"Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have bought a man-made island in the shape of Ethiopia that is part of an ambitious luxury development off the coast of Dubai, a newspaper reported today." (thanks Sophie)

"Israel is often portrayed by its supporters as an island of democracy in a sea of authoritarianism. But these very same supporters, in their excessive zeal for their cause, sometimes end up by violating one of the most fundamental principles of democracy - the right to free speech. While accepting free speech as a universal value, all too often they try to restrict it when it comes to Israel and its treatment of the Palestinians. The result is not to encourage but to stifle debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." (thanks Rania)

"Someone smashed into a Dearborn Heights mosque early Tuesday and stole its donation money, police said." (thanks Bilal)

"Hebron settlers filmed harassing city's Palestinian residents" (thanks Ashraf)

"This came to the fore at the store opening, when a group of protesters showed up behind the velvet rope that barred the entrance to the store. The protesters were most vocal in criticizing Leviev’s involvement in developing the Palestinian territories. But they also denounced his trade with the Angolan government, widely regarded as repressive, and his real estate holdings in New York City, which have come under fire from tenants’ rights groups." (thanks David)

"For the last 20 years, the U.S. government has accused me of being a terrorist. Along with six other Palestinians and a Kenyan, we were dubbed the "Los Angeles Eight" by the media. Our case even made it to the U.S. Supreme Court." (thanks Laith)

"THE US military is experiencing a "suicide epidemic" with veterans killing themselves at the rate of 120 a week, according to an investigation by US television network CBS." (thanks N).

"Before she escaped, Chandra worked 16 hours a day, seven days a week — cooking, cleaning and running a household for a Lebanese family. The only time the Sri Lankan maid could leave was to throw out the garbage." (thanks D)

Lebanese correspondent Randa Taqiyy Ad-Din, who can't write Arabic, presents Saudi Arabia as an exemplary model for the world--kid you not. (Oh, and she courageously wrote that daring article in the mouthpiece of Prince Khalid Bin Sultan). (thanks Amer)

In the racist Lebanese newspapers of An-Nahar and Al-Mustaqbal, if a criminal happens to be a Syrian or a Palestinian, the headline is always "A Syrian" did this or that. (I am sure that many of them are probably framed by Hariri police).

Lebanese media. Al-Akhbar, to its credit, put a story on the Human Rights Watch's report on Sri Lankan maids on its cover page. Al-Mustaqbal put it on page 7, and An-Nahar put it on page 17. As-Safir wrote an extensive article on it.

"Where Students Can't Hug" (Not in Saudi Arabia) (thanks Karim)

I was re-reading it recently. Hisham Sharabi's Neopatriarchy is simply The Arab Mind...with footnotes.

A Saudi court has sentenced a Saudi girl to prison and 90 lashes because she was kidnapped and raped. It found that she was inappropriately present with a man. (thanks Arab)

My friend Amer today observed to me that Hamas combines the worst mix of elements. It has the military performance of Jaysh Al-Mahdi and the political (lack of) skills of Hizbullah.

The Middle East military balance of power has been drastically altered. The Lebanese Army has just received 30 used Humvees from the US government.

ADC and CAIR just issued a joint communique. They have heard that a Muslim Arab in Toledo, Ohio has shop lifted a potato. They both want to make it clear that they both strongly and vehemently condemn the man, and call on the FBI to investigate and interrogate, and on the court system to prosecute and sentence. ADC and CAIR want to make it clear to all Americans that they are opposed to this act by this Arab Muslim in the US, and to any bad act by any Arab or Muslim anywhere around the world. Oh, and they both are wondering 1) whether they can have their pictures taken with Condoleezza Rice; and 2) whether they can visit UAE and Saudi Arabia for fundraising.

Why you can't rely on the New York Times. "Sheikh Muhammed Hussein Fadlallah, the spiritual leader of Hezbollah." This claims has been circulating for years, and it started in writing by Israeli "experts." Even in the 1980s, when it was a common claim, it was not true. I asked Fadlallah then about the charge, and he said, to the effect, "me, spiritual guide of Hizbullah? My role is well beyond Hizbullah, and all parties." (Yes, he is quite conceited). But in the 1990s, there was an intense conflict between Hizbullah and Fadlallah and there was even a war a flyers between the two sides. Relations between the two sides improved after Hariri's death, but he is nowhere to being a guide for Hizbullah. How could he when he now stands opposed to Wilayat Al-Faqih--a central doctrine for Hizbullah?

"Iraqis fleeing violence in their homeland are increasingly detained in Lebanon and jailed alongside “common criminals,” a U.S. refugee protection group said Monday."

"Aunt Benazir's False Promises"

Let me guess. Kristen Gillespie, writing in the Nation magazine--the last place you turn to to learn about the Middle East, does not know Arabic which explains why she relies on US officials and Jordanian officials--without mentioning the history and reasons for Qatari-Jordanian conflict over AlJazeera-- to evaluate AlJazeera TV's coverage. Now, don't get me wrong. I have been critical of AlJazeera and have noted its deteriorating coverage, and its instant reflection of the turns and shifts of Qatari foreign policy (and its purge of secular Arabs and its recruitment of Islamists since Waddah Khanfar took over), but for Gillespie to speak about sectarian bias in AlJazeera's coverage--which exists--and not say a word about the juggernaut of sectarian propaganda in official Jordanian and, most importantly, Saudi media, is to reinforce a view that you read in Washington Times. But then again, this is the Nation magazine. Personally, I don't understand why Fox News does not purchase the Nation. They are on the same frequency--at least when it comes to Middle East coverage.

""I am not a dictator, I want a democracy."

"Federal agents investigating the Sept. 16 episode in which Blackwater security personnel shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians have found that at least 14 of the shootings were unjustified and violated deadly-force rules in effect for security contractors in Iraq, according to civilian and military officials briefed on the case."

"Women still tend to be timid about negotiating salaries and raises. Men ask for more money at eight times the rate of women. Victoria Brescoll, a Yale researcher, found that men who get angry at the office gain stature and clout, even as women who get angry lose stature because they are seen as out of control."

"Later I asked a major at Prosperity why it was necessary to physically compromise these young men - one of them injured - who had not been found guilty of any crime."

"Sri Lankan domestic workers face serious abuses, including violence, harassment and exploitation when they migrate to work in the Middle East, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. Human Rights Watch said the governments of Sri Lanka, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates should do more to protect women from labor exploitation and violence when they migrate to the Middle East, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today." (thanks Nadim)

"Mr. May, himself president of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, wrote: "No one understands the Arab and Muslim worlds better than Ajami. And no one can better explain America and this White House than Ajami."" As much as Bush understands Iraq. (thanks Amer)

Fatwawawas versus fatwawawawas. Azhar clerics attacks Egypt's Mufti.

An ode to Ras Beirut Bookshop which is being forced out of existence by greedy Hariri developers. I owe a lot to this bookstore. I developed my love of books, and my early love for collecting books, at this bookshop. I spent so much of my free time when I was in elementary school browsing and buying inside the store. Back then, my interest was purely in classical Arab literature. I used to buy books and developed my own arbitrary call numbers for my small but growing collection of books. I still have some of them with those labels I made for them.

This boy, Ibrahim Ahmad, 13, was killed by Hamas religious gangsters in Gaza. (AFP)

Both Hamas and Fath have disqualified themselves from leading the Palestinian national movement. And Islamic Jihad is too religiously kooky. These are worse, much worse, than Ahmad Shuqayri. At least Shuqayri, who was an opportunistic buffoon, was a colorful character with excellent oratorical and writing skills.

Khalid Saghiyyah on the French clown.

Would you care for a "triple-cocktail"? No, thanks.

I praise the Economist, the best magazine there is, but that does not mean that I don't have an aversion to their silly editorials: "Rather than a Christian romantic, Guevara was a ruthless and dogmatic Marxist, who stood not for liberation but for a new tyranny. In the Sierra Maestra, he shot those suspected of treachery; in victory, Mr Castro placed him in charge of the firing squads that executed “counter-revolutionaries”; as minister of industries, Guevara advocated expropriation down to the last farm and shop. His exhortation to guerrilla warfare, irrespective of political circumstance, lured thousands of idealistic Latin Americans to their deaths, helped to create brutal dictatorships and delayed the achievement of democracy." Are we not glad that he was not "a Christian Romantic". Was Jerry Falwell a "Christian romantic"?

"The most shocking aspect of the decree is that it is aimed so openly at Romanians. The preamble claims that “the proportion of crime committed by foreigners has increased, and those who commit most crime are the Romanians.” This is true only in absolute terms, because Romanians are the most numerous immigrants. As an analysis in La Stampa has shown, the proportion of Romanians reported to, or arrested by, the police in 2006 was lower than in most other foreign groups."

The brilliance of Ms. Rice: "She tried to reassure Ankara that “the American people don't feel that the current Turkish government is the Ottoman empire”." Personally, I feel that the current Polish government is the British Empire.

"TWO months ago Heftsiba, an Israeli construction firm, went bust. One reason for its woes was a court order last year to freeze work on a big housing project on an Israeli settlement just inside the West Bank. The land, it turned out, had in effect been stolen from private owners in a neighbouring Palestinian village, Bilin. Yet after the bankruptcy, the same court ruled that the apartment blocks—and their prospective buyers, who had broken in and occupied them at the news of Heftsiba's impending collapse—could stay. And thus it has always been. Never mind that Israel has flouted international law by settling its citizens in occupied foreign territory; what is remarkable is how consistently the settlers have thwarted Israel's own laws, in pursuit of what to them are biblical lands inhabited by Palestinian interlopers. The Bilin case was just a variation on a tried and tested method: seize land illegally, establish hard-to-reverse “facts on the ground” and then legalise the claim retroactively through the courts or the government. The result is a West Bank so riddled with settlement that it is hard to see how enough can be removed for a viable Palestinian state to emerge."

Returned from LA. Learned new things. I was told there is a new trend among some of the rich female students at USC: that they bring their puppies in their purses to class. They may now spread: watch, it will soon hit the campus of AUB where imitation of things (upper class) American is a badge of honor. My talk was poorly attended, but the ice tea beverage was very satisfying. This is the first time that I use Modesto Airport: so small. There is no place to purchase beverages or snacks but there are vending machines. I examined one that even carried 2 sandwiches. I looked closely and I recognized one of the content of one sandwich: it was my old shoe sliced, with mustard on it. There is short and long term parking at Modesto airport. The short term parking is 30 seconds from entrance, and the long term parking is one minute from entrance and both are free. I noticed that the golf cart that is operated by staff inside LAX has beverage holders. One has three beverage holders, I swear. One for fruit juice, and one for a coffee (or tea), and one for alcoholic beverages. Weeeeeeeeee.

I have to get ready to leave LA but I have to ask you this: who do you like more? The Muftititi of Lebanon to the right or the Shaykh if Al-Azhar to the left? Tell the truth. Sistani could not be in the picture. He was playing chess.

"Bat Ye'or, author of the little-read but influential book Eurabia, repeatedly mentions the Protocols. Well she might, because Eurabia has been described as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion in reverse...In Eurabia, she purports to reveal an Arab-European conspiracy to rule
the world. Though ludicrous, Eurabia became the spiritual mother of a genre." (thanks Laleh)

"U.S.-led coalition troops battling suspected militants in southern Afghanistan lobbed a grenade that destroyed a house and killed 15 militants as well as a woman and two children, the coalition said Monday."

"If anything, I emerged from this affair with a higher opinion of the great masse of Palestinian people." (By the way, now we all know that the gang that kidnapped him has been loyal for years to the Dahlan gangs of Fath). (thanks Asa)

Do you notice that US officials don't even talk to Al-Hurra TV anymore? It is clear that the US government has given up on it and yet we taxpayers are still funding it. US officials found a free outlet in Al-Arabiya TV (owned by the brother-in-law of King Fahd (or one of the brothers-in-law). Do you notice that news broadcasts of Al-Arabiya TV has become indistinguishable from daily briefings at White House of State Department? Today, they began the news broadcast by saying that Al-Anbar militias are joining US and Iraqi puppet forces in military operations, and they always mention the "great security improvements." Also, here the wife of the former news director of Al-Hurra TV and Sawa Radio claims that he husband was squeezed out because he is "an Arab Muslim." She worked briefly at Al-Hurra TV but seems ashamed of the brief experience.

The Washington Post describes Pakistani students as "Long-Depoliticized." In my trip to Islamabad last July, I found Pakistani college students much more politicized than American students.

This is a tent of a candidate for the Jordanian "parliament". (NYT)