Phoenician science. A Lebanese medical scientist (who does not want to be identified) read the article by P. Zalloua et al and sent me this comment:
"OK, here is my take on this article (which I enclosed for you). I am not a geneticist so some of the methods are unfamiliar to me, but some important points emerge nontheless:
1. He looked at 926 Lebanese men from Beirut, mount Lebanon, Bekaa, North and South. He does not say from where nor how many were from each geographical area (this will be important, see below)
2. He excluded the Beirutis because "of their diverse recent origins". So obviously according to him, they were not "true" Lebanese or had so much intermixing that they shot his theory to smithereen and did not have enough "muslim" or "crusader" blood in them.
3. Where are the Greek Orthodox or catholics? he only reports on the maronites, druze, sunnis, and shiaa
4. Despite all the extensive testing, and despite STATISTICAL significance (though definitely not "clinical" significance), there was extensive similarities between all religiuos groups (again, the Greek orthodox/catholics seem not to be "true" Lebanese according to our esteemed reasearcher): The arab genes are found more commonly in the muslims than the maronites (25% vs 15%), meaning 75% of the muslims and 85% of the maronites did NOT have those genes (I do not recall that most of us came from SA, Qatar, Yemen, UAE, and Oman). Too bad for him, the Western european genes were found in ONLY 16% of the maronites vs 10% in the muslims. So ya haram, 84% of the maronites did NOT come from Western Europe (he should have checked some Syrian genes) and 90% of the muslims did not either (this will not make Faris Seid happy either). The Levant was the melting pot until the Ottomans came, so it is not a surprise at all that no group was i mmune to genetic mixing.
What does this all mean: unlike his conclusion, he should have concentrated on what makes the Lebanese ALIKE and not what makes them different from each others. His conclusion that different religious groups have been living in enclaves with "no" mixing for over 1300 yrs is not proven by his findings.
5. For the LF crowd, they can still use that paper that the maronites (again the absence of the Greeks is no mistake most likely because they share haplotypes more with the muslims than the maronites in my opinion) came from Western Europe. A careful read of the paper shows that this theory lays waste to their claim."

Pure humanitarianism: "A U.S. Navy ship loaded with humanitarian aid steamed through the Dardanelles en route to Georgia on Wednesday, as the Bush administration prepared to roll out a $1 billion economic aid package for the former Soviet republic."

"1- the agreement does not discuss anything about a complete US withdrawal from Iraq. Instead, it talks about withdrawing "combat troops" without defining what is the difference between combat troops and other troops. It is very clear that the US is planning to stay indefinitely in permanent bases in Iraq (or as the agreement calls them: "installations and areas agreed upon") where the U.S. will continue training and supporting Iraqis armed forces for the foreseeable future." (thanks Raed)

"Iraqi officials say U.S. forces Wednesday killed six Iraqi security personnel in what the U.S. describes as a case of "mistaken fire"."

"[Barzani] Unfortunately, we seem to be still under the influence of a totalitarian regime. The one that takes over power thinks he has the last word in everything and that it is his right to make decisions without consulting others. He forgets the coalitions, the commitments, and the constitution."

"Ghassan Al Masry, head of the Canaan Center for Media and Studies issued a press release slamming an attack carried by a group of extremist Israeli settlers against Palestinian legislator, Najat Abu Baker. Abu Baker was in her vehicle on the road between Nablus and Jenin."

"By dawn, Christian homes in the village were smoking heaps of burnt mud and concrete shells. Churches were razed, their wooden doors and windows stripped off."

"If we decide to absorb them, perhaps we'll also teach them manners." (thanks Zyde)

"Drawn by that reputation, an increasing number of Americans interested in Arabic have been flocking to Jordan."

""Pray for our military men and women who are striving to do what is right. Also, for this country, that our leaders, our national leaders, are sending [U.S. soldiers] out on a task that is from God," she exhorted the congregants. "That's what we have to make sure that we're praying for, that there is a plan and that that plan is God's plan."" (thanks Olivia)

How come no court or government remembers the American citizens who have been killed by Israeli occupation troops over the decades? "In a landmark decision, a Jerusalem court has ruled that a US court decision ordering the Palestinian Authority to pay the family of an American citizen killed in a Palestinian terror attack over $116 million in compensation is enforceable in Israel." (thanks Sellam)

"On the 31st August, one and a half year old Omar almost died from suffocation as his journey from Susiya to hospital was prolonged from 5 to 20 minutes due to Israeli road block. Sunday afternoon Omar had caught a fever witch caused his tongue to swell up and and fall back blocking his windpipe. As a part of the reaction his brain went into shock and closed his mouth. In order to save the boy from suffocation, it was crucial to get him to the hospital as quickly as possible."

I don't know who invited Adonis to Columbia to celebrate Edward Said. But I am certain that whoever invited him has not been reading him in the last few years. Inviting Adonis to honor Edward Said is like inviting Olmert to honor Palestine.

This is Zionism: "Court documents described their actions as a rampage of cruel abuse. They grabbed several Palestinians off the street and drove them to remote locations to beat them. (thanks Christopher)

Mark LeVine is scared: he is worried about the prospect of a secular state in Palestine. (thanks Chris)

"Sarah Palin met with pro-Israel lobbyists to express her support for U.S.-Israel ties." (thanks Marcy)

"But his incarceration was lengthened by a year because he was held on civil contempt charges for refusing to testify before a grand jury in the Eastern District of Virginia. After two grand juries were dismissed, he was then charged with criminal contempt for refusing to testify." (thanks Ali)

There is a beginning of Saudi criticisms of Hariri Inc. House of Saud seems to be opting for Salafis as their preferred Sunni allies in Lebanon. (thanks Mohammed)

This dude is concerned: "Obama is not good for the Arab world, just as he is not good for Israel." (thanks David)

From the second Arab capital of sleaze (after Beirut, of course) and vulgarity: "Abu Dhabi Media Company (ADMC) has formed a film financing subsidiary that plans to spend more than US$1bn (Dh3.67bn) developing, financing and producing as many as 40 feature films over the next five years, it was announced yesterday."

"In Lebanon, which employs an estimated 200,000 domestic workers, primarily from Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Ethiopia, the most common complaints made by domestic workers include non-payment or delayed payment of their wages, forced confinement to the workplace, no time off, and verbal, as well as physical, abuse. According to a 2006 survey of 600 migrant domestic workers conducted by Dr. Ray Jureidini of the American University of Cairo, 56 percent said they work more than 12 hours a day and 34 percent have no regular time off. These difficult work conditions have had deadly consequences as recently released research by Human Rights Watch shows that migrant domestic workers in Lebanon are dying at a rate of one per week, most often from suicide and during failed attempts to escape from their employers." (thanks Niki)

Kooky science. According to the mouthpiece of Prince Khalid bin Sultan, Al-Hayat, fasting helps in conquering...cancer.

He was celebrated in a video at the RNC: "Because I know that the surname, Mansoor (also spelled in other assorted, transliterated ways), is a common Arab (and, sometimes, Sephardic Jewish) last name, I praised him as an Arab American we can all be proud of (it turns out his father was an Egyptian Coptic Christian, his mother of Scandinavian descent). But Mayor Mansoor doesn't like being known as an Arab." (thanks Sam)

"The team that kidnapped Nazi mastermind Adolph Eichmann in 1960 knowingly let another notorious war criminal — Josef Mengele — get away, according to a former Israeli Mossad agent."

This is Zionism: "“Since my video was shown, the soldiers shoot at our house all the time,” she said. The shattered and cracked windows at the front of the building confirm her story. “When we leave the windows open, they fire tear gas inside too.”"

"Two foreign women have been jailed for a month for kissing and fondling each other and engaging in "indecent acts" on a public beach in Dubai, the media reported on Sunday." (thanks Marcy)

"The Australian Defence Force has confirmed that its troops held four suspected Taleban militants in an empty dog pen for 24 hours." (thanks Tanweer)

"A former Lebanese detainee says Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas requested a recent meeting between the two that has angered Israel. Samir Kintar says in a Tuesday statement that the meeting last week in Beirut was in response to a "direct request" by Abbas." Quntan should not have met with Abbas, of course.

"Two Gazan fishermen were injured when Israeli naval vessels fired on Palestinian fishing boats on Monday."

"Georgia has admitted dropping cluster bombs during its attempt to regain control of its breakaway province of South Ossetia, a human rights group said today."

"The Pakistani military, which has been criticized by Washington for not pushing hard enough against Taliban militants, has used jet fighters and helicopter gunships in the past three weeks to strike at insurgents who pour over the border to attack American forces in Afghanistan."

"A family of four, including two children, have been killed in an overnight raid by international troops in Afghanistan, a police official and witnesses have said."

"NATO-led troops accidentally killed three Afghan children in artillery fire in eastern Afghanistan Monday, the force said, the latest in a string of civilian casualties caused by foreign soldiers."

"A U.S. investigation into U.N. and Afghan allegations that dozens of civilians were killed in fighting around a village found Tuesday that seven of the dead were civilians."

"At least 500 civilians were killed or wounded during the five-day US-led troops` ground and air operation in the Sangin district of Helmand province, a member of Afghanistan`s parliament said on Sunday." (thanks Olivia)

MBC TV (the network owned by King Fahd's brother-in-law) aired a long interview with the surviving son of King Faruq. The "king" expressed his delight to the favorable reports and films on his father in Saudi media in recent years. The interviewer (a Lebanese, formerly with Hariri TV) addressed him as "your majesty". I thought another title would have been more appropriate.

News from my home town of Modesto.

"Mohamed Balhas was on his tractor clearing a patch of land near his home in southern Lebanon last week when a cluster bomb exploded, shooting shrapnel into his chest and left leg. "I didn't know what hit me. Suddenly blood was pouring from my chest," said the 36-year-old Balhas...The demining teams have been working all-out to clear the more than one million cluster bombs Israel dropped throughout south Lebanon during the last days of its devastating 34-day war with Hezbollah in the summer of 2006." Notice that Western news agencies used to refer to Israeli massive bombings of Lebanon in the 1960s and 1970s and early 1980s as "Israel's war with the PLO". Now they refer to Israeli bombing of Lebanon as "Israel's war with Hizbullah". Sometimes I wonder why many Western reporters and foreign editors don't receive monthly checks from Israeli embassies. (thanks Sellam)

"President Mahmoud Abbas and his government are rewriting economic, social and security laws for the Palestinian territories with little public oversight, Palestinian and Western officials say. Reuters has obtained hundreds of Abbas decrees and a five-year legislative plan that could transform the Palestinian political and economic systems from top to bottom, yet which few of the four million residents of the territories have heard of." (thanks Mouin)

I don't understand. Why don't U.S. troops have the right to commit war crimes in Iraq. I mean, is that too much to ask? "Iraq and the United States are still far apart on the issue of immunity for American troops, according to a draft security agreement between the two countries published by an Iraqi paper on Monday."

"His public defiance rankled U.S. officials in Iraq and in Washington, who'd been telling reporters that the security agreement was virtually complete and glossing over the disputes about a timetable and about immunity for U.S. troops who are accused of committing crimes in Iraq."

You know what this means? That Israeli occupiers may consider leaving Arab lands but only when Arab governments juridically pledge to abandon sovereignty over the lands, just as Egypt has done in Sinai. "A government source in Jerusalem said the decision was made after the Lebanese government delivered written assurances that UNIFIL would be given security and civilian control over the northern part of the village, which is in Lebanese territory." (thanks Marcy)

"A detergent company based in Ramallah/Al-Bireh has launched a new promotion campaign, called "Made in Palestine," to market its goods nationally, in competition with Israeli and international brands."

"In Ayalon's first public appearance since he joined the right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party on Saturday, he warned on Sunday: "If the government of Israel does not act to have a Jewish majority in the North, then the Arab majority in the Galilee will declare independence and [demand] international recognition on the basis of the precedents of Kosovo, Abkhazia and [South Ossetia]." Don't you like how open and blatant racist discourse is in the Israeli political system?

"The indictment against Buzaglo stated that he "worked for the modesty patrols ... and one of the ways the organization works to carry out its goals is by means of threats, violence and other crimes." The organization, it continued, has used violent means in "dozens" of similar cases." (thanks Olivia)