The NRF now holds sway in much of north Darfur. It has reportedly been involved in offensive actions, such as an attack on a town in North Kordofan and a military base belonging to Minnawi's faction in Sayah. This week it said it had shot down a Sudanese government bomber, but the government denied the report.

G19: Originally formed by 19 SLA members and advisors present at the Abuja peace talks who split with the leadership. They have gained support among those who oppose the deal, and are based in the northwest of north Darfur. They have reportedly been attacked by Minnawi, and are said to be closing ranks with the National Redemption Front.

Hat tip - Sudan Watch

Bashir: UN Force Would Risk Hezbollah-like Resistance

2006-08-15T21:18:00.000-07:00

Hat tip: Sudan Watch.

People, I'm getting real tired of the retarded UN.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir said Sudan has taken inspiration from Hezbollah and would battle a proposed international peacekeeping force in Darfur, the state news agency reported today. - AP report (via Easy bourse/Dowjones) Aug 15, 2006 - excerpt:

"We are determined to defeat any forces entering the country just as Hezbollah has defeated the Israeli forces," the official Sudanese News Agency quoted al-Bashir as telling an armed forces gathering Monday.

Last week, the US repeated its demand for deployment of a strong and mobile UN peacekeeping force in Darfur by Oct 1. The top UN humanitarian official, Jan Egelund, said the situation is "going from real bad to catastrophic" after attempts to enforce a peace deal unleashed more fighting.

"We are opposed to the deployment (in Darfur) of American, British or other forces imposed by the Security Council," al-Bashir said.

[When is Jan Egeland going to get the message and back the AU?]

Yes, Ingrid I'm wondering the same thing too.

To the UN: For the Kazillionth time, REINFORCE THE AU TROOPS! That's all you need to do!

Darfur previously = Disaster
Darfur now = Worsening disaster?
Darfur + UN troops = Bigger disaster
Darfur + UN troops + Al Qaeda = One big ass GIGANTIC Disaster !!!

Darfur + AU troops reinforced by UN & NATO = HUGE improvements.

Madonna = Cartoons?

2006-08-15T20:57:00.000-07:00

Man this whole Madonna performing on a cross thingy is getting a little out of hand. Her stunt pissed off a lot of people. She's becoming the "cartoon" of the Christian West. Soon we'll start seeing Christians going out in violent riots and burning down buildings. Death to Madonna that stupid whore I tell ya!

Raaaight! You see that's the difference between them and us (drunk English hooligans are an exception). Dear Muslims, we can protest and we should protest against what we don't like BUT we should keep it civil. No to violent riots! Cartoons were NOT nice BUT the riots...? They went way out of hand okay!

On another note, I've always wondered why Muslims don't get offended by things mocking Jesus or even Moses. I sure do feel offended sometimes you know.

See, You Did Lose

2006-08-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

Yup Israel you did lose the battle. Hezbollah won't disarm simply because the Lebanese government won't disarm them. Moreover the UN resolution contains nothing about forcing Hezbollah to disarm. The 2 soldiers haven't been given back yet but there are reports of an exchange being discussed. The IDF is withdrawing its troops. A million civilians had to live in uncomfortable underground bomb shelters for a whole month. Oh ya and let me again say Hezbollah won't disarm.

Olmert didn't do what he said he was set out to do, so based on that I consider this as a loss. Round one is over. Round two should be just around the corner. A lot depends on the international peace keeping force and what it does. Oh ya and depends on one more thing too, Iran!

In other news, it seems like the Mossad was planning to assassinate Hamas's leader, Khalid Mish'al.

Israel You Lost

2006-08-13T03:59:00.000-07:00

Yes you did, thanks to Olmert's "bully mentality" and senseless muscle flexing in the wrong place. You lost. Hezbollah lives on and your 2 soldiers have not been given back. Hell, they're probably dead already. Congratulations, missioned failed! The Arab and Muslim world hates you more now. Oh ya and I forgot to mention America too. On the other hand good on you for accepting the UN resolution. Ops wait one more thing, Nasrallah is the hero of the day and if there was an Arab TIME Magazine, he'd be named person of the year. Wake up Israelis! You're generally good people paying the price for the stupid actions of your leaders. Bye bye Olmert, hello Livni? We could certainly use more diplomacy instead of violence you know. Don't you think so?

Malaysia Awaits Nervously

2006-08-13T03:01:00.000-07:00

Malaysia awaits nervously for a court decision that could shake its foundations to the ground. Can ex-Muslim Lina Joy be recognized by the state as a Christian and marry a non-Muslim? The court ruling will decide. Read it all here.

Constitutionally, freedom of religion is guaranteed. But in reality, conversion out of Islam comes under the ambit of sharia or Islamic courts. And under sharia law, renouncing the Islamic faith is punishable by fines or jail. It isn't an option.

"If Islam were to grant permission for Muslims to change religion at will, it would imply it has no dignity, no self-esteem," said Wan Azhar Wan Ahmad, senior fellow at Malaysia's Institute of Islamic Understanding

I don't understand this guy's explanation and I certainly disagree with it. Forcing Muslims to stay Muslims doesn't make them Muslims. Freedom of religion is enshrined in Islam unlike what this guy says. We as Muslims need to engage more in ijtihad (creative and critical thinking). We MUST shed away such interpretations.

Al-Bashir Urges Support To Unity Government

2006-08-13T01:06:00.000-07:00

Sudanese dictator Omar Hassan Al-Bashir urged all Sudanese to support the unity government. He made this call in a recent graduation ceremony held at the Military Academy. How does he expect the oppressed Sudanese people to support him when Darfur is so screwed thanks to his "lovely caring" character? He calls for unity but at the same time continues doing things that cause disunity. Just read the following:

He said that the peace agreements which were signed in Sudan have ended the war and paved the way for peace, security and development.

He stressed the importance of the unity of rank and stance as well as adherence to love, accord and peace between the Sudanese people.

Adherence to love and peace huh? Someone should teach him that oppression and corruption result in the complete opposite. Also notice that he never mentioned a single thing about democracy. Nothing! That says a lot, doesn't it?

Attacks Stopped Thanks To Muslim Tip

2006-08-12T02:48:00.000-07:00

Praised should be this young Muslim man whoever he maybe for doing the right thing and tipping British authorities about another sickening plan to blow up innocent people. We need more of his type. I hope this convinces all those sleeping leftists out there that terrorism does really exist and that it was not born out of Bush's war on Iraq.

My whole family and I are very happy that the "infidel" authorities together with Pakistani intelligence stopped this evil plan. Anyone who supports or even sympathizes with such insane people disgusts me. If you're offended by my previous sentence then you can gladly click that "X" on the top right corner of the screen. Moreover if you can, please shoot yourself. We don't need your types on this earth.

Back to hitting the books again. Tons of assignments to submit this Monday.

PS: Dear Muslims, I would like you to know that I'm not a fan of Bush nor do I like current US foreign policy. However what the "West's bombs" are doing to us, is NOT an excuse for terrorism. It's simply not. The Iraq War and continuous Israeli atrocities committed against our brothers and sisters certainly contribute to breeding more terrorists BUT they are NOT the root cause. Extremist interpretations of Islam are. We MUST direct our efforts within our own communities to stop this culture of hate. We MUST revive back the true meaning of Islam. (Ya I know shocking to all you anti-Islam and anti-Muhammad people out there)!

What Happens After October?

2006-08-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

The budget for the AU troops in Darfur will run dry by this October. That's bad but good too. It's bad because of this:

The AU mission costs just under $40 million a month to run, but in order to do the job properly the AU also asked for more equipment like attack helicopters.
U.N. officials said without additional funding, almost 3.6 million Darfuris could see a period where troops were withdrawn or unable to work to deter rape, murder and pillage in Sudan’s remote west.

And it's good because it will become a turning point in negotiations between the Khartoum government and the UN. I believe it's highly possible that the head banging between Bashir and Kofi Anan will stop. That's badly needed at this time. The best solution remains reinforcing the current AU troops.

Sudanese Sand Monsters

2006-08-10T04:01:00.000-07:00

Haboob (Sudanese for sand storm) is not pretty but it's one of those things that I love about Sudan. Seeing haboob on the horizon just gives me a rush of pure adrenaline especially if it's massive and fierce. However for many foreigners, it's a nightmare. It's so funny seeing the horror on the face of Westerners when haboob comes. They get so freaked out over it. Even the Security Council delegation got scared of it during their recent trip to Khartoum. When haboob comes, most Sudanese people just go into their houses and close all doors and windows. Others just wait it out by standing and facing the direction it's heading towards to prevent the sand particles from going into their eyes.

Last holiday in Khartoum I got stuck in one after leaving my house. There was no shelter around so I had to curl on the ground, give it my back, take a deep breath, close my eyes and wait it out. Five minutes later the massive haboob was over but I had to go back and take another shower. Most Sudanese will call me a sissy boy for doing that. I miss haboob.

Sudan & Chad Normalize Relations

2006-08-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

At least that's a good development. The cat fight between Sudan & Chad is calming down. Security and peace in Darfur depends on Chad too. Its willingness and ability to secure its boarder and also in protecting fleeing Darfurian refugees is needed at this time.

In other news also

The only rebel leader to have signed onto a peace deal for Darfur was sworn in Monday 7 August as a senior aide to the Sudanese president. Menawi said that his assumption to the position [The Senior Assistant of the President and Chairman of the Interim Regional Authority in Darfur] was marking the start to implement Darfur peace agreement on the ground.

Minawi said that his work priorities include the handling of the humanitarian situation, support to the return of the refugees and displaced people to their villages and towns, rehabilitation of the war-affected areas as well as the improvement of services in Darfur.

I hope so. I also hope in the long term he won't be just another corrupted politician and that the money will go to those whom he said he was fighting for. Already and sadly there are signs that southern SPLM politicians are starting to get corrupted.

I don't know about you, but to me God certainly does exist because it's simply not logical that poor innocent people live a life of misery and die. It's not logical that the evil doers can live in luxury all their lives and then die. There has to be a Judgement Day where all get what they deserve after tasting death. I have no idea how those who do the most vile things imaginable can live with their conscience. Sometimes it seems compassion and tolerance are things that only exist in La La Land.

Back to depressingly strumming and nodding my head to Jack Johnson and Ben Harper. No to Islamic extremists taking my guitars away. Burn One Down and Better Together! Good night!

It's Funny How X Wants To Look Like Y & Y Wants To Look Like X

2006-08-08T22:10:00.000-07:00

Women in Sudan are increasingly using skin lightening products. The new... well, actually quite old trendy thing nowadays is that pale is beautiful. It might true be but the price many Sudanese women are paying is quite high since many of those products contain harmfull chemicals.

Many Sudanese look down upon this practice. They think those women aren't proud to be black. I don't think it's a big deal. Such Sudanese always forget that millions of white people sit for hours under the sun just to get a tan. When I was in US, I would call my girl friends and ask them how they were and what they did. The answer coming from NYC, Miami, San Francisco and New Jersey would be the same. "I went tanning today".

Hey maybe I should go tanning too don't you think? ;)

This actually reminds me of something. Back in the school days here in Malaysia, I always used to laugh at my little sister when riding the school bus back home. She would sit next to her Australian-Malay friend and they would braid and play with each other's hair. Both of them will be telling the other "I wish I had your hair".

It's funny how X wants to look like Y and Y wants to look like X.

Sudanese Stupidity & Hypocrisy

2006-08-07T22:24:00.000-07:00

Before you is the stupid effect of Pan-Arabism. Pictured above is a demonstration in Khartoum voicing support for Hezbollah. You can notice some holding up pictures of Nasrallah. At the top right corner the sign reads "Shahada Shahada Shahada (martydom)" and the one left to it reads "Lebanon is the enemy's graveyard". The big blue banner roughly reads "Sudan's youth (top). We are all Shia against the invaders (yellow and orange). National Congress (bottom)." Question, since when did we become Shia? Gee never mind, don't even get me started with the stupid and ignorant Sunni Saudi fatwa labeling Shias as infidels and devil followers.

Moving on... There have been demonstrations similar to this related to Darfur just in case you're wondering but guess what? The slogans lifted were only condemning those same people who helped bring Darfur to the world's attention ie. UN and evil America. They condemned the idea of UN forces and called for death to America and off course Israel and (drum roll) the Jooooooooooz. Why? Simply because many "easy to manipulate" Sudanese Muslims people believe that (drum roll again) the Jooooz are the ones behind the Darfur tragedy. Grrr you know what let's just say that's possible or true... Let's say the Darfur rebels took up arms supplied by the evil Zionists. Didn't they have the right to? What did you expect them to do? Hell if I was impoverished, broke, and denied my fair share of wealth, electricity, healthcare and education I wouldn't mind making a deal with the devil. Ops but no wait the bigger devil in this case would always be our own corrupted government wouldn't it? What about our own government? Isn't it involved in the vile crimes committed in Darfur? Isn't it? Don't you think the rebels have every right to rebel against Omar al-Bashir's government? Shouldn't our moral and great government be held responsible at least? The rebels have committed atrocities against innocent people in Darfur and I hate them for that but in the overall sense and by looking at it from the big picture did they commit a crime? They want a fair share of wealth and power. They have every right to claim what's theirs and I strongly believe that anyone who denies you the right to claim what's rightfully yours is a criminal.

I'm so pissed here. Why is it that when Israel or America is brought into the equation we lose sight of the real problem? This is the disease we are generally suffering from everywhere in the Arab world. This is the only thing that unites us ie. our blind hatred towards Israel and America. You know, I'm not a fan of Israel's policies and neither am I a fan of the Bush administration but are they really the main problem? If Bashir today was to keep Darfur a disaster but at the same time he was to send troops to fight in the Israelis in Lebanon, so many Sudanese Muslims will cheer for him. So many will put Israel's destruction as a higher priority than saving the people of Darfur. That's how blind we've become in Sudan. Don't even get me started with the brave "Arab League" who cares so much about Darfur. Frankly, I think the Palestinians and Lebanese can deal with their much smaller problems on their own. Ops no wait I meant much bigger and worthier problems. Why? Because Israel is a big factor! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

One more question to the people protesting. Which is more important to you, Lebanon or Darfur? Ops you don't have to answer because I already know. Lebanon!

I'm sick of this garbage. I swear I am. The people who died in Darfur in the last 3 years are more than those killed by Israel in all its 50 years combined. You know I've already gotten used to the stupid and generally racist Arab attitude towards what's going on in Darfur BUT NOW SEEING THIS is just too freaking much!! Muslims kill Muslims, fine. Infidels kill or simply intend to kill Muslims, all hell breaks lose. Lovely!

The only thing that gives me hope is knowing there are many Sudanese out there in Sudan and all over the world who share my views. Thank you Allah Almighty.

UPDATE: I feel I might have been a little unfair and made too many generalizations in this post. Truth be told there are so many Sudanese who are very angry about what's going on in Darfur and protesting against the government is not really the "fancy wise thing" to do if you know what I mean. I'm guessing you noticed I keep my identity hidden too and I think you know why. Sigh! Frustration does weird things sometimes. I feel so despaired and I can't imagine how those poor innocent ones in Darfur feel. Lord have mercy! I'm starting to feel that this blog might be useless afterall.

Excellent Article About Sudan In the Economist

2006-08-07T04:53:00.000-07:00

Aug 3, 2006 (KHARTOUM) — The conversations tend to be very different, but very predictable, when Khartoum’s bourgeoisie gathers for espressos and croissants at the trendy new Ozone café. Americans and Europeans, mostly aid-workers, swap horror stories about the latest depredations in Darfur, Sudan’s war-ravaged western region, or bemoan southern Sudan’s “lack of capacity”. At the Sudanese tables, however, Arab men, and often women, josh about their city’s brand-new traffic lights, which most still ignore, share information about new government privatisations and greet old friends who have returned to live in the Sudanese capital after years abroad.

Both views of Sudan, Africa’s largest country, are valid. It is just that the Western focus on Darfur, where about 2m people are living in refugee camps as the result of a still unresolved war in the region, has obscured another fact about Sudan: the country is booming. With low inflation, GDP growth of 8% in 2005 and 13% projected by the IMF this year, Sudan is one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa. Furthermore, this success has been achieved despite the fact that the country has been subject to American sanctions since 1986, the year that the IMF ended financial assistance to the country.

Oil undoubtedly plays a big part in this boom, accounting for about 80% of the country’s exports, but it does not explain all the gains. Indeed, the IMF has given guarded praise to the policies initiated by Sudan’s government to liberalise the economy. It is not the kind of attention that the Islamist regime in Khartoum, accused of genocide by America for its actions in Darfur, is accustomed to.

Oil, structural adjustments that began in 1998 and the relative political stability that followed the signing of a peace deal with rebels in the south last year are encouraging foreign investment, particularly from China and the Gulf states. More needs to be done to tackle corruption and eliminate stifling regulations, yet new economic opportunities are enticing thousands of the country’s rich and educated diaspora to return. More and more, Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party is toning down its hitherto robust Islamist language; the new emphasis is on economic development.

However, it is almost exclusively the Arab heart of the country that is benefiting from the boom. Nearly $3 billion of foreign direct investment has come to Sudan, but well over half of it has gone to the capital and its hinterland. In the past year hotels, telecoms companies, light industries and even a Thai massage parlour have opened in a city that is still nominally ruled by sharia law.

The development that most epitomises Khartoum’s new dynamism is Alsunut. Meaning “point of meeting” in Arabic, this behemoth of a residential and office project is now under construction on 65 hectares (160 acres) of land where the Blue and White Niles converge. The $4 billion project, the result of a public-private partnership between the government and DAL Group, Sudan’s leading company, will transform the city by adding 63 towers varying between 15 and 35 floors in height. Over half the office space has already been sold to local and foreign companies.

However, for all the new prosperity in Khartoum, evidence of the boom outside the capital is hard to find. Progress towards improving the lot of the majority of poor Sudanese is plodding. For most people, electricity is still rare and most schools still hold classes under trees.

And, crucially, Sudan’s improved economic outlook has not had any discernible impact on the mainly Christian and animist south. Hundreds of thousands of displaced southern Sudanese are leaving their refugee camps in the north and returning to what remains one of the poorest areas in Africa. Indeed, the pace of recovery in the south is so slow that some aid agencies report that villagers have started throwing sticks and stones at their passing convoys as a form of protest.

The inequitable distribution of the country’s wealth has always been a large factor in stoking rebellions in the south, in Darfur and in the east against the central government in Khartoum. If that remains true of this current boom-which may last only as long as the high price of oil-it will be a huge missed opportunity to reduce some of the inequalities that still threaten to pull the country apart, with disastrous consequences for all Sudanese.

(The Economist)

(source)

Amarji: The Reason I Don’t Criticize Israel!

2006-08-06T22:37:00.000-07:00

To those who misunderstand why i too don't criticize Israel a lot, please read the following. I swear I loved this post so much. Amarji you're the man!

The establishment of the State of Israel has always been quite problematic for us, but our reaction to its establishment has been far more problematic and costly, and has only helped Israel become more powerful and us more weak. Meanwhile, Israel’s international backers made quite sure that its military adventures did not impinge on its ability to develop itself, its infrastructure and its economy. We, on the other hand, have only our internal resources to rely on, and they will have to suffice. For this reason, the greed and ineptness of our ruling elites need to be combated. Much has been squandered already with little to show for it, in most cases. It is about time we held our ruling elites accountable for their disastrous performance over the last few decades. It is about time we set our priorities right. Freedom from internal oppression and development should come first. Our campaign to retrieve our occupied land could and should run concurrently with that, but it should not come at the expense of that.

This is where I stand too and why I think our anger should be focused on our criminal and oppressive regimes. We need to be more self-critical and we need to put that anger we have into something constructive. In my opinion the primary problem is not the Joooz but our own governments and attitude. Read what Amarji has to say here!

Pathetically Drowned In Anti-Semitism

2006-08-05T14:06:00.000-07:00

Remember my old post entitled Reggae Music & Zionism: Connection??! Well ya, I was sitting the other day with a friend chilling and listening to some Bob Marley music. While we were talking, about random stuff the topic drifted to the current Mid-East situation. Naturally he was pissed off at Israel for the nasty crap it did in Lebanon. I'm pissed off with the IDF too but that's not the point. My point is that this guy was so angry to the point where he wanted Israel nuked. He was so drowned in his anger and hatred.

I decided to play a little game so I was like:

"Man, do you know that Bob Marley's religion which is Rastafari has its roots in Judaism?"

Friend: Ya very funny

Me: No seriously, it does and that's why he sings about Zion and he praises it.

Friend: Silence…

Me: That's why Rastafaris also style their hair similarly to how religious Jews and Rabbis do.

Friend: Still silent with a puzzled look.

Me: Yup, check this video. Look at the Star of Zion on Damien Marley's jacket.

Friend: SHOCKED! Switch off this sh*t! I ain't listening to this bullsh*t anymore!! Man, f*ck Bob Marely.

Me: Laughing out loudly.

Friend: What's so funny man? Do you actually find it funny? Man, you should be against everything related to them.

Me: Oh well in that case, throw away your PC since it contains an Intel processor. Stop eating Pizza Hut. Stop drinking Pepsi. Stop using your Yahoo mail. Stop buying petrol from Shell. Stop taking your medication. Basically stop everything because all these multi-national companies have Jewish shareholders benefiting from your money. Gee you evil monster, giving your money so the evil Jooooz can use it to kill our Muslim brothers and sisters in Lebanon and Palestine. (Me jokingly giving him a dirty and disappointed look)

Friend: Man, you don't care about anyone but yourself. You always bable about the need for unity in the Arab and Islamic worlds but you don't give a sh*t.

Me: Grrrr! Man, do you realize that if we as a people put all this frustration and anger we have against Israel into something constructive, we wouldn't need to use "their" products ever again? Instead of fighting the evil West with bombs, why not compete with them in the global economy like other countries do? Why not be creative and manufacture products of our own that we ourselves can use and then sell it to them? Boycotting western and "dirty Jewish" products will be much easier then won't it?

Friend: Man, whatever you f*cking Jew.

You know I really don't mind complaining. It's human nature to complain. Hell, even I like to complain… but just complaining alone 24/7 and doing nothing else? Grrr that's just plain dumb and stooooooooopid. Blinded by hatred indeed he is. When are we going to stop the habbit of criticising what we don't like without even feeling the need to criticize ourselves too.

UPDATE: Add to the no more list: No more Nike. No more TV. No more international phone calls since the evil Americans and Joooz own the satelites. No more ________ (fill in the blank) and no more Marlboro. Oh ya and apparently PEPSI stands for "Pay Every Penny Save Israel"! Yippieee long live this mentality!

Malcolm X (1925-1965)

2006-08-05T14:00:00.000-07:00

One of the most powerful and charismatic African-American leaders of the country, Malcolm X converted to Nation of Islam and became a follower of its leader Elijah Muhammad. As a Nation of Islam leader, his message was essentially anti-white until he undertook and performed the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca. Impressed by his discovery of true Islam in the Muslim lands he visited, he left Nation of Islam and became an orthodox Muslim, leaving his prior racial standing.

After 38 years, it is now made public for the first time that it was actually a student from Sudan, Ahmed Osman, who, through discussions and correspondences with Malcolm X helped him discover true Islam and made him realize that his anti-white stand was not compatible with the teachings of Islam. Later, it was Osman again who persuaded Malcolm to undertake his pilgrimage to Mecca.

Malcolm X is much misunderstood for his comment he made after the assassination of John F. Kennedy: "The chickens have come to roost." After the media published this remark and interpreted it to be meant for Kennedy, Malcolm X insisted to his friends that he meant something different. Osman, who was a close contact of Malcolm during that time, says in a recent interview, "Malcolm X did not mean to applaud Kennedy's death. Far from it. He meant only that you harvest what you sow, that Kennedy was the victim of the racist extremism that pervaded the nation." (Paul Findley, "silent no more").

After his coming back from the pilgrimage and re-discovery of Islam, Malcolm now completely detached himself from Nation of Islam and took up his work again for the civil rights of African-Americans, but now as an orthodox non-racist Muslim. But the new Malcolm hardly started his task when a spray of bullets ended his bright future as a powerful Muslim leader of America while he was giving a speech in Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. He was only 40.

"If I can die having brought any light, having exposed any meaningful truth that will help to destroy the racist cancer that is malignant in the body of America, then all credit is due to Allah. Only the mistakes have been mine."- Malcolm X (quoted by Paul Findley, "silent no more").

(Special thanks to Niler)

It's CHINA people!!

2006-08-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

I mean hey seriously isn't it?? Many are blabbing the following in regards to the current Mid East madness... It starts like this:

Hezbollah screw you, Syria screw you, Iran screw, Chh... ops no wait, rewind... Iran screw you!

Why stop at Iran? Why? Why not finish it until the end? What about China? Isn't it the one that aided/aids Iran with its nuclear technology? Moreover isn't it also the one that aided/aids? North Korea with its nuclear technology too? Why is China ignored?

Hmmm... Maybe it has to do with the whole lovely but seriously confusing relationship the USA is having with China. It's probably all about the money right? But wait isn't that bad? I mean if you read the Economist, you'll realize that until today the debate about outsourcing and its positive/negative effects still rages amongst American economists. YET more and more production continues to be moved from America to China.

People what do you think? Shouldn't China be held accountable too? The root is not Iran. It's clearly China. I seem to think so. Do you?

The "Labeling" War

2006-08-04T22:35:00.000-07:00

Too much labeling going around nowadays in the blogosphere. Someone voices his opposition to Israel's bombing campaign and he's suddenly an anti-Semitic terrorist lover. Others like Sandmonkey voice their opposition to Hezbollah and they're labeled Zionist filthy piggy monkies. CAIR comes up with a new petition opposing Israel's action and LGF labels them Radical Islamists. American Twosret voices her dislike towards American foreign policy and she's labeled an anti-American and a traitor. Can't we just pay attention to what the other person is trying to say without immediately jumping to the whole dirty labeling game? Can't we? I mean hey I thought democracy enshrines freedom of speech right? Ah but then again I myself am not immune to this whole labeling thingy too you know. I admit it. Maybe some of those labels in the blogosphere have truth in them and maybe they're just hollow labels.

You label me, I label you. That's the name of the game I guess. Yaaay to human nature!

A Reply To Michael Herzog

2006-08-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

Here's what he had to say:

Why should Sudan be held together? Why not let it split along its natural fault lines?

After all, have not "anti-colonialists" been telling us over and over again that the borders in Africa were drawn by them evil European powers without regard for conditions on the ground?

Why not rectify some of this when an opportunity presents itself?

Drima's cherished Ingrid Jones is little more than a particulary articulate spokesperson for a continuation of Arab Nile Valley domestic imperialism in Sudan.

Rebels are no angels either? Deplorable, but hardly a surprise. (Garang's record, too, was quite a bit stained.) But this doesn't affect the basic legitimacy of their cause. did the Apartheid regime of South Africa become any more legitimate because much of the ANC were unsavory people?

Not as simple as Arab-African? When you look at the micro-level, that's certainly true; there's always some blurring of lines on the ground. However, with regard to the big picture this description of the conflict line is valid. What's more, it's increasingly incorporated into the view Darfurians themselves have of the conflict.

Michael Herzog

Here's what I had to say:

Michael, interesting comment. Well where do I even begin?

You seem to have me all "figured out". I'm guessing you're new to this blog and haven't read much of my old posts.

First of all who said anything about holding Sudan together dude?

Secondly, I do support the rebels' in principle but not in the unethical ways they've carried out their rebelion. Politically I'm with them simply because I'm against the current ruling regime and I want democracy. However and it's a very big however, if you want to talk about Darfur from a humanitarian perspective, then I'm against both the Khartoum government and the rebels as both were involved in sick atrocities committed against innocent civilians.

Thirdly, when I was talking about people in power being ex-rebels, I was merely wishing that power would come to those who deserve it through elections and not having them grab it by the gun. Makes sense so far?

Fourthly, how do you even come to the conclusion that the description of the conflict is valid? How? From the lovely "accurate" media? The description of a genocide raged by Arabs against Africans is retarded, even when looking at it from the big picture. A genocide is an aggression committed by an ethnic group against another with the intent of wiping it out. Do you really think the Khartoum government is interested in carrying out a so called genocide against people in Darfur and why now? This also brings us to the question of how do you define an Arab and an African in Sudan? How? By basing it on the color of skin? Is it because Darfurians are generally a little darker than northerners? If yes then that's absolutely ridiculous. It's not about skin color or being an Arab or African. In an ethnic sense this is about tribes and tribal alliances. In a political sense it's corrupted Bashir and the gang against rebels from impoverished Darfur who were inspired by the victory of the SPLM. Makes sense so far?

Fifthly, you should feel sorry for yourself because of your ignorant, stupid and sarcastic comment regarding Ingrid Jones being a spokesperson for Arab imperialism in Sudan when you yourself clearly lack proper knowledge of what's going on in my country. Not agreeing with her opinion is one thing but trying to throw sarcastic comments and insults is another. It shows what kind of stuck up character you possess.

Lastly, next time you drop by, face me with a proper argument rather than dropping random sarcastic questions here and there.

Alright Michael? Good day!

Thank you to the great corporate media. I love you and I hate you. I love you for bringing Darfur to the world's attention and I hate you for exagerating it at the same time. Ah the irony. If it wasn't for the latter, the former wouldn't be possible would it?

Too much exageration causes frustration. Lovely right? Bleh whatever!

I'll Be Away For a Few Days

2006-08-01T21:10:00.000-07:00

I'll be kinda busy in the next few days. Research papers, assignments and all. I've gotta focus on them so blogging activities will stop for a while. Education first right? Yaay, anyways. The 3 posts below should keep you busy. I'm thinking of updating twice a week from now on so I can make more time for studies this sem. Two new tough but very interesting courses I tell ya... Ah well, see you in 4 or 5 days!

Rape & Murder To Enforce Peace!

2006-08-01T20:45:00.000-07:00

Those are the strategies being employed to enforce the peace deal by the SLA rebels who signed the peace deal. Minnawi denies those crimes happened. My foot! It's a known fact that rebels participated in many of the atrocities committed before. I'm sick of this conflict being portrayed by the media as "ooh evil Arabs VS poor Africans, Africans need UN troops' help to fight evil Arabs".

Current regime and Bashir = ex-rebels

Salva Kiir and SPLM = ex-rebels

Now Minnawi as Vice President = ex-rebel

We're being ruled by freaking ex-rebels. Ex-Rebels who killed and murdered to get to where they are today. Where are the educated political parties that should be governing?

Great post by Ingrid Jones on Sudan Watch

It seems to me that supporters of Darfur rebel groups, other than Minnawi's SLM/A, whether they realise it or not, are aiming for a change of regime. To be replaced by what? Another unelected group that stole power through the barrel of a gun? The Darfur rebel groups seem no better than the regime they aim to replace. Is Sudan ungovernable? It's evident that the current regime are doing a pretty good job of holding it all together. The Sudan is as large as Europe, packed with uneducated people who are governed by tribal leaders. Tribal leaders are the key to peace in Darfur, not naive Americans meddling in a country and culture that goes back as far as the year dot. Doing ones best to sound the alert and help get aid to people most in need is one thing, but influencing Westerners to stir up politicians to arrange military invasion of an African country against its will is something altogether different. Tribal leaders hold the key to peace in the Sudan, not the slick opportunistic operators based in Europe and America who use the lives of starving uneducated African women and children as pawns in their power games. In essence, Darfur war seems to boil down to oil and ruthless unelected thugs who want charge of it to line their own pockets. [See Sudan Watch Apr 18 2005: New oil field in Darfur]

Explanation Pleeease!!

2006-08-01T20:43:00.000-07:00

Jewz & Israelis what's up with THIS and why at THIS time?? Any explanation???

What If There's Someone Better?

2006-08-01T02:17:00.000-07:00

"What if there's someone better?"

Asking that question and succumbing to the temptations behind it is the main reason why so many relationships get screwed up big time every now and then. It's due to this reason that so many hearts come crashing down hard into a million pieces. They're crashing right now at this very moment even as you read this. Plain and simple! Congratulations to me huh? I just solved the biggest puzzle the human race has ever faced. Don't I deserve a Nobel Prize or something?! No seriously don't I??

"What if there's someone better?"

SaveDarfur.org Pushing For UN Troops

2006-07-31T23:04:00.000-07:00

Okay so previously I've talked about how I appreciate Save Darfur's great job in bringing Darfur to the attention of the American public and the world but NOW I don't really think I like THIS. They're organizing a concert with the aim of pushing for UN troops to be sent to Darfur. I've explained before in a simple and straight forward way why I believe the UN troops won't improve the situation. There is strong opposition to UN troops in Sudan and it's growing more by the day. Even Darfur tribal leaders are opposed to UN troops. I'll say it again only with some updates.

Darfur previously = Disaster

Darfur now = STILL a disaster but to a lesser extent

Darfur + UN troops = Bigger disaster

Darfur + AU troops reinforced by UN & NATO = HUGE improvements.

Darfur + UN troops + Al Qaeda = One big ass GIGANTIC Disaster !!!

People, pleeeeeeeeeeease tell me you get it. How can I make it simpler than this to understand? Pleeeeeeeease tell me you understand when I say that UN troops will NOT make things more humanitarian for the people of Darfur.

You know what? With every passing day, I believe less and less that this whole thing is about a humanitarian effort. I'm starting to believe more and more that this is about hitting 2 birds with one stone.

1- Protecting civilians (which means making their lives more miserable)...

2- Destabalizing and toppling the curent Sudanese regime.

I'm all for #2... Yes indeed I am all the way baby! However I certainly am NOT for #1...

Here's the dillema. In order for #2 to occur #1 has to happen first. Is that the price we the Sudanese are willing to pay?

I would not mind the UN troops if

1- there was no local opposition to them

2- I was sure Al-Qaeda isn't serious

However that's not the case... SO... For the MILLIONTH time... Reinforce the damn AU troops and keep your freaking UN troops AWAY! That's the BEST solution. Thank you for your kind/"kind" intentions but UN troops will just contribute more to the damn problem. As for the Sudanese government... Well, Sudanese people all over the world... It's time to start a freaking revolution! Foreign meddling NOT welcome. It just complicates things. Shias VS Sunnis in Iraq anyone?

Grrr... I'm seriously thinking about starting a campaign or a petition to convince people UN troops are not a good idea but that reinforcing the AU troops with NATO and UN is. I REALLY REALLY AM!!!

ENOUGH!! Qana Was NOT Nice!

2006-07-31T02:56:00.000-07:00

Enough IDF! ENOUGH! Either aim properly or don't aim at all. I still still still don't get the damn logic in the IDF's strategy. First they destroy Lebanon's infrastructure and send it 20 years back and then they start bombing northern targets. Now THIS Qana crap happens. 56 innocent civilians?!! 27 poor children DEAD?!! Shouldn't Israeli military intelligence check if there are civilians there first? Israel, you're guilty of what Hezbollah does too. You fire rockets indiscriminately. This is your fault more than it is Hezbollah's! I'm pissed. This is terrorism. Yes this is STATE SPONSERED TERRORISM. I don't care what the definition of terrorism to you is. To me this IS terrorism. Great evaluations IDF. Bleh!

Oh ya and Hezbollah, GREAT JOB FIRING FROM CIVILIAN PLACES!!!

UPDATE: Okay so I've calmed down now but please oh please tell me how I cannot be mad at this???!!! (WARNING: Graphic images) HOW? I just received it by email...

On one hand terrorist attacks by Muslims tarnish the image of Islam and make it seem like an evil religion and on the other THIS just adds more fire to the anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism already deeply felt in the world. This makes Zionism appear like one hell of an evil ideology I tell ya...

I need to chill for a while... A nice shower and strumming a little guitar will do... God have mercy!

Where I Was Before & Where I Am Today

2006-07-29T23:07:00.000-07:00

About 6 months ago before I stumbled upon the blogosphere, I was super anti-Israeli and anti-Zionist. Now after spending time engaging in productive discussions my opinions have been refined and balanced. The reason I was super anti-Israel was because of what I believed. I believed that Israel's goal is to expand and take away all of Jerusalem. I assumed that the Jews in Israel want to demolish Al-Aqsa mosque so that they can rebuild their ancient holy temple again. That would be to the benefit of Christians since only then will the second coming of Christ be possible. As such the Judeo-Christian alliance. Such beliefs are not so strong anymore. Instead I now believe that Jewish fundamentalists are the only ones supporting ideas like that. Same goes for Christian fundamentalists in US too. I now also believe that the majority of Jews follow Zionism simply because it's a movement founded on their longing for Jerusalem. They simply want a home where they can be safe. Jews obviously deserve to worship and live in Jerusalem as it's their religious right but they must keep in mind it's the 3rd holiest site for all Muslims too. Moreover they must keep in mind Israel's brutality in war only contributes to more negative perceptions about Zionism.

My opinion of the PLO, Fatah and Hamas has also changed. I now realize they too are responsible for the hardships of Palestinians and that the blame shouldn't solely fall on Israel. If you're reading this right now and you think Yasser Arafat was a hero, think again. He wasn't. He was corrupted as hell and kept millions of dollars to himself while at the same time blamed Israel for the hardships of Palestinians and so on. Also Hamas's attitude with ceasfire, what Arab countries did in the past etc. I could go on talking and talking about how my opinions changed and refined but I'm kinda sleepy right now so I'm going to buzz off and sleep. Anyways, I hope you get the general idea of this post. Sometimes we think we know it well when in fact we don't really. God bless the internet and blogging. It's certainly better learning about Israel and Judaism from Israelis and Jews themselves rather than from al-Jazeera. Before making up one's, a chance should be first given to the other party to explain their case and defend it. Only then will you have the different relevant perspectives that certainly help contribute to a better and more balanced opinion. Washing my brain and cleaning it from stupid propaganda is fun. *Yawn... Goodnite/morning depending on whatever timezon you're in... Peace... Sweet dreams to me...

When Will This "Pride" Stop?

2006-07-29T10:34:00.000-07:00

I just saw this comment which was left by a reader on Sandmonkey's blog. I simply had to post it here.

When will the Arab-Muslim world stop getting its “pride” from fighting Israel and start getting it from constructing a society that others would envy, an economy others would respect, and inventions and medical breakthroughs from which others would benefit?

The above is so very true. It's one of the main things my political beliefs are based on and why I'm against the non-constructive attitude of venting out anger at USA and Israel. Contrary to belief in the Arab street, I don't think there's "pride" in what Hezbollah has been doing. So many Arab-Muslims are cheering Hezbollah for standing up to Israel. To them Hezbollah is giving us "pride" by standing up to the Zionist enemy even when faced with high tech weapons. Sigh, "Pride" my foot! Our own countries are so screwed and yet we still have time to be "proud". Until the day I die, I'll always believe that "the pen is mightier than the sword". Education and science all the way baby. Down with ignorance and oppression.

Update On the Rebel Situation

2006-07-29T09:15:00.000-07:00

Okay so just to make things clear. Initially before the signing of the Abuja Peace Agreement there were mainly 2 rebel groups in Darfur. One is called Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) and the other is called Justice & Equality Movement (JEM). A faction within SLM/A led by Minnawi later signed the Abuja Peace Agreement. Another faction of SLM/A led by Abdelwahid Nur held out. JEM didn't sign too. Pressure was then applied on Abdul Wahid and JEM to sign. They didn't sign the peace agreement itself but gave a declaration of commitment to peace in Darfur. I misunderstood the commitment to peace as a signature previously. I was wrong. They didn't sign any agreement but only gave a commitment to peace in Darfur... a commitment which hasn't been fulfilled by them. As a result Bashir is now trying to eliminate the JEM.

I also learned from this post on Jan Pronk's blog that 2 new rebel groups have been formed.

Intra SLA fighting has not stopped. Two new movements have emerged. One is called the G19... G19 received more and more support amongst those who disagreed with the outcome of the talks...

A second new group is the New Redemption Front (NRF). They seem to have their base in the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), which had participated in the Abuja talks.

Damn, I have a headache. Keeping track of all those splits is tough. Combine with that the task of microanalysing to get an understanding of which tribes are involved and which the rebel groups are dominated by. Rebel alliances are changing and shifting from time to time. I don't really care much what alliances the rebels make. I'm just interested in the end result which is PEACE PLEASE!

This post might not be 100% accurate so just keep that in mind. I will be posting a proper post soon on the new rebels and new alliances.

Bashir: Darfur Would Be UN Troops' Graveyard

2006-07-29T09:03:00.000-07:00

So the opposition naturally still continues. Bashir's regime strongly believes there's a conspiracy to get rid of him and so he won't risk anything threatening his power. He also mentioned 2 interesting things.

"If they [UN] really want to protect the people of Darfur, what are they doing about the Israeli invasion of Lebanon and Palestine and the killing of women, children and innocents there?"

Bashir cited Iraq, where despite the presence of foreign forces there is "destruction, damage and sedition between the Sunnis and Shiites instigated by Western intelligence, in addition to the torture and killing of inmates in Abu Ghraib and other prisons."

He's cleverly rallying more opposition to UN troops by playin the Israel card as usual. Sigh! If the UN wants to freaking help then they should just reinforce the AU troops. Why is it so difficult for them to understand that? Maybe they really do envision a long term solution ie. getting rid of Bashir.

Does Israel Understand the Psycodynamics of the Arab World?

2006-07-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

I really wonder if Israel has any clue to the psychological dynamics of the Arab and Muslim worlds. With each passing day the IDF continues bombing its enemies in Lebanon, it actually creates more in the process. The images being broadcasted to millions of Arabs and Muslims around the world only reinforce what has been said to them by previous generations. They reinforce the belief that Israel is indeed an evil enemy which must be destroyed. Where is the logic in the IDF's strategy? If Israel is showing off its strength to thwart its enemies, it sure is doing a "wonderful" job. As Big Pharaoh stated, Hezbollah has managed to do what no other Arab army could do previously. It managed to strike towns deep within Israel. That alone should make the Arab and Muslim worlds believe that Israel is weakening which would encourage more attacks and support for Israel’s destruction. Combine that with the anger the broadcasted images produce and you get a deadly recipe that provides enough motivation and justification for continuing the aggression towards Israel for many years to come.

Sudanese Opinion On Mid-East Crisis

2006-07-28T00:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a really great discussion about the Mid-East crisis. It's from a Sudanese forum. It's quite representative of the opinion on the Sudanese street. Check it out below and read it ALL! My favourite is the last comment by Ferfer.

NubianQ

Was'nt that just the cherry ontop of everything.. Saudi Arabia 'Blaming' Lebanon, as if smacking a disobedient child, and shaking a finger hissing ' I told you so!!'. What can you expect from a state that is a ( Censored ) to the U.S. (as all Gulf States)... The Middle East is an embarassment, huffing and puffing in their useless Arab League, demanding the destruction of 'The Zionist Entity' but when shit hit the fan.... they sit and twiddle their thumbs.

Miss D

Yup,that's what we Arabs excel at: blaming,criticizing & philosophizing behind closed doors.Ha,Israel mustve been planning this for long n was waiting for a pretext(abductions in this case) to start a war in the name of " Defense Against Terrorists"

You know,I feel starngely detached from it all. Truth is I don't really relate in terms of conflicts with Arab nations,just as they don't relate to ours. Which is sad really. But hey,we have our own problems.

Miss D

Heck,Im just happy someone took a shot at Israel (...) or should I advocate the cowardice & silence of the Arabs n the West's(US & Israel in particular) ongoing imperialism & dominance in order to attain peace of mind cuz messin with the bigger fish is hell on earth?

Hoodlum

FOX News is sickly managed by Jews and republicans, same views [all I keep hearing, 8 Israeli soldiers down, 2 abducted]; they got what they deserve. How many Lebanese civilians are dead due to bombing?

Ferfer

Arabs countries and especially Lebanon never gave a damn about Sudan when the civil war was revolving, we had millions of people died in the civil war, probably more than what the Palestine’s have had throughout their prolonged war with Israeli. From my point of view, Sudanese people have unjustified sympathy toward Arabs, I just wanted to remained people that Lebanon stood strongly against the application of Sudan to join the Arabian union and their prime minister said bluntly that Sudanese are not Arabs and therefore shouldn’t be a member in the Arabian union. So why do care about people who never care about us. To be honest, I don’t care neither about Palestine nor Lebanon, further more I wish that Israel will manage to wipe out those Islamic terrorists such as Hamas & Jihad and more important Hizb Alah. But on the other hand, killing civilians is totally unacceptable, Israelis should direct their attacks toward Hamas & Hizib allah bases.

Miss D

Ferfer,you do have a point and with all due respect to Lebanon, I am not a fan of the Lebanese ppl either.

(Quotes Ferfer first) You know what, I could care less about Lebanon or Lebanese. Like I said,I feel detached. But.. This is another indicator of where the world is heading. Geo-politics. It's not about Hizbullah,or Hamas or terrorists. I know folks detained in prisons on cahrges of terrorism right now , who have never touched a Quran in their lives. It's about land,religion,oil and troubelsome regions. So while I don't think we should chip in,I do think we should sleep with one eye open. Sudan is on the list. Not beacuse of the 'Islamic' goverment. But beacuse of our location,resources and again location. It's the gateway to and from the Arab world and 'Black' Africa.

Deena

Its not so much about sudanese, lebanese or tibetens.. its a humanitarian concern.

Miss D

7,we are definitely on the "Most Wanted" list.I agree with you but,heck,this is colonialism all over again the only country I have respect for in the Arab/Muslim world albeit its fundamentalism & radicalism is Iran for sticking to its nuclear program n not succumbing to the West's pressure.

Sum-won

Ferfer, how is Hamas a terrorist organization??? Because they are the only line of defense for Palestine against the Zionists? How is Israel not a terrorist nation?? HUH?

Dinoz

to me, Hamas is a terrosit group because its managing to hurt innocent civilians in israel, even though people might not be a big fan of israel but the Israeli people are still humanbeings, and some innocent israelis are being hurt in the process, Israel's goverment (not the people) to me are also terrosists because they are also hurting innocent civilians.

Ferfer

Ill tell why I tend to label Hamas as a terrorist group, first of all Hamas has always been barrier to the peace process, they don’t attack the Israeli Military bases, instead they bomb civilians in the market, killing innocent people. Furthermore, whenever the Palestinian government and the Israeli government make a pact to ceasefire, Hamas comes to spoil everything and violate treaties. Anyone who kills civilians should be named a terrorist, including Israel, Hamas & Jihad, there is absolutely no difference, Israel is ruled by Jewish fundamentalists who seek to expand their state, and Hamas & Jihad are basically Islamic monsters. The only losers are Civilians, I personally hold Hizb Allah responsible of what is going on in Lebanon, it was totally irresponsible act to abduct the two soldiers, now all the innocent people are suffering while Hizib Allah and its fighters are hiding them selves. It’s always the innocent people who pay the cost, Islamic & Jewish fundamentalists are fighting and calling for holy way and each party claims to be the army of God.

Miss D

Ferfer, excellent point.Nevertheless, I disagree that what is happening in Lebanon is solely the responsibility of Hizbullah.Frankly,Israel's reaction to the abductions was/is extreme.Abductions are not uncommon in the world and the way Israel handled the whole matter is uncalled for.According to Al Jazeera channel's statistics,there are approximately 500,000 Arab prisoners in Israeli prisons who have been convicted without a trial.

NubianQ

Like Miss. D said, this 'invasion' of Lebanon has been pre-planned, Isreal is trying everything to Get the U.S. to attack Syria and Iran, and with the way this predicament is unfolding... it's most probable they'll get their wish.

Ferfer

I totally agree that what is going on in Lebanon isn’t entirely Hizab Allh fault, and I also agree that Israeli are overreacting and apparently they have been looking for an excuse to carry out atrocities, and Hizab Allah foolishly enough has gave them what they have been looking for. So it is Hizib Allah fault in the first place, what Hizb Allah has done led the whole area into merciless war which its only victims would neither be Hizb Allah fighters nor the Israeli soldiers, it will only shed the blood of civilians. Hizb Allah has done is completely irresponsible provided that Israel had been in a state of peace with Lebanon. It is true that many Arabs are kept in the Israeli detentions without being charged but do you know that many more Arabs (probably more than those who are detained in Israel) are kept likewise in their own countries and without being charged, only because they have expressed their opposition to the governments of the Arab worlds!! People vent their anger on Israel and protest against USA but they remain silent when they see their government persecute its political opponents and oppress their fellow citizens, they remain silent when they see corruption in every public institute. (Drima: clap clap) Read the history and extract lessons, read about Martin Luther King & Ghandi, those people stood for their rights and struggled against oppression, racism and occupation using peaceful means and finally they have achieved what they sought for. Violence breed violence my dear, peaceful struggle is the way of people who have a genuine cause. Do you know what pisses me off? It is us, the Sudaneses, what we got to do with all this for god sake!! We have many internal problems which should make us occupied by thinking of how to solve them, people are dying every minute in Darfur, we have The Lord Resistance army wandering in our South and a potential rebellion in the east of Sudan. Have all our problems gone away? Are we too relaxed to pay our sympathy for Arabs? Please someone must answer these questions because Sudanese are driving me crazy.

(source)

Incase you're wondering Ferfer is a secular Muslim Sudanese and so is Dinoz. My opinion is similar to that of Ferfer's even though I don't really consider myself to be secular. I still have mixed feelings about secularism. I think cultural sensitivity should be taken into account. Regarding the point about the Lebanese, it's true. There's a great belief amongst the Sudanese that the Lebanese are the most racist people in the Arab world. That's a generalization off course. However I have defintely met my fair share of racist and stuck up Lebanese and it's all due to my dark skin. Yay to "Arab nationalism"! Even we northern Sudanese can't agree amongst ourselves if we are Arabs or Africans. Some are Arab oriented and others African oriented. The truth is we're both.

New Darfur Rebel Groups Formed: G19 & NRF

2006-07-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

After the signing of the Abuja Peace Agreement, tensions within groups that signed arose. There has been continuing disagreement about the agrement between rebels and leadership within the groups involved. This has lead to splits. As a result it's my great displeasure to announce to you that new rebel groups have been formed. Here is a long post on Jan Pronk's blog. He's Kofi Anan's UN representative in Sudan. Also SLM's Abdel Wahid al Nur declared that his aim is to become president of Sudan. Lovely! The violence will continue for sure. Why don't we have any political parties or movements who are actually good people? All I see is a bunch of ex-rebel/rebel murderers who want to control the country for their own personal benefits or those of their own tribal/ethnic group. This kind of mentality is tribal. Tribalism is still engrained into the way these people think. It's especially disgusting and dangerous when combined with religious fundementalism. In my opinion secular parties made up of individuals who have studied abroad are the best hope we have as tribal loyalties don't mean much to them. They care for everybody and anybody who is Sudanese regardless of religion or ethnicity. That's a good thing. I must admit that Sudan is indeed a very difficult country to control and govern as it's enormous in size and made up of hundreds of tribes. Sigh! I somtimes wonder who will the UN troops defend and side with if/when they come into Darfur?

Bla Bla Bla

2006-07-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

Security Council --> bla bla bla... Israel & Lebanon ceasefire... bla bla bla... Boom... American veto in your face! Gee what a waste of time!

Omar al-Bashir --> bla bla bla... Israel is an evil enemy... We must defeat it... bla bla bla... We support the Lebanese people... bla bla bla... Gee guess what? My heart is with the Lebanese people too but dude pleeease! We've got bigger problems to worry about in our own backyard first... problems you're utlimately responsible for... Remember?

Bush --> bla bla bla... Israel has the right to defend herself... Well like no freaking duh! So does the Lebanon but no wait... Lebanon's army is too weak to defend the country but Hezbollah's is much stronger... Meanwhile Hezbollah's rockets are being fired from the south while Israel bombs northern targets... Gee how smart! I do the same... When my balls itch, I scratch my nose!

Arab street --> bla bla bla... We support Hezbollah... Yaaay Hezbollah all the way baby! Sure thing support them all you want... Easy for you to say... It's not your country being bombarded or your civilian corpses piling up on top of each other is it? Shouldn't we let the Lebanese people decide if Hezbollah should be supported? I mean hey it's their country which is in sweet ruins now and not yours right?

Israel --> bla bla bla... We will not stop firing until our 2 soldiers are returned home safely... bla bla bla... Gee how sweet TWO soldiers huh? What about the thousands of Palestinians in your jails... Oh no wait I forgot... They're all terrorists right? Even the women and children... I mean hey, forget the men they can rot for all I care but what about the women and children... Aren't you going to cut them some slack... Yes? no? Not even a little? They're women and children for God's sake! Oh no wait they'll be released and probably end up being terrorists. Sweet!

Al-Jazeera --> bla bla bla... The Zionist enemy has killed innocents again... bla bla bla... Gee when are we going to stop playing the victims... If only all the anger and hatred we had for Israel was put into something constructive... I swear we would probably end up challenging Japan's economy... Gee sweet!

Random Jewish articles --> bla bla bla... Those who are against Israel's attacks against "terrorist targets" in Lebanon are anti-Semitic... Wow how amazing? So if I don't support Israel's military strategy in Lebanon then I'm anti-Semitic huh... Sweet! You're going to decide if I'm racist or not now aren't you? Lovely indeed...

BLA BLA BLA! Sickening. I need to puke!

Jet Lagged Like a Stoned Baboon!

2006-07-24T11:14:00.000-07:00

Hey there. I arrived safe and sound... not to mention being super jet lagged. I slept again from 3pm to 11pm (Malaysian time) only to wake up and find everyone in the house asleep except for my little sister who's watching wrestling on TV. My head hurts and the thought of traveling 4 hours back to my university campus after 2 days makes it even hurt more. My campus is the most boring place on earth. It's 4 hours out of Kuala Lumpur (capital of Malaysia) and is in a rural area which is very conservative... SO... "fun" is not a word used very much there... The idea of fun in most universities here in Malaysia is very different from "western fun" (which I miss by the way). Don't get the wrong idea though. Kuala Lumpur is an exciting place with lots of FUN... Not as fun as New York (which I miss too by the way) but you know it's still fun... Talk about an extreme transition! From traveling all over the US, to Japan, to now back home and soon back to my boring campus in 2 days. Speaking of Japan... It was fun. I didn't go downtown Tokyo which would be tall buildings and all that. Instead I decided to do something different so I made use of my time by going to the ancient 1000 year old Shinshoji Temple in Narita. It's a huge Buddist temple with extensive grounds and receives up to 12 million worshippers a year. Check out over 300 pictures of it here on Flickr. The best part about touring the temple and the surrounding town was doing it with this other American dude. We left the hotel and decided to go together. It was a cool experience hanging out with him. He is Jewish, in his 60's, and of Polish decent. He's from New York, lives in Manhattan, has a cousin who is a Jewish Rabbi and is a Professor of literature specializing in Shakespeare (I know how cool is that right?). So ya you can imagine the amount of interesting things we talked about. He believes the solution to the political problems of the world are embedded in Shakespeare's work and he meant it when he said it. You could easily see how passionate he is when it comes to Shakespeare. Maybe Hamas and Hezbollah can read some Shakespeare... Yes, no? Okay FINE! Anyways, it was cool chilling with him indeed. We got along pretty damn well. Can't Israel and its enemies do the same? Gee... Whatever! Me go make some cornflakes. Too bad bagels suck badly here and are way too expensive. By the way, sorry for not being able to contact all those who gave me their numbers. I got way too busy in the last few days... Anyways great vacation. Now time to get back and hit the books. Sigh!

Thank You America

2006-07-21T01:01:00.000-07:00

Thank you America for giving me such a good time. I'm glad my visa was approved and that it gave me the chance to witness this great country for myself. I truly loved and enjoyed my stay here. A big thank you too to all the wonderfull people I've met for being so hospitable and friendly. Please be sure that I'm not saying this for "sucking up" purposes. I really do mean what I say. You people really aren't bad at all and you certainly don't deserve the "infidel" label. Thanks again and peace out. I leave back to Malaysia today.

Introducing Hipster

2006-07-20T22:45:00.000-07:00

It's my great pleasure to introduce to you the latest Sudanese blogger to join the blogosphere. Here she is the one and only Hipster who blogs at Sudanese Truth Seeker. She's a Muslim Sudanese girl who's born and raised in the UAE. I'm currently working on getting other Sudanese bloggers who are isolated from each other to come together. They're not very active bloggers but I hope they'll get more active as we all start interacting. I predict that the birth of a Sudanese blogosphere is near. Let's hope I'm right. I'm really dying to see the interest of blogging grow amongst the Sudanese youth.

When Culture Or the Lack of it Gets You Into Trouble

2006-07-20T01:06:00.000-07:00

A Sudanese who is a friend of a friend recently moved to America after receiving his Green Card. After arriving and staying for a while in the country, this guy whom we shall all call Abbas took up a part-time job as an ice-cream man. While working, Abbas would drive his van around neighbourhoods selling all the ice-cream he can. One day while bored, resting and waiting for a customer, he got startled with a loud bang. When he looked out of the window, he realized it was a little girl who accidently hit Abbas's parked van with her bicycle. Abbas yelled at her. She started crying. He got out of the van with great regret and tried to calm her down. The only problem is that he tried calming her Sudanese style. Abbas wiped the scared little girl's tears, hugged her, swayed her gently from side to side and started tickling her to make her laugh. From a distance away the little girl's mother witnessed the "disturbing scene". She immediately called 911 since an evil black man was sexually molesting her little baby daughter. Abbas is now in jail. Sigh! He only had the best intentions.

Pretty Damn Busy

2006-07-20T00:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the delays. Expect a few more this whole coming week. I'm leaving America this Friday and I'm busy doing last minute shopping and other stuff too. Apologies. I'll do my best to update as soon as possible. I have many posts that I want to get off my head... mostly comparisons of Sudanese culture and American culture. I've heard a lot of funny and some sad stories about the Sudanese people who migrate here to America and I want to share them with you... Anyways I have to run now.

The Agenda Behind Darfur

2006-07-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

Who is financing and supporting the rebels in Darfur in their rebellion against the Sudanese government? Who's providing them with their weapons and ammo? How can they afford the private jets that fly them in and out of their European and African bases? Those are some questions I started to ponder after Sudan Watch brought them to my attention.

I'll start with a question. Is there really an agenda behind Darfur or is it only an illusion? I personally believe that to some extent an agenda does exist. It's obvious that the rebels are receiving support from an unknown party and I'm a strong believer in the notion that nothing in life comes for free especially when it comes to politics. The unknown party supporting the Darfur rebels are providing support for a reason and as such to some extent an agenda does truly exist.

Currently the majority of people in the Sudanese street believe that the Zionists have a hand in the Darfur crisis. Their beliefs are founded on the fact that in the past the US and Israel did provide support to the southern SPLM in their war against the north. This fact shouldn't come as a surprise.

The Sudanese government considers Israel as an enemy. Therefore it's only natural for Israel to do what is in its power to destabalize an enemy... the enemy in this case being Omar al-Bashir and his gang.

By 1969 the rebels had developed foreign contacts to obtain weapons and supplies. Israel, for example, trained Anya Nya recruits and shipped weapons via Ethiopia and Uganda to the rebels.

Also in the near past Sudan harboured terrorist elements including Bin Laden himself who spent some time in the country. As such it was in America's interest to destabalize the Sudanese government at that time.

In 1996 the US government decided to send nearly $20 million of military equipment through the 'front-line' states of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Uganda to help the Sudanese opposition overthrow the Khartoum regime. US officials denied that the military aid for the SPLA and the Sudanese Allied Forces (SAF), described as 'non-lethal' -- including radios, uniforms, boots and tents -- was targeted at Sudan.

It is for those reasons that the Sudanese street believes the Zionists and "Israeli lobby" dominated US is involved in Darfur. There are also non-Muslims who do believe that Darfur rebels are receiving support from Israel. Here is a post with a very fruitfull discussion on the topic. It's entitled "Playing the Israel Card".

It would make sense if Israel is supporting the rebels as the situation hasn't changed until now. However the notion that America might be involved in Darfur being based on the fact it did support the SPLM in the past becomes weaker. The situation now is different. The Sudanese government has learnt its lesson and it isn't involved in harbouring terrorists any more. On the other hand if we look at it from a different perspective, the possibility of America being involved increases.

In the American media Darfur has repeatedly been called the 21st century's first genocide and the crisis has received much attention. There are tons of garbage and propaganda about the issue too. What about Congo and Rwanda? Why haven't their tragedies received as much attention as Darfur is getting now. Why are they forgotten while Darfur is on the spotlight? I believe it has to do with the fact that Darfur is rich in uranium and the Western fears it might end up in the wrong hands. I also believe that the oil in Darfur might be a factor since the American competition with the Chinese and French is increasing. Currently China is given the largest share of Sudanese oil.

That being said, it would be easy to simply blame the "evil Zionist" Jews and "imperialist" USA for the problems in Darfur. That's a very wrong attitude in my opinion. If anyone should be blamed then it's primarily Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his gang for being corrupted dictators and caring nothing for the Sudanese people. Following them on the "blame list" would then immediately be the unknown party supporting the rebels in Darfur... the unknown party probably being Israel, Corporate America and/or African countries neighbouring Sudan. I include African countries because in the past, African countries have aided SPLM too and therefore might be doing the same with Darfur's rebels. I would like to delve into this deeper but I must admit that I lack the required knowledge about African politics to conduct an analysis.

I wish I could provide conclusive evidence on who is behind Darfur's agenda but I can't. I can only go about it on the bases of probabilities. My bets for now would probably fall on Israel and/or America. Why? Well for the reasons that I have stated above and many others. An example of those other reasons would be the fact that America provided chemical weapons to Iraq to go to war with Iran (and now Iraq is occupied. Ah, The irony of politics!) . Also keep in mind that SPLM still maintains ties with Israel and that Darfur rebels also have ties with some SPLM elements.

Anyways before I end this post, let me repeat again that I hate the attitude of blaming it all on the "evil Joooooz and America". It's so easy to point the finger at them and forget all the criminal things our own governments are doing to us. I certainly don't like foreign meddling in Sudan's affairs. I also believe that we as Sudanese people shouldn't focus too much on it and let it distract us from the real problem... the real problem being our attitude and that of our own criminal government. As we saw recently, Omar al-Bashir played the Israel card by including Darfur with the war in Lebanon and Palestine and saying it's part of the Zionist war against Muslims. He won the support of many simply by being vocal and strongly condemning the Israeli attacks on Lebanon. Soon some people will probably see him as a great hero and forget all the nasty things he did. Sigh!

Aimster, you're so right. "My friend's enemy is my enemy; but the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

To get a very good idea of the information floating around in the Sudanese street and amongst some Sudanese intellectuals, check out this post. I so very highly recommend reading it and the links it contains.

UPDATE: Here is a little thing I just received from a friend. It's about the Neocons' war plan that includes Sudan. It's the first time I'm reading such reports. Hmm interesting! So is this "leftist rubbish" or real facts?

Titanic VS The Notebook

2006-07-17T01:52:00.000-07:00

Ya ya I know what the hell right? Well hey don't blame, I'm not in the mood to blog about something serious or depressing today since I already am depressed with the super depressing news... SO... for a change I thought we could all maybe discuss something that would do us some good if we practiced it a little bit more... How about we discuss LOVE for a change huh?!

In your opinions, if you had to choose between the two and only the two which movie would you choose as the greatest romance and love story movie of all time... Titanic or The Notebook?! Stop trying to act all tough and emotionless because I know all of you who do act like that are in fact soft and sensitive baby rabbits deep inside so come on... which one is it... Titanic or The Notebook?? (and please don' tell me you haven't watched them or I'll strangle you!!)

UPDATE: Coming up next is "The Agenda Behind Darfur".

3 Weird Things About Americans

2006-07-17T01:38:00.000-07:00

One. They've got some seriously weird trash shows like Maury and Jerry Springer.

Two. They talk to their dogs... (WTFish?!) ... and the best part is that they both seem to understand each other. Amazing but seriously weird.

Three. They chill in grave yards as if the grave yard is a place for a picnic. When I was at NYC, I visited Trinity Church and to my utter amazement people were sitting down on the benches and chilling in the grave yard. Pinktoes told me that back in the day she sometimes used to go there to chill with her friends after school. The high school she used to study in is right across the street. Isn't it a little creepy to date and chill in a place where you're surrounded by dead people? What about things like respect for the dead? Seriously what's up with that? Double WTFish?!! Amazing but seriously weird.

Americans... No disrespect intended okay =p

Bye Bye Darfur, Hello M.E. Madness!

2006-07-13T11:37:00.001-07:00

Shouting out that WW3 might be about to start is not a childish overstatement especially when you examine the current Israel, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Iran madness closely. Something interesting but not surprising always happens when I visit other blogs with posts about Israel or Palestine. All posts with nothing about the Pali/Israeli conflict get almost completely ignored while any ones with the words "Palestine", "Hamas", "Israel" or "Zionism" get bombarded with tons of comments. Sweet! Bye bye Darfur. Almost all the attention is about to turn to Israel. Bashir must be glad I guess. He'll obviously continue blaming the Joooooz for all the problems facing Darfurians. It's obviously retarded but hey let's look at it without being blinded by "anti-Zionist" anger. When the Zionists are accused of being behind an agenda in Darfur many people end up believing such things. When the US is accused of being biased towards Israel, it also is true in one way or another. I mean hey let's look at Egypt.

The US loves to rant about how it wants to spread democracy in the world but when America's close friend "Mubarak dominated" Egypt smacks the living crap out of democracy supporters and reformers, America simply gives a slap on the hand to Egypt and better even approves $2 billion worth of aid from American tax payers' money. America doesn't really want democracy in Egypt because if true and fair elections were held the Muslim Brotherhood will win without a doubt and the peace between Israel and Egypt will be most probably be bye bye. America only wants democracy when the results are in accordance with its interests. That's a serious and glaring double standard especially when the war in Iraq is fought under the pretext of spreading democracy. Well hey can you blame a superpower for wanting to remain a superpower?!

Anyways here comes THE question... Is true democracy more important than peace and stability or is it the other way around??! As innocents are dying in the ME so are the ones in Darfur. Bashir blames the Joooz and many rally behind him. Blame them now and he'll probably have triple the amount of people rally behind him. Poor Palestinians got fed up of corrupted Fatah and elected Hamas as a hopefully better alternative but the opposite happened. Hamas brought disaster. I hate seeing Israel's campaign of collective punishment but on the other hand after following the news closely I really don't think Hamas or Hezbollah want peace with Israel. I think they really do want to wipe it off the map. Damn it! Hamas is now backed by Hezbollah which in turn is backed by Syria which is in turn backed by "pain inflicting capable" Iran. Sudan is allied with Iran by the way. It's just a stupid move meant to be like "hey America take the finger wohooo, we're with Iran whom we know already has nuclear missiles... Yaay". Jihad is always the supreme option.

Now hey I'm not going to try and be an Islamic guru but please answer this question fanatic supporters of regimes in Syria and Iran. Which jihad is better, wiping a country that already exists whether we like it or not from the map or waging a jihad against so called Islamic dictatorial regimes that care nothing for the population, holds it back while other countries move forward with building a better infrastructure with clean water, education, healthcare, a just legal system and so on? Whic jihad is better?? Listen up Muslim supporters of this madness, I'm a Muslim myself and I believe in miracles okay but I prefer being realistic. I hope you start thinking the same way too. As far as I'm concerned I believe the Palestinians are oppressed and living in harsh conditions and that Israel is an illegal occupier. However I hate seeing the stupid actions of Hamas and Hezbollah that leave no room for peace and bring disaster for the people. My heart goes out to the Israelis and Palestinians, both victims of their leaders in my opinion. Meanwhile I'm also sad for the people in Darfur as I know the current M.E. madness will overshadow them. I won't forget them though or those still living in pain after the Asian tsunami and earthquakes in Pakistan and Indonesia.

Ah me and my stupid fantasies of a peacefull world full of love and tolerance. Let's all blast our ourselves into oblivion shall we?! Get ready for a war spanning from Iran all the way to Israel. Include North Korea in the list too.

UPDATE: I thought I should include a link to this wonderfull yet depressing post from Rambling Hal. She's right.

My grandparents never lived in complete peace in their lifetimes. Neither have my parents. Neither will I. And it goes on. When was the world ever completely at peace?

NEVER... Yes? No?

Maury: Another Culture Shock!!

2006-07-12T20:28:00.000-07:00

What kind of freaking show is this??! I'm supposed to be chilling and taking a break right now but I couldn't help it. I had to blog about this today rather than blog after 2 days. I can't believe such shows exist! A guest comes out accusing her lover he got her pregnant and he denies that the already born child is his. He'll be like "look at her she ain't got ma nose ain't got my eyes ain't got ma mouth. NOTHING! That girl ain't mine. You stupid hoe been busy. This little girl ain't mine and I got nothing to do with her. You ain't getting a single dollar from me hoe. Child support my ass!" The lovers/couples/ex-lovers/one night "flingers"/whatever you want to call them then fight and the DNA results come out live in front of the audience proving the child does actually belong to the angry guy and that the girl is right. They both run backstage crying like babies and start fighting more. I mean seriously I don't want to start cursing on this blog but what kind of damn show is this??!! SHOCKING!!! And someone told me a show called Jerry Springer is much worse! Seriously WTFish?! The best part is that the girl's mother will be usually present and demanding child support too. What kind of mother is that?! It's as if her daughter getting pregnant like that isn't a big deal. Sheeesh. Teach your daughter how to keep her legs closed damn it. Random BooM BooM is not good especially when it's unsafe! Do people actually watch such shows?! SHOCKING!!

The Physical & Mental Road Trip

2006-07-11T08:43:00.000-07:00

Indeed the road trip was both physical and mental.

On Thursday night at 11.30pm, we left to LA from Chicago in our rented Ford Explorer. We were all hyped up. After 3 hours, I wasn't anymore really. We had just left Illinois and made it across into Iowa. Nebraska, Colorado, Utah and Nevada were still ahead of us. It seemed like a never-ending journey. My mind wondered so far away as we crossed the flat plains of Iowa. You can't help but not contemplate many things especially when both sides of the highway are all farms as far as the eyes see. In a way it felt as if I was the highway and the farms on both my sides were strangers that brought me insecurity. As far as I went they still followed me and not only on one side but on both. I felt sandwiched between two worlds. I felt sandwiched between two farms. I felt claustrophobic. Both sides could seem very similar or different depending on how a person views things. I guess I saw a bit of both. Those farms on both sides were me in a way and I was the highway sandwiched in between. Those farms were strangers but familiar in a way. Here I am, a Sudanese, a Nubian Arab, a Shaige and a Muslim traveling across the United States of America. There I was contemplating and struggling within myself. It's a struggle I wake up to face everyday. It's the struggle of the Westernized me VS the Sudanese Muslim deeply engrained within me. It's the fight and the search for answers. It's about finding a place where I belong. This place is not a physical one but a mental one. It's a mental state, which I and only I can achieve for myself. How can I not contemplate and simply turn my back away? Sudan has been raped over and over again by a corrupt and bloody dictatorship. It still continues to be. Naturally I want to fight for it and I want to free it but I feel too weak and despaired. I need the Sudanese people to join me. I want the righteous ones to wake up and help me overthrow this disease that is sinking my country deeper into misery as everyday passes by. "Oh well" I say to myself. “I'm scared and I'm not brave enough to do it”. “Running away is the answer,” I say to myself. Running away mentally and physically to another place is the way I will find peace within but where do I run though? To America, Canada, London, or do I stay in Malaysia... Where?? I love and admire the West dearly for so many reasons but in a way I don't think I could ever be Western mentally. There are just way too many contradictions that bring me a feeling of anxiety. On one side I see a torn and oppressive Sudan and on the other I see a prosperous West that is free and yet contradicting to many of my beliefs. On one side I see a brutal and bloody Sudan and on the other a US with a foreign policy filled with many double standards and which corporate interests heavily distort. When looking beneath the politics, most of the frustration and confusion evaporate away. I start to see kind, lovely and such wonderful people on both sides of the divide, the divide being me the highway cutting across the farmlands of Nebraska. The divide being me sandwiched between two worlds, and two farms that reap a harvest equivalent to their peoples’ efforts and their amount of fair or unfair access to water and other vital resources. Bump! Our Ford SUV shook a little and I snapped back to reality.

The scenery was just beautiful. America's skies are exceptional. I've never seen such pretty skies in my life. The clouds and the sunshine edging through little holes in them are truly breath taking. The journey continued and the green flat plains started getting yellowish and hilly. I was mesmerized by the views. I couldn’t help it and so my mind started drifting away again but before it took off too far, I snapped back to reality and no it wasn’t a road bump this time. It was something else, something ugly, something way different and much more disastrous than a bump. Someone in the SUV took the pleasure in starting the vicious “road trip” game of anonymous and sound proof “emergency gas releases”. I don’t know how bad it was when Saddam gassed the Kurds and I don’t care because this was by far worse. Man, I could have died from chocking. Shouts accompanied by laughter then followed after the disgustingly powerful and smelly gases assaulted our nostrils. Game on! Drima was about to turn into a fart machine. I was done cooking “it” and just as I was about to blast it into the air in a sound proof manner, sirens blasted into our ears instead. Cops! We pulled over. “Here comes the racism test,” I said to myself. Five colored men in an SUV, speeding across Nebraska must seem bad. She came and uttered the words that I’ve memorized from Hollywood movies. “License and registration please.” My brother was driving and so he provided the required documents. She looked at them, then at us, then at them and finally back at us one more time. I guess she could easily tell we weren’t high on weed or drunk on vodka. She was very nice and polite. I got no racist vibe from her whatsoever. My brother got down, went into her car and they talked for a while. He came back with a smile and a disappointed look. He just got a speeding ticket for $169! It was the first he ever received in his whole life. We agreed to split it 5 ways. I would pay $9 while the others $40 each. It’s so nice being a student. The engine roared again and the windows were closed. 5 minutes later I finally blasted it. Yes, I did it. It was perfectly sound proof and anonymous. Success! Shouts erupted again and everyone used Shaggy’s famous line “it wasn’t me”. I did too and hey it truly, honestly and most certainly wasn’t me okay! We calmed and the air freshened up again. We continued on our long journey across America. I slept and woke up only to find myself in the high and beautiful mountains of Colorado. No more yellowish hills. I was in awe. It was amazingly beautiful. However my brother and his friends who took turns driving as we made regular stops every 4 or 5 hours, didn’t enjoy it much. I was resting and chilling. Thank the Lord my driving license isn’t international. My brother and his friends found it difficult and annoying driving in Colorado as the highway wasn’t straight anymore. It was curved and had many steep uphill climbs and scary downhill descends. It was like a plate of Spaghetti. Good thing they had their GPS system. I didn’t care. I was just enjoying the scenery and day dreaming as usual. From love and relationships, to politics, religion, music and my ambitious entrepreneurial dreams. I think too much.

We made it into Utah. The mountains were still to be seen but the green and tall trees were gone. The land started becoming desert like. We continued and drove on. We were now in Nevada and were excited again. Las Vegas was right ahead. We drove on but still there was nothing but a never-ending expanse of tar and a few weak lights overwhelmed by the total darkness that surrounded us. Suddenly it appeared. It was beautiful. There it was right in front of us. Las Vegas baby! The darkness was no more. Millions of tiny twinkling lights sat there in the middle of the Nevada desert. It was an oasis in a dry valley of death. “Sin City here we come,” we all cheered. 45 minutes later we were driving right by the Luxor. The day was already Saturday and it was 3am in the morning. We’ve so far been on the road for more than 24 hours. We decided we would stop at Vegas on the way back and so we continued to LA. We made it into California after about 4 more hours of driving from Las Vegas. I was at the west coast of the US now. It was great. We arrived and checked in into our hotel, which was near Hermosa Beach. I was already in love with LA! The beach was sweet. I jumped into the Pacific Ocean after 10 minutes of hesitation since the water was really cold. The waves, the girls, the sand, the wind, the girls, the skies, the sun and everything else were absolutely great. It was crazy too because not more than 11 days ago, I was all the way on the east coast of the US at Portland, Maine and I was literally in the Atlantic Ocean. This truly is such a wonderful and amazing vacation. It’s a great experience indeed. After the beach we went back, showered and slept like pigs. We then woke up and got ready to go to a Sudanese wedding that we were invited to.

The wedding was nice but not as big as the ones back home. There were a good number of cuties there too. You see it’s a Sudanese thing. In the West men go to bars to pick up women but in Sudan we go to big wedding parties and observe. If you see something you like and you exchange “sparky” glances, then you find out who the mother is and you politely inform her of your good intention to get to know her daughter. That doesn’t happen in all weddings though but when it comes to my family, our close friends and their families that’s how it works. It’s important to inform the parents and introduce yourself before going up to the daughter, exchanging phone numbers and later going out with her. It’s just more polite that way. This approach is already considered to be kind of liberal. The vast majority of Sudanese only marry within the same family or at least same tribe. I don’t like that idea and I personally think it’s primitive and kind of racist. I don’t mind unforced arranged marriages but I don’t like the idea of them being constrained only within the same family or same tribe. Another wedding is about to take place in Virginia between a Sudanese girl and a White American guy. They fell in love while in university. The parents don’t mind at all. There is a catch however. He is Muslim. He converted way before he even met her. Thank the Lord they said yes and not rejected him simply because he’s a “white infidel”. I’m glad the mentality is changing. The wedding in LA was between a Sudanese man and a half Sudanese half Ethiopian girl. The man’s family in Sudan is not very happy because the girl is not pure Sudanese but he doesn’t care much. I guess his family is still sticking to the backward things in Sudanese culture, which I’m against. Anyways we ate, chilled and danced to the beats of Ethiopian and Sudanese music. The wedding wasn’t bad even though small by Sudanese standards. Before we left, my brother and I conversed with an old lady who turned out to be our relative. This is the amazing thing about us Sudanese people. Wherever we go, we find out we’ve got relatives there. Sweet! It makes approaching the cuties much easier since there is already an “established trust”. We left back to the hotel.

Next day we woke up, checked out and sped off to LA’s Downtown Disney’s ESPN Zone to watch the World Cup finals. The majority of people there were supporting Italy. It made sense since 90% of the place was filled with Italian Americans. However there were a few cool white non-Italian Americans there supporting Italy too. We, the road trip gang were all supporting France. I asked those surprisingly “soccer loving” non-Italian white Americans why they were supporting Italy and they gave me 2 interesting answers. Some of them bet a lot of money on Italy and others didn’t support France for political reasons. I guess the latter were the “red necks” we saw protesting and pouring French wine in the streets just before the start of the Iraq war. The match starts. Penalty! Zidane scores. Wonderful! We clapped and cheered together with the few Franch people next to us. Stares immediately followed. Italy scores. Crowd cheers and our smiles fade away. The suspense almost killed us until the worst happened. Henry took the seat but hey we were wrong. That wasn’t the worst that happened. Zidane was. One hit from his bold stone head and the rude Italian player fell down in pain. Good for that rude Italian but too bad for Zidane. He should have controlled his anger and ended his career properly. I still love the man anyways. Long live Zidane! World Cup ended in a depressing way indeed. Also something, which pissed me off, happened after that. When we all walked out of ESPN Zone some of the French people holding French flags were literally crying and wiping their tears. Out of nowhere comes this rude Italian guy and starts cheering at the top of his voice and laughing at them “Italia, Italia, Italia, wohooo, France lost, yaaay, Italia”. That was so disgustingly rude especially the fact that this rude Italian guy was in his 20’s and he had the guts to come up to this weeping French man in his 60’s and laugh at him. Where is that monkey’s sportsmanship and respect for older people? I’m glad the weeping French guys kept their cool. Anyways half an hour later I received news back from Malaysia that my mom was very happy while my sister was literally crying her eyes out. Yes I know. My family is weird when it comes to sports and my little sister is a football fanatic.

After the match we went to eat pizza in downtown LA. It was the most annoying pizza I’ve ever eaten in my life and that’s exactly the reason why it was the best and tastiest ever. You take a bite and the cheese stretches from LA all the way to London and back. Following the elastic cheesy pizza, we went to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and took pictures there. After that we left off to Las Vegas. We reached and stopped there for about 2 hours. The weather reminded me of Qatar's and Dubai's. Believe me people, the fact the word “palace” is part of the name “Caesar’s Palace” is not an overstatement. Downtown Las Vegas is huge and exciting. It reminded me of Times Square in New York City. On the way back to the car, we passed by a fence, which was polluted with pictures of nude women. They were promoting their “services” and the cards had phone numbers if you wanted to call and get a good “massage”. Hmmm. After Vegas I woke up only to find myself in Colorado’s Copper Mountain Resort. It was lovely. It reminded me of Genting Highlands back in Malaysia but the weather was better though. We spent an hour there and took many pictures.

During the road trip to LA and back to Chicago our diet mostly consisted of, Pringles, Subway and chocolate bars. I always asked for extra onions in my Subways to recharge my “gas leaking” abilities. On the way back here to Chicago, we agreed on a truce and the farting battle was over. Don’t ever mess with Drima when it comes to emergency “biohazardous” gas leaks. Come to think about it, why not donate all your farts to this blog so I can collect them and try releasing them on corrupt dictatorships all over the world to try and get rid of them. That would be great wouldn’t it? The road trip ruled. I’ve got 10 days left in the US and I’ll spend them all in Chicago. I’ve had so much fun traveling all over the country and I’m glad to have met many wonderful American people. Indeed you “infidels” ain’t bad at all you know. I wish others who come from where I do can start judging you guys without the political factor being involved. That will make it much easier to absorb the truth in. Every race, followers of a religion and nationality have the good and the bad in them. Never stereotype the majority based on the actions of an evil few whomever those people maybe. Always keep an open mind. Down with the corporate media!

In America each city was beautiful in its own way. In terms of fun I loved New York the best and I really enjoyed Broadway’s Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Walking around the city with Pinktoes was too sweet and I guess that’s why New York is now so dear to me. It's because of her and New Yorkers. If I judge the cities without the “people” factor then LA is definitely my number one choice. I loved California and its beaches. Sometimes this vacation doesn’t seem real to me that I feel the need to pinch myself. I’ve done way too much in the last 3 weeks alone. 10 days left here in Chicago and I look forward to a whole day’s stay at Tokyo’s Ginza during my transit on the way back to Malaysia. It’s going to be depressing when I go back to my boarding 2 days after I arrive. I’ve got 2 more years to graduate from university. I’ll be 21 that time. I’ll work for a while to get some experience and after that I truly hope to do my postgraduate studies in either Canada or America. I aim to get accepted in Syracuse, Princeton, Harvard or maybe Ottawa’s Carlton. Big dreams for a small man huh? I always like to tell people something. Either I’m too small for my dreams and they’re not really that big or I really am very big but my dreams are just way bigger. Time will tell. Until then, I’ll always keep dreaming and thinking. That’s why I am Drima, The Sudanese Thinker. Blogging about Sudan to resume soon. Peace out friends!

Sorry for not paragarphing it previsouly.

I'm Back From the Road Trip

2006-07-11T04:28:00.000-07:00

I just arrived 5 minutes ago. We were on the road for 30 freaking hours. Ouch!! I'm dead tired. LA and Vegas were too nice. Expect a long post about the whole experience in around 12 hours. It's good to be back in Chicago. Me gonna unpack now, take a shower and sleep coz I stink and I badly need rest. Oh ya and France lost =( ... I watched the finals at ESPN Zone in Downtown Disney, LA. I'll tell you all about it later.

Thank You Sudan Watch

2006-07-06T11:32:00.000-07:00

For the past one week I was too busy having fun and chilling that I missed out on so many events regarding Sudan and Darfur. I was afraid it would be hard for me to catch up but thanks to Sudan Watch I was able to get updated easily. Believe me when I tell you Sudan Watch's Ingrid Jones knows what she's talking about. I find her to be one of the most credible sources of information on Sudanese events and news. Her perspective is not contaminated with anger or self serving propaganda. She's out after the truth and real facts. Thank you Ingrid Jones for what you do. I admire your efforts and look up to you.

Here is a great article I stumbled upon through her blog. It explains how anti-UN sentiments in Darfur is lighting the rod for African nationalism. It's a great article indeed. Also recently Al Mahdi who was the last democratically elected leader of Sudan voiced his support for UN troops. Why am I not surprised? He's only blinded by his lust to be in power again. What a shame! I wish I can have the time to blog and share with you all the analysisessisss (ops what's plural for analysis?) that I've been thinking about 24/7 in my head but I don't have the time. I'm not a fan of conspiracy theories but believe me when I tell you there is an agenda behind Darfur and no it's not the Joooooooooooooz. I have to go and pack up my stuff for the road trip to LA since we're leaving in a while so I'm gonna go now. You all take care. I'll try to do my best to blog again soon and post my thoughts about the developments in Darfur and the agenda behind it. I hate the fact that I can't update regularly. Plus I'm already losing traffic =(

Peace!

New York: 4 Days 3 Nights

2006-07-05T23:23:00.000-07:00

Hey people, I'm back in Chicago. I just arrived today back from New York City. I spent my whole time in Manhatan. The 4 days I spent there could easily qualify as some of the best ever in my whole life. This thanks to a very special someone. She knows who she is. I was staying at her place on the 56th floor of the Corinthian. Great location and great views. I visited Ground Zero, Trinity Church, the UN, Wall Street, Broadway, Times Square and a bunch of other places too. Oh ya by the way New York rats are scaaaaary and huge man!

I Love New York, Oh Yes I LOVE IT!!

2006-07-03T16:26:00.000-07:00

People I'm having the time of my life. Absolutely GREAT. I LOVE New York. It's mad cool man!! It is SICK here you feel me. WORD!! (I'm learning some New York slang now =p) I LOVE IT!!

I'm going to Broadway now (Aimster too bad, you can't kill me now). I'll do my best to blog later and post some pictures. I just got back from the UN's General Assembly hall. I met a number of officials there. It was great. We dicussed many issues including Darfur and I grabbed some of the Security Council's reports... Anyways PEACE OUT and sorry for not updating. I'll really do my very best so please be patient. Apologies...

Yes There IS an Agenda Behind Darfur =(

2006-06-30T16:14:00.000-07:00

Ladies and gentlemen, for the past 2 months I've been reading many articles and talking to different people about the situation in Darfur. I've been quite reluctant to say this but there is an agenda behind Darfur. Yes, you read that right. I'm sorry to say there is an agenda. Here is a great blog entry by Ingrid at Sudat Watch. In it she expresses similar views to mine. What this agenda exactly is, I'll let you all know at a later time as I'm still trying to gather more credible information while filtering out all the non-sensical conspiracy theories. Darfur has a huge wealth of natural resources including oil, gold, copper and minerals. Oh yes and there's one more word I forgot to mention. Uranium! Can you make any guesses now? I'll let you all take it from here until I get back. Have fun thinking and figuring out who's behind this agenda.

Portland: Great Views & Friendly People

2006-06-30T09:31:00.000-07:00

This is the Atlantic Ocean. Well not really. The ocean is towards the right. Did I already say it's peacefull here? This is my 5th day in this small and wonderfull city. The people are so friendly. Maaan, you infidels ain't so bad huh LOL. Unlike Chicago I don't feel paranoid walking around all alone at night. Hey don't blame me, blame Hollywood. I always imagine some drive-by will happen or someone will come up to me and be like "ey mutha****a gimme ya money biatch!" It's pretty safe here in Portland. I don't get worried at all. I can be walking at 2am in the morning and not give a damn. I also had a chit chat today with my aunt. She's been in the country for about 10 years now and she wears the hijab. After all the years of being in this country and even after the time of 9/11, she tells me she's never experienced any racism or hatefull remarks from anyone. People were and still are very friendly. Long live the infidels huh? I'm glad to be here experiencing the country and its people for myself.

The Condom Debate Hits Sudan

2006-06-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

Yes only now it's finally hitting. I don't get it. What's the big deal if someone advocates condoms. Advocating them is not the equivelant of promoting premarital sex you know. It's simply about being safe. Even if rules are enforced and extreme measures are taken, sex will still happen. Muslim and Christian religious leaders in Sudan should cool down a little. If they think it's evil then they should at least choose the lesser of two evils. Which is better premarital BooM BooM with safety on or premarital BooM BooM with no safety helmet on and risking getting infected with scary diseases. Instead of pressuring for troops deployment, I think the UN should air drop hundreds of thousands of condoms on Sudan. That would be a better use of their time. Meanwhile let's continue the economic and diplomatic pressure on the government.

Chicago Gay Parade, Portland & Food

2006-06-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

Portland, Maine. It's one lovely and tranquil place where you can recharge your batteries and find the peace of mind you've been seeking all along. I really like it here but in a different way though. There's not much to do like in Chicago but it's so peacefull and beautifull. Before I go into details though let me rewind back to Chicago where I left off before. The day before I came to Portland, I went to check out the gay parade in downtown Chicago (southern part if I'm not mistaken). Don't get the wrong idea. It's not like I went there simply for the parade. We actually had to go pick up a friend from the same area where the parade was going to take place. We went and... oh... okay... mmm... well you see it was... I don't know what word to use... mmm... let's see... how about SHOCKING!?! Lesbian action woooohoooooooo haha and hey don't blame me but seeing super gay men in action YuCK! Hey, I'm sorry but it was just extremely yucky... Yuck eewww... I can't believe I had to witness all that... Damn it get a room or something... Please don't do it in public... Eeeewww!! I mean it was seriously and greatly unforunate for me that the men's gay action overwhelmed those of the lesbians... Talk about a culture shock... Sheesh!! Anyways all jokes aside... I don't support homosexuality and I'm against calling it normal because it's simply not. It's abnormal and please don't even bother to convince me otherwise (hemophrodites are an exception). Anyways being the naughty guy that I am I cannot deny that I found the lesbian action amusing LOL... In the parade they were all carrying rainbow coloured flags. That's apparently "their" flag. The parade was also kind of political. They carried posters calling for legalization of same sex marriages. Yup yup sure thing... I really can't understand it. I mean there were a few lesbians in the parade who brought along their little kids. They made them carry the rainbow flags too. What??!! Those chicks are pretty weird. They go dating random guys, get pregnant, all of a sudden turn lesbian and then bring their kids along to support the "rainbow" cause. It's those things that I don't appreciate about Western culture. Don't get me wrong it's not like I'm calling such chicks whores. Some people make mistakes and I believe society shouldn't put an extra burden on them by giving them the "dirty look". However seriously please what happened to family values? Compare America in the 1950's and now after the sexual revolution and all the hippie movements (what's hippie anyways? I'm kinda blur about it)... Anyways you know... Check the divorce rates of the West and compare them to those of the Arab world (ya ya I know we're pretty screwed in a lot of ways but hey you know what I mean right??!) And also check out the birth rates of Muslims in Europe and Europeans... Same goes with America and the Arab world... Check the number of illegitimate children and make a comparison... Also what's up with elders here being shipped off to elderly homes?? Seriously what's up with that man/gurl/boy/she-male/whoever you are reading this =p?? We're very family oriented people but in my opinion the West and especially the new generation in it is increasingly becoming not... Just saying okay. So I might be wrong... Crap!! I went out of topic... Okay switch back... Damn, where was I? Yes Chicago gay parade. Ya so after that we went back home and me was still kinda shocked. I packed up and got ready for my trip to Portland. The takeoff was schedueled at 9.30 but instead we took off an hour later. The best part was the one hour wait in the small and cramped plane. Why? There were 9 planes waiting to take off infront of us. What is this a movie ticket line?? I didn't know planes line up that long. It was a unique experience. I fell asleep and forgot to switch off my iPod. The attendant comes yelling at me just before takeoff "please switch off all electronic devices". Me sleepy and Bob Marley music too loud "What??!"... Attendant raises his voice and repeats the same words. Me finally gets it and switches it off. Super old friendly white lady next to me laughs. Me laughs too. Plane takes off and me sleep again. BAM. Touch down. Me land. Me come out. Me see big sign "Breathe Easy, You're in Maine". Guess what?? It didn't lie. The air here is so fresh I just so love it very much. It's so easy to breath in and out. I was never a big outdoors guy but because of Portland I'm starting to change my mind. Great views of the ocean. When I arrived we immediately went to a lovely restaurant. It serves Italian style seafood. The restaraunt is DiMillo's. If you go to Portland, Maine you must go eat there. Great food and service. Today I went to Old Country Buffet. First time. Yummy! Delicious and so many things to choose from. For the first time I tried meatloaf. Yummy! Oh ya and I ate pork (by mistake) not bad ey? Eeeeww oink oink me don't like pigs but me support animal rights okay! 2moro we might go to Boston. Not sure though. Bad rainy weather. I gotta go check my laundry in the basement. For the first time in my life I'm using words like "basement", "bagel" and "meatloaf". Me go to basement. Man... Basements are coooool... Hey don't blame me. I've never been in one before. Anyways me wanna say peace so PEACE!

Bashir & Kofi Anan: The Head Banging Continues

2006-06-27T09:46:00.000-07:00

Kofi Anan VS Bashir. It looks like it's going to continue this way. The recent unauthorized helicopter lift the UN gave to one of the rebels opposed to the Abuja peace agreement angered the Khartoum government. No duh, I'll be pissed too. First of all, the UN should abide by its agreement with the Sudanese government and second of all they shouldn't be aiding rebels opposed to peace. How dumb? It doesn't surprise me though. Kofi Anan made a recent statement saying the Sudanese government's opposition to UN troops in Darfur is strange since there are already troops present in the southern and eastern parts. Strange my foot! Mr. Kofi, either you're pretending you don't know or you really are dumb. The troops in the southern and eastern parts aren't there under the pretext of chapter 7. They're not authorized to engage in combat. The ones you want to send to Darfur will be under the pretext of chapter 7 and that's one stupid move considering all the current and growing opposition to them. Even the American troops in Iraq are having trouble controling terrorists and the insurgency and you think your great almighty UN troops will have it easy in Darfur? The answer is NO! You talk about intervention because of humanitarian purposes. I guess when your troops get sent they will make things more "humanitarian" than they are right now. How sweet and caring? I do realize many of you out there are supporting intervention and I sincerely thank you all for that. Do you know why? It's because I know your intentions are sincere. I know you mean well and I know you want to help but I ask you all to step back for a while and stop reading so called "facts" about Darfur. If I were reading those same "facts" my position would be like yours and that's why I don't blame you. I blame those making money publishing such "great knowledge" for all of us to consume. I blame those leveraging this issue to make a name for themselves. Even sweeter huh? Meanwhile my beloved Sudanese government says it is getting annoyed with all the western and international interference and meddling in the country's affairs. Well so am I, but hey who can blame them considering you're the ones who turned Darfur into the mess it is today. Would you really have given a damn about it if not for all the pressure you're facing now? The answer is NO! UN, continue your humanitarian relief efforts as I greatly do appreciate them but please keep your damn "chapter 7" troops out. Sudanese government, thank you for starting to finally disarm the Janjaweed and for stationing more than 10,000 SPLM forces on standby incase the AU troops want to leave. You better fix the situation and start getting serious. When are you going to realize that being evil butchers and money lovers won't get you anywhere in the afterlife. Wait! Do you even believe in the afterlife? Lovel huh? And you call yourselves Muslims who represent Islam. I tell you people, Al Bashir and his gang are very "wonderfull" and moral representatives indeed. I need to go and smash something!

Palestinian Factions & Hamas Agree To Recognize Israel

2006-06-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

Yes you read that right. They now recognize Israel's right to exist. So what do you have to say about that?

UPDATE: I know how you all love to post comments whenever Israel or Palestine is mentioned. I just hope the above post gets your attention too.

Chicago Music Fest & Summer Dance

2006-06-24T00:32:00.000-07:00

I've been here only for 3 days and I already love it. Chicago is da bomb! Maaaan I went downtown today and they had this really cool live band at Millenium Park. I love Latin music. I danced with like what??... More than 10 girls and the best part??! Each one was hotter than other one. It's so easy to converse with people here. No need for all the boring and formal introductions. You just go up and talk. That's it. What's so cool is that I realized America is like a bowl of fruit salad. You've got people from everywhere all in one place. It's such a rich culture and each race and nationality contributes something to it. Homeless people are annoying though especially when you start being nice and sypmathetic towards them. Oh ya and for the first time in my life I saw a Jewish Synagogue. It's only 5 minutes drive from my brother's place. His area is very diverse. I don't get it though everyone in that area was wearing uniformed clothes. The men wore black pants and white long sleeve shirts. So did the boys too. The men wore cowboy style black hats while the kids wore the tiny Jewish hats. They had the same typical Jewish braids. The girls same but no hats and braids. Instead of pants they wore black long skirts. I guess it's a conservative Jewish neighbourhood. I also went for Friday prayers today (that was before all the dancing LOL). Surprisingly, the sermon the Imam gave was by far the best I've heard in a long time. It was so spiritual rather than the same sociopolitical ones you always hear in other countries. I also noticed a large number of white Americans there. Many were converts and others weren't Muslim but were just curiously sitting at the back listening to the sermon. Donwtown Chicago is really cool but when you go to the suburbs you get a different feel. The fruit salad is no more. The neighbourhoods become clearly segregated. Hispanics, blacks, Arabs, Koreans, Whites (Italian, Polish) etc. are all seperated. We were driving along one of the roads and you can tell the difference just by looking at the sides. First it was English signs and then Korean, then Arabic and then Spanish. DAMN... All that just along one road. I guess race is still an issue here. However downtown is different. Racial barriers disappear. When the live band was playing everyone was dancing with everyone. No race crap no nothing. It was wonderfull. People were just having a good time. By the way people, I've been added as a contributer on Hyscience yaaaay. I'll be joining the big boys soon I guess... Anyways me off to sleep now. I've got to get my rest cause I've got 2 big private parties to go to 2moro... Muahaha talk about usefull connections huh? I'm kinda worried though. I don't wanna have too much fun cause once I get back to Malaysia it will be BAAAM... University and classes all over again... =( ... Ah whatever... Me go grab bagel and then sleep... Goodnight!

PS: The magic word in America is "tourist".

The Day I Might Believe America Is In Decline

2006-06-23T13:50:00.000-07:00

Is America in decline? That's the question you sometimes hear being repeated when something bad happens to America. Now that I'm here in the country and experiencing it first hand, I would say everything seems to be fine. People who want to spread the idea that America is in decline always try to support it based on military capabilities and economical facts. Some say America's military is becoming less capable. They point out the Iraqi insurgency and Vietnam as examples. When they talk about the economy they talk about America's massive debt, which is in trillions and they also talk about the weakening American dollar. While all those points might seem viable I personally don't buy them. The only day I will believe America might actually be in decline is the day I see American pop culture fading away. American pop culture is one of this country's strongest assets I believe. After traveling to so many places and meeting so many people from around the world, it's simply undeniable. From Japan, to Saudi Arabia and to the deep jungles inside Africa, you'll find the influence of American pop culture there especially in teenagers. Hip Hop and Rock cultures are currently the biggest and most popular in my opinion. Don't be surprised if you go to south Sudan and see a Dinka tribe member wearing a fake FUBU shirt and nodding his head to 2pac's beats. Don't be surprised if you go to Tokyo or Kuala Lumpur and you find girls with their hair dyed pink and dressed up like Avril or Gwen Stefani. Don't be surprised if you go to Egypt and enter a jamming studio only to find a couple of Egyptian teenagers skillfully playing Metallica songs and head banging to them. Don't be surprised if you go to Moscow and see a Russian band playing some BB King and Jimi Hendrix songs to a big and attentive crowd. Don't be surprised if you go to Bahrain and see a DJ blasting and scratching away while a bunch of kids break dance so professionally. American pop culture gives people in those countries a sense of freedom. Through it they look up to America and admire it. Being a teenager is mostly about revolting and "breaking away". In the West kids can "break away" easily but in the Arab and Muslim world teenagers have to stay within the cultural norms and bounds. I'm not going to lie. The number one reason I love America is because of the amazing music and artists it has given us. From Elvis, to Jimi Hendrix, to Frank Sinatra, Iron Maiden, Ray Charles, Kool and the Gang, Michael Jackson, 2Pac, Notorious BIG, Dixie Chicks?!, Tina Turner, Shania Twain, John Mayer, Whitney Houston, Metallica, AC DC, Guns N Roses, Madonna, Tracy Chapman, Sade and so many more I can keep mentioning until the year 2015 dawns upon us. American pop culture is undoubtly popular all over the whole world. I love it and people love it. It might be un-religious sometimes but it's still popular and nobody can deny that. The day I see teenagers throughout the whole world turning their backs on it is the day I can actually start believing America might be in decline.

X-Men 3 & Other Crap

2006-06-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

I just came back from watching X-Men 3. If you haven't watched it me highly recommends.

Mutants = Muslims

Magneto and the gang = Bin Laden & Al-Qaeda

Xavier and the gang = Moderate Muslims who want to "bridge"

Homosapiens = the West?

Think about it. The story explains the current situation and misunderstandings rather well if you look at it the way I showed above. It's only been two days so it's too soon to start judging the people and the culture. I'm still chilling and so far so good. Starbucks rules and Afghani food is da bomb! You should try it. I went downtown today. I swear Chicago is so huge and Lake Michigan is amazingly beautifull. I love the architecture of the city and the weather... absolutely wonderfull but at times a little cold and chilly for me.

Today I Learnt a New Word

2006-06-22T07:55:00.000-07:00

BAGEL! I just woke up and my brother asked me if I wanted a bagel. I was like "what the hell is a bagel?" His housemates and him all started laughing. NOT FUNNY! How the hell am I supposed to know what a damn bagel is? Anyways I tried one with cheese and eggs. Kinda nice ey! It feels like a donnut that has been left to dry for days. Also for the first time I tried raw fish with lemon juice on board the flight on my way here. It was so good. Seriously! I can't wait to try Suishi now. I was always afraid of eating raw fish but not anymore. Oh ya and I just got a taste of the real America "average Joes" experience everyday. My brother's housemate's car got stolen today LOL. Someone smashed the window and drove it away. It happened when we were sleeping. This is the fourth time the same guy's car gets stolen. Nice huh! Hurray to America yaaay! By the way my trip to California has been confirmed and here's the best part. It's gonna be a road trip from Chicago all the way to LA and we're gonna stop at many places along the way including Laaaaas Vegaaaaas baby wohooooo! I'll experience the "negativity" of secularism first hand so maybe I'll start to like it huh? LOL Strip clubs wooohoooooo... ZIP... Damn it, I ain't even 21 yet. Fake ID anyone?? My friend in the US Marines offered to get me one but I don't know guys... Should I?? LOL... Naaa, I don't wanna risk it... Laterz... I've got to go grab more bagels... Muahahah bagels bagels bagels... I'm gonna write a song about bagels one of these days... Hey, I hope I spelt bagels correctly. I did right? BAGELS! Wohooo! Bagels bagels! Muahaha! Laterz... LOL

They're Banging Their Heads Against One Another

2006-06-22T07:28:00.000-07:00

Reinforce the damn AU you retards. The AU knows peace in Sudan is vital to peace in countries surrounding it so they should present a stronger commitment from their side given the current situation. A few days ago Omar Al-Bashir said he will never allow UN troops as long as he was in power. When you read what he said in Arabic, you can immediately tell he's very serious since his language was strong.

I swear that there will not be any international military intervention in Darfur as long as I am in power

The UN's intention doesn't matter. What matters is what the majority of Sudanese think the UN's intentions are and so far they all believe the UN's intentions are sinister. They believe it is a Jewish conspiracy. Emotions are very stirred up right now. I called a friend in Sudan and he told me there were random demonstrations in Khartoum against the deployment of UN troops. Nothing major anyways. The only reason the Sudanese opposition supports the UN troops is because they want to see the Sudanese government go down down and further down to their knees. They want to see officials being arrested and they want to see havock being recked on them. I would love to see the same thing but not at the expense of the hundreds of thousands of innocents in Darfur. No way! The best part is that the UN and the South African President are all pretending they didn't hear what Bashir said. They're not taking him seriously. There's still a lot of time left in which endless things can happen. You still remember the troops can only be deployed early next year right? With the clear clash that I see now, I have a feeling things might turn worst. Nobody wants to listen to anybody. Everybody chooses what they want to believe and the different beliefs seen so far are very opposing. They're becoming more opposing by the day. That's why I'm worried.

Chicago: My Ass Hurts

2006-06-21T19:06:00.000-07:00

My ass hurts and no they didn't strip search me and stick a light bulb up my beep. It's just I've been sitting on it for so many hours already. O'Hare was a headache. I was so tired from the flight and I could barely even focus, so in order to stay awake I started blasting some Linkin Park and Metallica into my ears. I approached the passport counter after nearly being in line for 15 minutes. I got my fingers scanned and face photographed. The inspector was polite but so rigidly formal. He escorted me into the main office where I was supposed to carry out a further registration procedure. The reason for that is because ehm ehm... I'm a citizen of a country enlisted in the Axis of Evil. The officer in the office was also strict but polite. He gave me some papers to fill and I did that. He then called me again to scan my finger and get photographed one more time. I stood there as he struggled to stroke some commands into the computer. "I hate computers" said the officer. At that moment I couldn't take it anymore and I had to break the ice so I said "hey let me give it a try". He laughed and said "I'm afraid I can't let you do that. Oh there we go. It's working now. I'm sorry for the delay but it's just requirements." So I was like "yeah I know, thanks to Uncle Sam huh?". At that moment the whole wall of formality just collapsed and he laughed loudly. From that moment onwards we just had a normal converstation. After about an hour, everything was done. I then went to the customs officer who was a very wonderfull guy. He didn't even search my small bag. I went out to meet my brother who was already drained out of patience. I finally made it. I was in America. Throughout the long and boring process, the officers maintained the highest degree of professionalism. I am thankfull. When I reached my brother's place, I realized they had broken the lock on my big bag and searched it. They even tore some of the gifts' wrapping =( ... Ah it's all good. We left the apartment and went to K-mart which was the first time and most probably last time for me to go inside one. The customer service was HORRIBLE! It sucked big time. Oh ya and I now finally know you why Americans call fast food junk food. Fast food in Malaysia and Emirates tastes so good. I love McDonald's back there. I thought it was going to be the same here but the burgers were like cardboard sprayed with burger flavour. Why is the fast food so bad here? It's so strange. Thank God however for Starbucks. I swear Starbucks rules. Indeed it's great whenever and most importantly wherever you order it. I love Starbucks here. Anyways, I'm really tired now. I should get some sleep. I haven't slept yet since I arrived. Oh ya and I bought an accoustic guitar and guitar effects on my first day here. The salespersons are very helpfull at Guitar Center. And ya Raccoon, I'm going to spend a whole day in Tokyo on the way back. They gave me a room in Nikko hotel in the middle of the city so it should be lots of fun. Bubyeee ZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZzzzz

Japanese Airlines & the Narita Experience

2006-06-20T17:14:00.000-07:00

Hello cyber buddies. I'm in Narita International Airport right now, Tokyo. The freaking internet here is so bloody expensive. It's one damn US dollar for a bloody short 10 minutes. Damn it! For an American buck I can use the internet back in Malaysia for almost 2 hours. Sweeet! Once I reach Chicago, I'll blog about the trip. I hope they don't bug me with a million questions when I arrive at Chicago's O'Hare. Anyways, I'll update this post later. Peace!

UPDATE: Wohooooo finally I reached Chicago. Now.. time to talk about the flight and the airport. Before I boarded from Malaysia, I requested the airlines to provide me with a halal Muslim meal. I got on board and all the stewardesses were like "oni gaishimas" and bowing. They were hot but unfortunately old. Talk about MILFs LOL. During the flight a stewardess came to my seat and she had to talk a little loud since the engine was roaring... "sir, you requested for a (and then in whispers) Muslim meal". It's as if she didn't want to say the word "Muslim" loudly. I found it a little funny but it didn't bother me. Surprisingly the stewardesses spoke English with a very clear American accent. It was easy to communicate with them. At the airport I had to wait a long 5 hours on transit. At Narita airport I saw sign boards that had funny broken English. One of them said "Down with Narita Airport". Sounds like one of those anti American "down with America" slogans you hear being shouted in demonstrations in the Middle East. Anyways, I got on board my long boring and excrutiating flight to Chicago. Arrghhh... it was bad man. Don't get me wrong... the service was excellent but the chairs were so small and didn't fit my long legs. Plus there was Japanese woman next to me and she was snoring so loudly. I changed my seat after that and sat next to this American dude from Iowa. He was extremely friendly and I really enjoyed talking to him. He also warned me of carrying too many pirated discs. Too late. I had about 8 in my bag and so I started to worry since me gets very paranoid when it comes to these kinda situations. To be continued in about 12 hours.

Americaaaa... Here I Come!!

2006-06-19T13:59:00.000-07:00

Wazaaaap people!! In about 17 hours I'm going to be on my plane heading to Chicago via transit in Tokyo. Muahaha I can't wait. I've been waiting for quite a long time now for this day. This is going to be my first visit to the US and I'm really excited. It's hopefully going to be a very nice 5 weeks vacation. Destinations in the US will include Portland, Maine... NYC... Chicago and maybe California. I'm not really going there for the purpose of doing "touristy" things but rather to visit friends and family. I'm very excited however because I finally get to experience America for myself rather than through Hollywood, peoples' stories or MTV. I take pride in having being able to mix and meet various people from different cultures and backgrounds in my life. I believe it makes you a richer and more open minded person. Stick around as during this 5 weeks, I'll give you my perspective of America through my own eyes and experiences. I hope my holiday will make me richer and give me "that missing thing". I won't be able to blog as often as I do now but I will do my best to at least post something twice or three times each week. Thank you all for being supportive readers and for helping me in my quest towards better understanding. I've been able to learn so much from you all through our discussions.

PS: For the latest happenings and updates on Sudan check out Sudan Watch and Sudan Tribune.

Peace out brothers and sisters!

The New & "Developed" Sudan

2006-06-19T13:19:00.000-07:00

The Mogran of Khartoum which is where the White and Blue Nile meet is going to be the centre of Sudan's future business hub. The development is going to be absolutely amazing (for Sudanese standards). It's a very big and ambitious project (video). I have a huge problem with it though. This project is going to cost an estimated USD $4 billion. This project is a continuation of the wealth sharing imbalance that has been plaguing Sudan for decades. This freaking project will only further push the gap between the minority filthy rich in Sudan and majority starving poor. This crappy damn project is made with the sole purpose of enabling the corrupt Sudanese dictatorship of filling its stinking deep pockets only further. This so called "future Sudan" project is meant to give the Sudanese people something "developed" to be proud of. This is complete and utter rubbish!! Sudanese people wake up and realize that there's NOTHING to be proud of when it comes to this project. 90% of the Sudanese people can't even manage to fill their stomachs and you expect them to have the time to be proud of a few tall glass buildings?! Sure, I like big tall glass buildings but you're wrong if you think this project is going to make Sudan developed. In fact it is the exact opposite. This bloody project will be an "in your face" testimony to the wealth imbalance in this country. Wake up my people. Don't be proud. Get "LOUD"!!

Tattoos & Religious Symbols

2006-06-19T12:28:00.000-07:00

I've always had a fascination with tattoos since I'm a big appreciater of art and yet I don't want to get one. Tattoos are regarded as sinful in Islam. That's the main reason I won't get one until I'm 6 feet under. I'm doing it out of respect for the teachings of my religion. I must admit though, that I don't get the reason behind tattoos being haram. I've never quite understood it. Oh ya and did I mention that I'm not going to get one also because my parents will turn the house upside-down and kick my ass too? Well, yes there's your reason number 2 folks. In Christianity tattoos are also considered sinful. I'm not sure about Judaism though. However, if there's anything I'm really really confused about when it comes to tattoos, then it's the phenomenon of people getting ones of religious symbols. Why on earth would Christians tattoo a Cross on themselves when they know it's against Christianity?! Weird huh? The same goes with some Jews and the Star of David. Maybe it's individualized religion or maybe they're not Christians and they're just simply being anti-Christian.

I've never seen a Muslim with a tattoo of a Crescent or something related to Islam before. I thought no Muslim would ever do such a thing. I was wrong. Last year I got to know this Iranian dude through a Russian friend of mine. The Iranian dude was a cool guy who was very open minded and liberal. He showed me the biggest and most shocking tattoo I've ever seen in my whole life. The tattoo was on his whole back, starting from his neck and going all the way down. It was in Arabic and it said "Allahu Akbar". That's one hell of a big sin. Talk about taboos and norms! The guy would probably get shot dead if he walked on an Iraqi beach.

Iraq or Sudan: Choose One!

2006-06-18T03:05:00.000-07:00

Check this video out! Americans, this guy is seriously mad!
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The Ban On Hijab Is Absolute RUBBISH

2006-06-17T21:53:00.000-07:00

Freedom is freedom. If a woman wants to take off the hijab and not cover her hair then it's her absolute right to do so and no true Muslim should ever force her to do otherwise. Moreover if a woman wants to willingly wear it then that should be her absolute right too. Banning women who want to willingly wear the hijab is absolute rubbish. I understand that in the West the hijab is viewed as a sign of oppression. There's a very enlightening post about this on Halalhippie's blog. Also in the Islamic world there's an unfortunate great amount of focus on "external religiosity". Big Pharaoh has a post about it. I know girls who wear the hijab but are absolute whores. I also know ones who dress in revealing clothes but are very decent and wonderful individuals. As such I realize that wearing the hijab doesn't automatically make a Muslim woman good. True religiosity should come from within and it must be combined with tolerance. France's law banning religious symbols is absolute rubbish. What's wrong if a Sikh wants to wear a turban? What's wrong if a Christian wants to wear a cross? What's wrong if a Muslim girl, a Christian nun or an Orthodox Jewish woman wants to cover her hair? What's the basis of implementing such a ban? What happened to the West and its freedom? Is this secularism gone too far? Frankly, I think it is. Surprisingly and to my horror, some Muslim countries have also implemented such laws. Two examples are Turkey and Tunisia. I find this extremely disturbing. If a Muslim woman wants to wear the hijab and willingly cover her hair, she should be allowed to do so as it is her right. Indeed, such laws are absolute RUBBISH!

How I Miss John Garang

2006-06-17T10:10:00.000-07:00

John Garang was the leader of the southern movement, Sudan's Peoples' Liberation Army (SPLA) which is now known an SLPM ("M" for Movement). The late John Garang died in a mysterious plane crash. He was a very charismatic leader. Contrary to popular belief, many northerners liked John Garang. Some liked him due to the principle of "my enemy's enemy is my friend". Others like me liked him because we think he was a strong leader capable of reforming and balancing the Khartoum government. Many of us are sad he's gone. If he was still alive he would have been able to do much more. His current successor Salva Kiir isn't as charismatic as Garang was but he's still alright. I honestly fear the day the south will announce they want to separate and form their own country. I think that will be bad for us northerners, as the Christian southerners are a good force that can help us "edge further" towards reform and balance. If they're gone, the current Khartoum government... Ops no wait, I meant dictatorship, will be free to do what they want without much opposition from southern elements. We will be left all alone to oppose them. The coming elections that should take place in 2008 will be a critical time for all of Sudan.

What I Was Doing On the Morning of 9/11

2006-06-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

Well it wasn't really morning time in Malaysia. The time difference between Kuala Lumpur and New York is about 12 hours. On that dark day, my family was having a small birthday party for my elder brother. Yes, you read that right. My elder brother's birthday is on September the 11th. At the time my aunt and eldest brother were down from the US spending their holidays with us in Malaysia. We blew the candles and settled down to have a laughter filled conversation. After we got done eating the cake, I decided to turn on the TV. At that moment the first tower was already on flames. My first reaction was "oh my God this is so cool." I yelled to my brother "yo big bro, come and check out this cool movie!" He came running and was like "hey isn't this Schwarzenegger's new movie?" At that moment it dawned on both of us. The channel my brother and I were watching wasn't HBO. It was CNN!! We simply watched in disbelief. Slowly the living room crowded up again and everyone stood brainstruck. Then my mom screamed "oh no another one" and at that moment the second plane hit. Dead silence! The question that was on everyone's mind was "who is doing this?" We somehow knew the answer. My mom in a sad and heavy tone said one word. "Them" My little sister asked "who's them?" and my eldest brother replied "the bloody freaking extremists!" The worst part then happened. The two towers started collapsing and the whole living room cried out loud. In a moment the towers disappeared. Dead silence again. My father's face immediately turned gloomy. He said four words that I will remember to this day. "This is very bad." He then got up and left. He had enough. The phone suddenly rang. It was my grandfather calling from Sudan wanting to make sure that my aunt who was supposed to leave back to the US in two days via transit in New York stayed in Malaysia. He was worried about her and my eldest brother and didn't want them to go back. They both talked to my grandfather and calmed him down. My aunt hung up and we all sat quitely wondering in disbelief. My little sister then dropped the innocent question. "Mommy, is WW3 going to start?" Next day in school, the same question was being repeated on many lips. Five years later, wars are waging. How many more years are there left and is the worst still yet to come?

Darfur: the Situation So Far

2006-06-16T02:25:00.000-07:00

The Sudanese government, Darfur tribal leaders and now the Darfur governor oppose UN troops and yet the UN still continues to press for troops deployment as soon as possible... soon being early 2007. Stupid "paper tiger" UN is always mostly about the talk. If the Sudanese government and Darfur tribal leaders can be convinced to change their minds, then that will be a good achievement from the UN's side but I don't see that happening any time soon. The UN is banging its head on a wall. The Sudanese government simply won't allow troops deployment under chapter 7 which will allow the UN troops to engage in combat. If the Sudanese government does allow the UN troops in, then another important question must be addressed. How capable will the Sudanese government and UN troops be in securing the Sudanese borders from al-Qaeda? There's a great amount of mistrust. The Sudanese government will not make any move that will risk its dominance. They're afraid the UN troops will be used to arrest high government officials and as such will do anything to protect themselves. A big question still remains unanswered in the Sudanese street. Who was and still is funding the rebels? How can they afford the luxury lifestyle they are living and the private jets that fly them in and out of their European bases? I'm surprised just like Sudan Watch is that nobody is investigating that fact. The popular belief in Sudan is that the funding was partly coming from Zionist organizations that want to destabilize the Sudanese government. Whether that is true or not, I frankly think it shouldn't matter much to the peace process now as all the rebels have signed and indicated their commitment to the peace agreement. People who believe such things must realize that even "Zionist" America and the EU pressured the rebels to accept the agreement and stop whining. The situation is certainly complex but does that mean we should all freeze and just watch this great tragedy? Certainly not! I just don't think UN troops deployment is a wise idea given the current situation and opposition. I think the emphasis should be on reinforcing the current AU troops; disarming the Janjaweed and making sure all sides stick to the signed agreement. After peace is hopefully secured, clean water should also be made available as it is one of the primary reasons for conflict amongst the Darfur tribes.

Meanwhile I'm really getting pissed off and mad at the amount of garbage so called self-proclaimed professionals are churning out about the Darfur conflict. I have no idea where on earth they get their so called facts. They're on a mission to marginalize the former terrorism harboring Sudanese government as much as possible. They're using this conflict and blowing it out of proportions to pin every single tiny problem on the Sudanese government. Hey, guess what? Fine by me because believe me I'm certainly no fan of my “most favorite" corrupted dictatorship that is the greatest disease

Sudan

has ever known aka the bloody Sudanese government. However why not marginalize it the proper way? Why spread and market such garbage? This isn't helpful. In order to solve a problem, one must understand it well first. Such distorted information only adds to the problem. I've noticed that in the American media, anyone who tries to put some blame on the rebels for the so called "genocide" in Darfur is labeled a Leftist. It seems every time an American wants to go against the current of the mainstream he's immediately labeled a Leftist. It's as if the word "Leftist" is now a bad word or an insult or something! I guess it has always been this way. So probably the fight in the American media on whose facts are right about Darfur is essentially one of the Left VS the Right! I can tell you something and I think this might piss off some of you. Most of the Left's articles on Darfur are much more accurate than the Right's. This is what I've noticed so far and I beg you all to take heavy notice of it. Again though, please let me say this. I hate the Sudanese government and I don't have the slightest intention of defending them. They freaking executed some of my family members and confiscated millions of dollars worth of assets from us. Moreover relatives of mine even got killed in the north and south war which they themselves started. However I think it is VERY important to put out the facts as they really are. I can't be biased based on my personal issues and emotional perspective. Neither should you too. It's important to take into consideration all the details and factors especially when the stability of the whole gigantic Sudan is in question. Stupid self-proclaimed Darfur professionals are pissing me off. Furthermore the American right wing's articles are pissing me off even though I consider myself to be a right winger.

When the Koreans Appeared, the Dogs Disappeared

2006-06-15T01:12:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago, you would hardly see any foreigner walking the streets of Khartoum except for the few and random UN officials roaming nearby their headquarters. Now however it’s not a strange thing seeing so many Westerners and Asians walking everywhere. I was even surprised last year to see many Westerners eating at Sudanese restaurants and enjoying Sudanese food. What was even more amazing were the Chinese dudes I met who spoke Arabic in perfect Sudanese dialect, you would swear they were probably Sudanese. Anyways, apparently however the Sudanese people really like Koreans. Before the Koreans came to Sudan there were so many stray dogs everywhere and it was an annoying problem. However when the Koreans started arriving, the number of stray dogs started decreasing dramatically.

Here’s a little story. I was with my uncle once as he was driving and then suddenly a Hyundai car in front of us pulled over to the right side of the road. Four Asian dudes jumped out and ran after a nearby dog. They caught it quickly and put it in the car’s trunk. At that moment my uncle yelled “God bless the Koreans!” I asked why and he replied “because they’re ridding us of stray dogs”. Believe it or not dog meat is a very famous delicacy in Korea and many Koreans love eating it. I had a few South Korean friends here in Malaysia who ate it whenever they had the chance to. Yummy right?

Corruption In Sudan & The Hidden Economy

2006-06-14T12:35:00.000-07:00

Richard Brown discovers the wealth that lurks beneath the bankruptcy and starvation of Africa’s largest country. (I recommend reading this article as it provides some very usefull insights. Please take note that this was the situation in the year 1991 so you can imagine how bad it is now 15 years later.)

Sudan is now in the grip of its third major famine in seven years. These famines are occurring against the backdrop of a costly civil war which has been raging in the southern part of the country since 1983. Sudan also staggers under one of the largest debt loads in Sub-Saharan Africa – nearly $14 billion. Yearly repayment charges outstrip by far the take from official exports. It is hard to comprehend how such a poor country can hope to raise enough tax income to improve the livelihood of its desperately needy people.

Yet the truth is that Sudan has produced more millionaires than any other Sub-Saharan African country with the exception of oil-rich Nigeria. It is not uncommon to spot the latest model Mercedes Benz on the streets of Khartoum before seeing it in Europe. After the 1985 uprising that toppled Nimeiry, more than 20 brand-new Mercedes were among the confiscated private assets of his Vice President.

Conventional thinking about the Sudanese economy is based on government data – on legally recorded economic transactions. Yet so much of Sudan’s economy remains ‘hidden’ that the official record gives at best half the story. In fact the hidden economy has become the main economy, awash with unrecorded and often illegally acquired savings and foreign-exchange surpluses. As a result, the country is in a state of paralysis with an impoverished Government unable to direct underground wealth to achieve any national purpose.

In the civil service inflation and government cuts have severely eroded real incomes at all levels. Public servants are increasingly unwilling to perform their normal duties without some form of extra private inducement. Just to survive they often need to hold two or three other informal – and untaxed – jobs.

Teachers and university lecturers earn additional income by giving extra lessons during regular work time. At the University of Khartoum the euphemism is ‘internal secondment’; lecturers give classes within the university for an hourly fee on top of their regular salary. Doctors often take on private, fee-paying patients during regular hours using hospital facilities to earn a living wage. Government employees routinely sell licences, official seals and letterheads on the underground market in addition to scarce government stocks of basic commodities such as fuel, sugar and flour.

Higher-ranking government officials with access to foreign exchange or imported commodities do particularly well. This is not surprising when you consider that goods are often bought at the official exchange rate (four Sudanese pounds to the dollar) and then sold at prices reflecting the black-market rate of 40 Sudanese pounds to the dollar.

Foreign-aid loans in Sudan also have more to do with pockets being lined than with the quality or need for the project being funded.

Former President Nimeiry’s deal with his good friend the Saudi Arabian arms dealer and financier, Adnan Khashoggi, is a case in point. Their December 1984 agreement established the National Oil Company for Sudan (NOCS) with equal shares to the Sudanese Government and Khashoggi’s Sigma International. NOCS was given rights over all oil and gas reserves in Sudan. Khashoggi undertook to raise a loan of $400 million for the company; in return he was given a virtual monopoly on marketing Sudan’s cotton. Responsibility for servicing the loan rested entirely with the Government. The result – a 50-per-cent mortgage on the nation’s oil reserves in addition to ‘rent’ on its future cotton exports.¹

Another important aspect of the hidden economy is money from people working abroad. By the end of the 1980s over a million Sudanese had migrated to oil-rich Gulf states in search of higher incomes. Two-thirds of Sudan’s professional and skilled workers were employed outside the country in the mid-1980s. Money sent home by migrant workers became a major source of income and livelihood for many Sudanese and also the most important source of Sudan’s foreign exchange.

However, since most of these earnings do not pass through the official channels, they are beyond the reach of the tax collector and do little to overcome the chronic foreign-exchange shortage facing the Government. Migrants naturally prefer the attractive exchange rates offered by the merchants and money-lenders who control Sudan’s parallel market.

In 1986 the Central Bank estimated that around $1.4 billion was being exchanged each year on the parallel market, compared with only $400 million on the official market. Things got so bad in the early 1980s that the country’s foreign-exchange-starved Central Bank itself had to buy hard currency at black-market rates.

If you take these hidden sums into account some dramatic things happen to Sudan’s economic statistics: the Gross National Income for the period 1978 to 1987 jumps by some 45 per cent; the 10-per-cent current-account deficit turns into a 10-per-cent surplus; and gross national savings increase from 5 to 20 per cent in the adjusted accounts.² Apart from the problem that none of these unrecorded earnings can be taxed, the small group of very wealthy parallel-market merchants and bankers who profit from it spend much of the precious foreign currency on luxury imports like automobiles.

However, most of Sudan’s unrecorded foreign-exchange earnings don’t stay in the country or don’t even make it there. Foreign-exchange dealers travel to where the migrants work in the Gulf to buy up their foreign earnings. The worker’s relatives receive the equivalent in Sudanese pounds back home and the foreign currency is invested abroad in violation of Sudanese law.

And then there is capital flight: Sudan, like all too many developing countries, is crippled by capital flight. Sudanese businesspeople first started illegally buying up foreign assets in the early 1970s with the wave of Gulf Arab petro-dollar loans that were supposed to convert Sudan into the ‘granary of the Middle East’. One key actor was again Adnan Khashoggi. He contracted a commercial loan of $200 million, guaranteed by Saudi Arabia, at twice the interest rate offered by others. Ten million was deposited abroad for ‘greasing Saudi machinery’, of which $4 million constituted Khashoggi’s commission. ‘As for the rest of the money, only God knew, and only Adnan and President Nimeiry would be able to account for it,’ according to Mansour Khalid, Nimeiry’s former Foreign Minister.³

The findings of a Bank Investigating Committee appointed after Nimeiry’s downfall in 1985 sparked the arrest of leading bankers, including the manager of Citibank. I estimate that $11 billion left Sudan between 1978 and 1987; the Bank Committee puts it at $15 billion.⁴

So the official picture of Sudan as a net recipient of foreign money, mostly in aid funds, is quite misleading. In reality Sudan is a net exporter of capital: the amount of money that has disappeared overseas is at least equal to the country’s accumulated foreign debt. The Government owns the debt, private investors the foreign assets. A large part of Sudan’s income that could be taxed is instead going abroad.

There are plenty of official suggestions as to how Sudan might tackle this fiscal crisis. But the root problem is not simply the state’s ‘lack of fiscal and monetary discipline’, or ‘overconsumption’ (as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund contend), but its inability to mobilize the money circulating in the hidden economy. Simply giving Sudan the orthodox advice – increase tax revenues and reduce spending – is pointless.

The Sudanese Government must find a way to use existing savings and foreign-exchange earnings while restoring investors’ confidence in the domestic economy. Only then will the hidden economy be brought into the light of day and adequate tax revenues be put to use to meet the basic needs of ordinary Sudanese.

But it is hard to imagine that the economic chaos can be put right if there is no end to the political chaos, the persistent internal rivalries, the ethnic frictions and the civil wars that have torn Africa’s largest country apart.

(Source)

Bimboitic Or Not?

2006-06-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

Let's try a light topic for a change shall we? I've been arguing with a friend of mine by the name Aimee on whether her blog is bimboitic or not and so I've decided to link to her and let you guys be the judge of that. Please scan and then rate her blog on the bimbo scale of 1 to 10. Drop your thoughts here in the comments section. The factors you will be basing your judgements on are listed below.

1- Shopping

2- Bitching

3- Gossip

4- Vanity

The Gaza Beach Incident

2006-06-14T10:38:00.000-07:00

So I know there has been a lot of reports and stories flying around pointing fingers and the responsibility back and forth between Israel and Hamas. When I checked for updates on the story and the investigation today, I found a new article about it on Al Jazeera but nothing new on CNN.

Al Jazeera dated 14th June

The military said on Wednesday that old Israeli ordnance could have killed the eight Palestinians last Friday, after its previous denial of responsibility was received with scepticism by the United Nations and elsewhere.

CNN dated 13th June

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- The explosion on a Gaza beach that killed seven people last Friday was caused by explosives planted there by Palestinian militants, not artillery fire from an Israeli navy gunboat, Israeli military sources said Tuesday.

It is important to note that the CNN article contained this information towards the end.

But Human Rights Watch said its investigation of the incident came up with opposite conclusions in almost every case.

In other words the Human Rights Watch is accusing the Israelis and putting the responsibility of the tragedy on them. Talk about mind twisting and distorted news. You can defintely tell me that Al Jazeera could be biased but why would the Human Rights Watch be?! You see, these are exactly the typical cases where I just end up getting so pissed off. To tell you the truth, I don't give a damn if it was Hamas or Israel because at the end of the day nothing is going to change the depressing fact that the poor girl's family is gone. It's not like anything is going to bring them back to her now.

Everyone is saying different things just on this one tiny freaking incident, so you can surely imagine all the "accurate records" that exist over the past 50 years on this conflict. It's not like I care who started it or who did what or when. I'm not really bothered to read up through the piles and piles of so called "accurate records" surrounding this conflict and every single incident in the past 50 years. Is it really going to matter? Who's to say who is right or wrong? The most critical factor in the "siding" in this conflict is the emotional factor. Yes, that's it! Your emotions will determine where you stand or don't and NOT so called "facts". I'm on the freaking fence and I don't care to side with anyone. My stance is simple. Have fun and continue killing each other or learn to share Jerusalem. Arrgh... The frustration is taking over on this one. I'm contemplating hitting the Backspace key and erasing this whole "bably" paragraph but you know what...? I think I'm gonna leave it... Sigh!