Breakfast at Tiffanistan

These are the three core elements of our strategy: a military effort to create the conditions for a transition; a civilian surge that reinforces positive action; and an effective partnership with Pakistan. Obama

This is the new strategy : sending 30000 people, to make friendship with the Talibans .
Others are requested from NATO allies and Rasmussen is sure at least 7000 will be added .
The French, who are not nice people but have square testicles, said that they won't send a soldier more than they have already there, unless there is a change of strategy .
And they said this after the speech .
The Turkish refused because they sent troops recently [or better because they understood that Obama won't help them for the EU membership which is actually just a dream]
The Italians and the Poles [the people of the cross] will send one thousand each .
The Brits, after having been brainwashed by Gordie, probably will contribute with few hundreds .
The day of the announcement, a psycho in CNN studio [a guy who had fought there, so he claimed], while showing NATO forces on a graphic with flags [the majority at the border with Pakistan are Americans] was shouting at 6am Omani time : "this is an American war !".
I agree .
Then send your people .
While speaking at West Point, Obama looked at his right and left, to address the cadets, and at the camera directly, to address the Talibans .
And the Talibans answered that they could care less .
Apparently in a phone call with Karzai, he stressed that he won't give blank cheques anymore.
And Karzai today said that he's willing to meet Mullah Omar for negotiations .
Now can you imagine the scene ?
Troops withdrawal will start in 2011 according to Obama, completed not before 2013 the Italian Minister of Foreign affairs said .
All well that ends well .

Express

Today, we carry out sabotage operations on electricity transmission lines, oil-and gas-wires. Many of the operations are under preparation status.
We declare that we will do everything possible to spread Jihad even greater in the territory of Rusnya to undermine its economy, so that Rusnya will not have the opportunity to use the Caucasus as its raw material base.
We have long been accustomed to the fact that as a result of such operations, Mujahideen are "accused" in a war against "civilians" of Rusnya, but we intend to conduct such diversions in future, which are the just acts of vengeance.
These diversions will continue for as long as the occupants in the Caucasus will not stop its policy of killing ordinary Muslims purely on religious grounds.
We also consider the population of Rusnya as accomplices of Russia's government, which supports by its approval the bloody policy of occupation of the Caucasus and the brutal killings of peaceful Muslims whose only fault is their desire to keep at least basic norms of Islam.
But even despite this, by the order of our Emir Dokka Abu Usman, we will try to avoid casualties among the unarmed population of Rusnya, and will not consider them as a primary objective for operations.
We warn the leadership of Rusnya that unless they stop the killing of innocent Muslims of the Caucasus Emirate, and unless they terminate the activities of the "death squads", we reserve the right to conduct appropriate military operations against the "civilian" population of Rusnya.
Umarov&friends

Same as many other commentators, I don't find this letter credible .
It came five days after the event and doesn't give any particular detail that was not already disclosed by the media .
I would rather point fingers against the ultra nationalists or deviated sectors of the secret services but Russian issues are extremely difficult to interpret .
Interesting how the terrorists do not care about civilian casualties and about the approval of Russian population, and this might cost them a lot in the long term .
Amusing is also the way Western media deal with Islamic terrorism in Russia : they blame it all on government, while in the West the bad guy is always the Muslim .
They have selective targets .

Skype is the limit

The senior police officer, who requested anonymity, told Menfn that both cyber cafes and individuals had been using VoIP to provide cheap international phone service, saying this resulted in huge losses for local telecoms. The Register

Today Naleni told me her son had had an accident with his Honda and needed a surgery because he couldn't move both his leg and arm .
She kept on cleaning while weeping .
I didn't tell her to take a break cause I knew she would refuse it .
One of the greatest qualities of the Indians is that they have dignity .
Before going, she said she was spending lot of money to keep in touch with her family and follow the events and the cheap calls at the Internet cafe near her house were relatively helpful .
I'm against illegality but with salaries that barely allow people to save something to send home and with very little choice of telephone operators, why denying people the right to use Skype ?

Not only in Oman

A compensation of 15,000 rials (Dh 143,000) is paid to the family of those whose death is the result of negligence, which includes road accidents.

“For most labourers, the blood money is a lifetime’s savings,” said Lalit Kumar, 43, an Indian structural engineer. “It is also a way out for them when they are severely depressed. They sacrifice themselves for the future of their families.” The National

If you are depressed and it's almost weekend, just give a look at the foreign page of the National and you will discover that life is worse than you can imagine .
The reason why this series of "only in Oman " articles is not well digested by Muscateers, is that it reveals an embarassing reality emphasized by al Sheibany style and about which they are not entirely aware of, because the gap between the capital and rural areas is widening .

I spent the first five years of my life on the mountains in a village of few hundreds people between cows and snakes, then I moved close to the sea to a place which has now passed 3000 inhabitants and is 20 minutes far from a town of 150000 and almost 3 hours from Rome .
So if you tell me about black magic or widows who are seen as sign of bad luck, that won't shock me more than necessary .
And since due to my past work there, I've been in contact with patients who died for cancer and young people who asked for insulin syringes and shouted because they had no money to pay, I will tell you that I know where desperation can lead to, so the story of the blood money saddens me but getting old, I learned that life can be this and more .
Thing is that in my region, you can find at least four big towns at short distance, so the cultural gap is there, but in smaller scale and can be reduced easily through technology .

It's good to read these stories to learn about another reality which is far from the stars of the capital, but needs a focus .
The issue here is that Muscat should stay as political capital and all business move outside [which I think is what they're already trying to do] .
This way, even though the people of the rural areas are already sceptical from being in contact with Westerners, the efforts made by H.M. and his government in empowering people by giving them more opportunities, won't be wasted .
Without education, money brings nothing .

Shock the monkey and pardon the turkey, in the eye of the tiger

When I was young, I went for a trip to Fasano zoo-safari and when coming out of the park, I chose to take a picture with monkey rather then on a pony, because, horse or car, I don't feel comfortable with any means of locomotion whatsoever .
They put the monkey dressed up with trousers and t-shirt in my arms and the minutes they were fixing the camera were the hardest of my life : I was holding an animal like a baby and for sure it was an animal, but when I touched its hands, the touch was the same of a human being .
I was completely lost . Couldn't accept the fact that the hand of a monkey was like that of a person : same catch, skin, sweat .
I realized that there's no much difference between a monkey and a person .
They are both cute, in their own way .
So the news of the week is that a picture of Michelle photo shopped in the guise of a monkey, appears among Google images if you throw her name there and Google people placed a sort of apology on top of the page, implying that the combination is offensive .
First, I don't think that to be compared to a monkey is sign of racism .
Second, you can put lipstick on it but that's how it is : the way she looks and she arranges her make up, is very close to that of a monkey .
What's the problem with that ?
If it's OK for a white, then is fine also with a black .

Courage and Caroline have been pardoned by Obama, another of his post-Nobel achievements .
They will be sent to Disneyland and at this point am not sure it's a better destiny than that of being on the table of an American Thanksgiving .
I don't know what exactly they did to be forgiven but if we Muslims did the same with a couple of lambs named C&C, the focus of the discussion would still be on how cruel is, to kill millions lambs for Eid .


Another piece of news without which our life wouldn't be the same, is that Putin's tiger [one of the Ussuri whose protection is part of a program of the Russian Academy of Sciences] has been found .
The Prime Minister had placed a tracking device on her neck last year, so her moves can be followed and studied easily .
Scientists had lost her in September and all intellectual papers like Telegraph and alike that hold Russia and the P.M. in great sympathy, gave us the sad developments.
Promptly Dmitry Peskov, the smart spokesman of the boy of St. Petersburg, announced that she was busy giving birth .
All well that ends well .

Selective journalism

The Annual Report for Religious Freedom 2009 had pointed out that basic law prohibits discrimination based on religion and provides the freedom to practise religious rights.

The statement also affirmed there were no reports of discrimination based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice. TimesofOhhhman

There were no reports of societal abuses based on religious affiliation, belief, or practice. Discrimination was largely absent.

Anti-Semitism was present in the reporting period in the private media, with anti-Semitic editorial cartoons depicting stereotypical and negative images of Jews, along with Jewish symbols. These expressions occurred primarily in the privately owned daily newspaper Al-Watan. A senior columnist at privately owned sister papers The Times of Oman/Al-Shabiba on several occasions attacked Israeli actions and policies in anti-Semitic tones, including citations of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. UsofAhhhh Dept. State