Links October 8th to October 9th

Links from my del.icio.us account for October 8th through October 9th:

• EGYPT: Anger Approaches Boiling Point - So will there be any consequence to Egyptians' anger?


• My Mom’s Hummus Recipe -- Ralph Nader for President in 2008 - Surreal: Ralph Nader is selling his Mom's hummus recipes in exchange for campaign contributions,in reaction to the Israel-Lebanon Hummus War.


• Arabs, Jews clash in Israel city
  (AFP) - More silly religion: "Cars and stores were damaged as Jews and Arabs clashed in the Israeli city of Acre after an Arab man was assaulted for driving during Yom Kippur, the Haaretz newpaper reported on Thursday."


• Arab Reform Bulletin - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace - "Has the United States Poisoned Democracy?" asks an article in this month's Arab Reform Bulletin. Also articles on Israel/Palestine and the MB in Jordan


• Rice laments Egypt's human rights record - Reuters.com - The short version: we will keep raising the issue and saying that we care but never actually do anything concrete. We care but not that much.


• BBC NEWS | Middle East | Woman dies in Egypt police raid - "The woman was pushed to the ground by officers when she would not let them enter her home to look for her brother, a suspected thief, police said. She was in the last stages of pregnancy and died of internal bleeding caused by the fall, police added."


• Al Jazeera English - Middle East - Bid to halt Egypt-Israel gas deal - "Ibrahim Yossri, 65, arrived at the court on Tuesday to call on the Egyptian government to stop exporting natural gas to its Middle East neighbour.
  Yossri, who used to work as director of international treaties in the Egyptian foreign ministry, said the deal was illegal and costing the Egyptian taxpayer $9 million a day."


• Daily News Egypt - SAUDI SHEIKHS’ FATWAS IN THE SPOTLIGHT - To be henceforth known as the Prudish Cyclop Fatwa: "CAIRO: A Saudi Sheikh recently issued a fatwa stating that women who wear the niqab (full face veil) are only allowed to show one eye, covering the other along with the rest of their bodies." Nevermind the silly (and probably sexually depraved and small-penised) sheikh, the interesting thing in the article is about the satellite channel he's on. This kind of thing almost makes you want to like the Arab Information Ministers' Satellite Broadcasting Charter. These channels need much more scrutiny than they have received, and not just when they encourage violence.


• Asia Times Online :: Syria plays hardball with the Saudis - Sami Moubayed says al-Hayat now banned in Syria. Remember that the very nasty indeed Assad regime psychologically brutalized the paper's correspondent (who once had cozy relationship with certain officials and has apparently now quit in protest at his paper's anti-Syrian slant). But he sees this as part of a wider Saudi-Syrian war, or at least Damascus going against part of the Saudi elite: after all senior princes still have major investments in Damascus, one of the many signs that the "isolate Syria" strategy of a few years ago is an utter failure. Incidentally, commiseration to newspaper-reading Syrians, who since both Sharq al-Awasat and al-Hayat are banned will have to live with Tishreen. (Thanks for the link, DRB)