A bodyguard of Saddam talks about his boo hoo hoo moment.

Comrade Sinan on Charlie Rose (I did not watch it yet but I am sure that I was in agreement with him).

Today, I heard Bin Laden say that he wants to liberate Palestine from...Iraq. The man seems to badly need lessons in geography, just like George W. Bush.

Aside from his conversions on issues of foreign policy, one of the disturbing things about Obama is that--out of fear of offending white voters--he has not once spoken about his experiences as a victim of white racism. This is an African-American man who studied in New York City and in Boston, and traveled around the country but does not have the courage to speak about racism that he encountered in his life. I had an African-American graduate student once at Georgetown who would share with me his experiences as a victim of racism on a weekly basis. DC police used to stop him while he was walking. And do you notice that Obama sounds more like Clinton the longer he campaigns?

Al-Arabiya TV aired a segment of the Saudi King dancing Al-`Ardah. Does anybody have a clip? (Oh, and I need it NOW).

Between this TV station and the sons of....Abu Mazen, I certainly believe the TV station: "Two sons of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are suing Israel Broadcasting Authority's television Channel 1 over a news report which claimed they own a major portion of a Palestinian cellphone company." (thanks EA)

Liberation used to be a leftist newspaper. Here, they are promoting Nusaybah--only because he despises his own people: "Diplômé d’Oxford et de Harvard, gentleman élancé, distingué et chic, à l’anglais très poétique, il ressemble à n’importe quel séduisant intellectuel anglo-saxon - si l’on ne remarque pas le chapelet de prières oriental dont il fait sans cesse glisser les perles entre ses doigts - et aurait pu rester aux Etats-Unis, mener une carrière tranquille de philosophe brillant." And excuse me, but what are his "philosophical" contributions? Unless one calls submission to Zionist occupation "brilliant philosophy". (thanks Ziyad)

Look at this clown now: "The Palestinians, for their part, claimed not to feel slighted by McCain's decision to meet only with Israeli leaders. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said McCain had a "genuine commitment to peace" and Palestinians had "the highest respect for Senator McCain."" And if Saeb `Urayqat speaks for Palestinians, I speak on behalf of all Americans and Lebanese put together.

For those who don't care, I did the show on AlJazeera English with Gen. Richard Myers. I am told that it will be placed on Youtube. I shall post when they send to me. I was sleepy, and was not even shampooed yet.

""The idea that people have here, as soon as they see me in uniform is: 'Oh, you're in the U.S. Army? You're in Iraq killing your own people?'" He said such comments upset him, but he doesn't blame the critics "because they don't know what's going on in the Army."" (thanks Kumar)

"Lebanon's Interior Minister Hassan Sabaa on Wednesday told the Chinese Ambassador Liu Zhiming that Lebanon supports China's stability, territorial integrity and Beijing's host of the 29th Olympic Games. His country also opposes politicizing the Olympic Games, the minister said." (thanks Maryam)

Do you notice that Western media are downplaying the significance of PA official, Rawhi Fattuh, who was caught smuggling cellphones? He is being identified as "an advisor" to Abu Mazen when in reality he was the most senior member of the Fath movement and held the position of speaker of the PA's puppet parliament, and even served as interim president when Arafat died. So he is one of the most senior crook of the crooks of Fath. But Abu Mazen promised an investigation. Let me guess: the investigation will clear him nad will decry the campaign of rumors against the strugglers of Fatah.

A day after the release of a poll results showing decline of support for Abu Mazen gangs: "The US is transferring $150 million in aid to the Palestinian government in coming days, the Palestinian Prime Minister announced Wednesday." Conspiracy? What conspiracy? (thanks Ali)

Israeli occupation soldiers destroyed their house near Hebron.

Halachic fatwawawa: "Hebron and Kiryat Arba Chief Rabbi Dov Lior plans to issue a halachic ruling forbidding Israeli Jews from rent apartments to Israeli Arabs or Palestinians or to employ them." (thanks Rob)

There is no question that communist China has handled Tibet far less savagely and cruelly than Israel has handled Palestine.

Free Fouad. (thanks Victoria)

"Israel's renowned airline security faced a legal challenge Wednesday from a civil rights group charging that its practice of ethnic profiling is racist because it singles out Arabs for tougher treatment. At a Supreme Court hearing, civil rights lawyers demanded an end to the policy, which they say violates Israeli law. Such profiling is illegal in the U.S., where passengers must be singled out for security checks on a random basis." Read the rest of the article by this AP correspondent who justified Israeli racism. He volunteered the justification for the Israeli government.

Amer sent me this: I can't verify its accuracy. He saw it on some forum: can somebody tell me if it is accurate? "So Saudi Arabia and King Abdallah finally got attacked and criticized on a major Arab satellite channel! but guess who it came from: Maryam Nour, she was on al-Arabiya for some talk show, at the end of it she said: "you have nothing but bous al-wawa and flattering abdallah, you are all abdallah, thanks for the new tv that allows us to still speak."

Foud Ajami: declares that Mr. Bush is a messenger from heaven. Read all about it. You really have to read this article by Fouad Ajami. I really recommend that. It is hilarious how he writes about Bush like he is a prophet. Very funny indeed. This is a tone of an analyst and scholar of the Middle East: "Mr. Bush made freedom in Arab-Islamic lands his cause." But what is YOUR cause, Mr. Ajami? Can you tell me? Also, I like his detached tone: "our soldiers held out the example of benevolent rule." He also said: "But compare it to the prison it was under Saddam, the tyranny next door in Damascus and the norms of the region, and we can have a measure of pride in what America has brought forth in Baghdad." But does anybody doubt that the people of Syria would prefer the bloody dictatorship of the Asad rule to the bloodletting and civil war in Iraq? And look at his sectarian language, sounding like sectarian advocates like `Abdul-`Aziz Al-Hakim or Muhammad `Ali Al-Juzu: "The Sunnis had all, but wrecked their chances in the new order." (thanks FLC)

I am told that NPR did a show on Wahhabiyya. Send me the transcript NOW.

Watch comrade Sinan Antoon on Charlie Rose tonight.

An Ethiopian maid "fell" from the balcony of the apartment where she works in Suhaylah in Lebanon. She was hospitalized.

Mother's Day and foreign maids in Lebanon.

Can somebody explain to me why no petitions are being signed by Arab intellectuals and writers on behalf of the Saudi blogger in jail? Many (like MEMRI which seems to agree with House of Saud that there are only human rights violations in Syria and Iran but nowhere else in the Middle East) only seem to notice oppression and persecution in Syria--an oppressive state no doubt.

The latest clown to speak on Danish cartoons is none other than Bin Laden.

"The compound is the latest weapon of the Saudi Arabian government in the 'war on terror', a rehabilitation centre where young men spend months being 'deradicalised'." (thanks Junaid) I bet it is the same center that produced Bin Laden.

"As thousands of medical students await word this week on residency programs, two specialties concerned with physical appearance — dermatology and plastic surgery — are among the most competitive. Only 61 percent of seniors at American medical schools whose first choice was dermatology received a residency in that field last year, compared with 98 percent for those whose first choice was internal medicine and 99 percent for those seeking family medicine, according to a report by the Association of American Medical Colleges and the National Resident Matching Program, which pairs candidates and programs. Although there are far fewer positions in dermatology (320 residencies in 2007) than in internal medicine (5,517) and family medicine (2,603), the field is attracting some of the best and brightest future doctors.""

"Many Iranian youths rallied in streets across the country, shouting "Death to Ahmadinejad," in celebrations marking the end of the Persian calendar year."

I feel so out of the loop. There is a "large-scare Arab uprising" going on and I don't even know about it. I have been distracted by the song: The plums. The plums. From where? From where? "We are witnessing the first large-scale Arab uprising against Osama bin Laden."

Regarding the speech by Obama on race. When the White Man praises a speech by an African-American on race as "powerful" or "mesmerizing" or "electrifying", it only means that the speech did not challenge or criticize or provoke the White Man. Good night.

I watched Bush earlier. He is still trying to scare Americans. This guy will continue to scare the American people to the last day of his presidency. There were people like this dude in the middle ages: these were the men who roamed the streets and village squares yelling about the evil of women witches and heretics.

I am told that my appearance on AlJazeera English is scheduled at 6:00AM (my time) tomorrow (Thursday) morning. Don't bother to tune in: I will be dozing off on live TV. Good night.

Nadim of Human Rights Watch saw my post on the Nepalese maid and sent me this (I am quoting with his permission):
"I saw your latest comment on the suicide of the Nepalese domestic worker in Tripoli. Actually, we did investigate. We were in the police station yesterday and made a number of interviews and looked at various documents. There is no evidence of ill-treatment in this case. It is a real tragedy. The woman’s husband in Nepal was very sick and all the money she was sending back was being spent on his treatment. If you ask my opinion, it seems that she was stuck between two worlds: (i) being home sick and (ii) needing to continue to work in Lebanon to send money back to her family. FYI. We have been working on documenting the numbers of of death of migrant domestic workers and looking at the various cases. Hope to get something out there in the next couple of weeks (I am still waiting on some numers from some of the embassies)."

Bush is now speaking on Fox News. I escaped to AlJazeera: Bush was speaking there too. I turned to Al-Arabiya: Bush was speaking and the Al-Arabiya anchorperson was blowing kisses in his direction. Where do I go?

"The British failure in the Iraq war has been even more gross because it has not ended with a costly military victory but a humiliating scuttle. The victors in Basra and southern Iraq have been the local Shia militias masquerading as government security forces."

""They drove the Brits out of Palestine and Aden, the French out of Algeria, the Russians out of Afghanistan, the Americans out of Somalia and Beirut, the Israelis out of Lebanon. We have started up the road to empire and over the next hill we will meet those who went before. The only lesson we learn from history is that we do not learn from history.""

Shocking. A Fatah official is accused of being a crook and a thief. This is as surprising as finding evidence of corruption among the sons of Prince Sultan Bin `Abdul-`Aziz. "Ravhi Fatuah, a senior adviser of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, was arrested Tuesday after he was caught at the Allenby bridge on the Jordanian-West Bank border with thousands of cellular phones in his car."

"Israel's Jewish community increasingly supports the delegitimization, discrimination and even deportation of Arabs, found a report on racism in Israel, set to be released Wednesday."

Road Zionism: "The interim decision issued 10 days ago by the High Court of Justice on the use of Route 443 marks the first time the justices have issued a ruling to close a road traversing occupied territory to Palestinian use, for the convenience of Israeli travelers."

"In sum, the articles point to a central finding, one not so much confirmed by rigorous empirical inquiry as it is felt to be true by professionals in the field (the "art" side of the subtitle, I suppose). That conclusion: pain, coercion, and threats are unlikely to elicit good information from a subject."

A Saudi writer explains why his article was banned from Al-Hayat (Prince Khalid bin Sultan's mouthpiece). (thanks Amer)

"In just the last three weeks of April 2003, after Saddam's statue and his regime were toppled, US forces killed at least 266 civilians - a pattern of overeager resort to fire which has continued to this day....They reveal that the Americans killed four times more civilians in the first two years of the war (thereby provoking armed resistance to the occupation) than al-Qaida-linked insurgents did, in spite of the media's emphasis on car bombs and suicide attacks." (thanks Amahl)

"Iraq's leaders have asked for an enduring relationship with America, and we seek an enduring relationship with a democratic Iraq. We are ready to build that relationship in a sustainable way that protects our mutual interests, promotes regional stability, and requires fewer Coalition forces.

In response, this Declaration is the first step in a three-step process that will normalize U.S.-Iraqi relations in a way which is consistent with Iraq's sovereignty and will help Iraq regain its rightful status in the international community – something both we and the Iraqis seek. The second step is the renewal of the Multinational Force-Iraq's Chapter VII United Nations mandate for a final year, followed by the third step, the negotiation of the detailed arrangements that will codify our bilateral relationship after the Chapter VII mandate expires." (thanks Jasim)

Cedar Revolution Continues. A Nepalese maid was found dead in the house of her emplyer--Ahmad Fatfat's father-in-law. The employer said that she suffered from psychological problems and that she committed suicide. As usual, Lebanese police will not investigate, nor will Human Rights Watch or Amnesty International.