Is it really the nuclear program?

I don't think it's the nuclear program that the US has a problem with. It's Iran.

The US think they're the wolves and everyone who isn't their ally is ultimately a goat. Iran refuses to be a goat and Ahmadinejad will certainly pass that point across to them, that they can be powerful and independent.
Why should they stop their nuclear program? they've spent so much already.
Why should it all go to waste?
How can the US and Israel have any objection when they have nuclear programs in their country?

India has nuclear weapons and they didn't even sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty which Iran signed but just because they signed the war on terrorism, they can break rules.

What's really the deal here? is US acting in good faith that nuclear weapons are bad weapons, fighting against potential terrorism, serving the needs of Israel or simply want to be the rulers of the world?

Islam: Nudity invalidates marriage

Earlier this month, an Islamic Egyptian cleric claimed that nudity during sexual intercourse annuls marriage. Naturally, it has been a controversial fatwa (aka religious ruling) and I'm quite exasperated about it because it's such an outrageous fatwa.

What's the deal here?
Is it a competition for clerics to get fame by the number of fatwas they claim?

I've had 12 years of Islamic education and from what I know and remember, married couples can seek pleasure from one another in any way except anal intercourse, intercourse when the wife is mentruating, post-natal bleeding, while fasting or during i7ram.

Thousands of fatwas has been cited in the past few years.

Are these clerics for real? do they really think that everyone around them are mindless except for themselves?
Are we not allowed to think for ourselves? These dimwits have far too much time on their hands to be discussing such a pitiable tale.

My personal opinion (before others get offended by what I'm saying): one interprets religion allegorically, not literally!

What a start to 2006!

I'm uncertain how I feel about the opening of 2006
The events near and not far from me are a bit murky
I understand that death is as natural as birth

But the series of events makes me beg to think moreHajj: 345 dead in Saudi: what a painful death (allah yir7amhum)9 dead Omanis (thank god, none of them were my family/friend members) and 5 missing Omanis which translates to another 5 dead. (allah yir7amhum)

14 yr old Bahraini Sheikh Faisal Al-Khalifa dead in a car accident (allah yir7amu)
The son of UAE’s Sheikh in critical condition and now Kuwaiti Emir passes away which is not that big of a deal because he was quite old (allah yir7amu)
My cousin’s friend (a young married man who is known to be fit( passed away while he jogging on the beach at night.
My mom’s uncle passed away yesterday afternoon too (due to age, allah yir7amu).

God forbid something bad follows by all this news...
I cant wait to post something more positive.

Jackson in Disguise

He is one sad soul! I wish he'd leave his kids out of it.

Muscat: Arab Cultural Capital 2006

:-) Me so proud!

The cultural capital in 2005 was Khartoum, Sudan.

To sell or not to sell

Today's Headlines "NBO reports best ever net profit @ RO 20.3 million"I have been waiting for the longest time to hear something like this.

I bought NBO shares back in 1997 when everything was supposedly flourishing and when everything shortly after that crashed in the market. I kept a close eye on the the share price this year and a sharp increase was evidenced between Jan and Jun, it then dropped again and now it's back up at the same price it was in June during 2005.

The NIAT for 2005 is very impressive if we look back at 2003 and 2004.

My question is: shall I sell my shares or shall I wait? will it get any better or will greed lead my hopes to a demise?

You're a Retrospective Soul

And so I'm told that I'm the most misunderstood of all the soul signs.Sometimes you even have difficulty seeing yourself as who you are.You are intense and desire perfection in every facet of your life.You're best described as extremely idealistic, hardworking, and a survivor.Great moments of insight and sensitivity come to you easily.But if you aren't careful, you'll ignore these moments and repeat past mistakes.For you, it is difficult to seperate the past from the present.You will suceed once you overcome the disappoinments in life.Geez, that's a mouthful!

This century's vulture

Inside the hidden links between American big-game hunters and Zimbabwe's Mugabe dictatorship (Source:Newsweek).


One doesn't need to read the rest of the article, do they?
... this made my stomach twist and turn

Fluorescent Green Pig in Taiwan

Taiwan has bred 3 male green pigs that are green inside and out including their organs and are hoping that this will advance stem cells research. Transgenic pigs are used to study human diseases and they are hoping that this research will help them trace changes to tissues during development.

I'm just wondering about one thing, does this pose threat to our ecosystem just like when concerns were raised when they bred a fluorescent green fish?

Value of the new 'One' Omani Rial (FUNNY!)

This is incredibly hilarious. Rumors went around that they were a limited edition (some claimed as low as 10,000 of them), then rumors went around that they are so limited that their value is going to go up very soon. My brother works at a bank so I asked him to get me one hundred of them.Anyhow, then I heard on first day of Eid that apparently, the new One Rials were being sold for Ten Rials at PDO. People were begging to buy it from others who had it for that much! Had, I known, I would have made upto one thousand rials.

My distant cousin works at CBO and she just laughed and said 'I don't get these rumors, 10 million of them have been circulated, I feel sorry for those who paid 10 rials!'. Ignorance of some is a bliss for others indeed.

OmAn Environment Day!

ESO plans to celebrate with an exhibition of their current and future projects.
It's an opportunity for us to see how we can get involved too!

Venue: Marina Cafe on the coast road between the Crowne Plaza Hotel and the Intercontinental Hotel.
Time: 5-8pm

Let us support ESO! I'm finally in Oman and I've been looking forward to this.

What's happening in Mekka?

I went to Mekka late last year shortly after visiting Medina and there was this intense feeling of dissapointment.I didn't expect anything very grand, however, I didn't expect to see many beaten down buildings, 95% of the paint peeled off buildings etc.. it looks like the slums in Palestine. With all due respect, I wonder, with all the money Saudis have, how come no initiative was made to fix up the area around the Grand Mosque.

I bring this up because just yesterday, a hostel collapsed and almost 20 or so people died with over 40 injured and now I hear that another hotel collapsed today. How common is it for buildings collapse? how crowded are the places? can the buildings not maintain the number of people who reside in it? I've heard how awful it can be for those who are a lot poorer, sometimes, ten people share a room, some sleep on the roads when performing Hajj.

It disgusts me that even the hotels take advantage of such a religious season and to top it off, the prices are sky rocket high plus.. they may collapse! Anyhow, the Omani group are preparing a special tent/ Kheima for themselves. Thank god they are safer than being in a hotel that may collapse.

2 collapses in 2 days concerns me especially when a lot of members in my family are going tomorrow. May Allah protect them from all harm and bring them home safely inshaAllah... Amen.

Questions: After visiting Saudi

I went to Mekka late shortly after visiting Medina and there was this intense feeling of dissapointment.I didn't expect anything very grand, however, I didn't expect to see many beaten down buildings, 95% of the paint peeled off buildings etc.. it looks like the slums in Palestine.

With all due respect, I wonder, with all the money Saudis have, how come no initiative was made to fix up the area around the Grand Mosque.I bring this up because just yesterday, a hostel collapsed and almost 20 or so people died with over 40 injured and now I hear that another hotel collapsed today.

How common is it for buildings collapse? how crowded are the places? can the buildings not maintain the number of people who reside in it? I've heard how awful it can be for those who are a lot poorer, sometimes, ten people share a room, some sleep on the roads when performing Hajj.It disgusts me that even the hotels take advantage of such a religious season and to top it off, the prices are sky rocket high plus.. they may collapse! Anyhow, the Omani group are preparing a special tent/ Kheima for themselves. Thank god they are safer than being in a hotel that may collapse. 2 collapses in 2 days concerns me especially when a lot of members in my family are going tomorrow.May god protect them from all harm and bring them home safely inshallah... Amen.

And I would say...

The Rev Robertson said that Sharon is being punished by God for dividing Israel and he was being treated with enmity for that reason.

Robertson said "And I would say, Woe unto any prime minister of Israeli who takes a similar course to appease the E.U., the UN or the USA. God says, This land belongs to me. You better leave it alone."And I would say that's screwed up! I hate preachers who think they're in a position to preach that way. I don't think any of us are entitled to speak on behalf of God.

They address Muslims as fundamentalists....it appears that the Jews and Christians are quite popular now a days with lunatic fundamentalists too!

What has our world come to? All the supposedly powerful ones are so dumb.

Arafah Day changed by the Saudis?

I don't get this.
How can Saudi change the day for Arafah/Hajj. Apparently, it's pulled back by a day.

They supposedly made a mistake? what's really going on? Our Eid Al-Adha is a day earlier so tomorrow is going to be the 4th Jan too according to Saudis?

What's really going on? I can't find anything online to confirm this.