Welcome to the Wednesday edition of SDA Late Nite Radio. Tonight we feature Egyptian star Sha’ban ‘Abd-al Rahim, who is perhaps best known abroad for his songs “Hey People, It Was Only a Tower and I Swear by God that They Are the Ones Who Pulled it Down” and “I Hate Israel.” In the Egyptian context ‘Abd-al Rahim — who was recently commissioned to compose a jingle for McDonald’s’ new McFalafel sandwich — is a veritable singing catalogue of other, smaller, topical issues as well, and has”released a number of songs…about the dangers of smoking cigarettes and marijuana (‘Abd al-Rahim admits to smoking both), unjust taxes, pollution of the Nile..” and so on. No topic is too quotidian or particular for his lamentational advice. In “Beware of Avian Flu” he sings:
Ducks and pigeons
If you see a dizzy goose, beware of it
or pick up the phone and report it.
Report it.
Even when he’s singing about something as politically charged as the Jyllands-Posten cartoons —
These are crazy people, and their top guy is an idiot
Denmark? They are nothing but pagans.
— he comes across as not angry, but more like a fatalistic cab driver chatting about how the world has gone to hell in a handbasket. Ethnomusicologist James Grippo writes:
“In present-day Egypt, popular music can be discussed as falling into two overlapping categories: sha‘bi and shababi (youth music). Sha‘bi, literally ‘popular,’ but more accurately understood as ‘of the people,’ is the quintessential ‘music of the people,’ a sometimes populist and sometimes popularized manifestation of urban folk music conventionally performed in lower class life-cycle celebrations such as weddings and circumcisions.
“As the reigning sha’bi superstar, Sha’ban ‘Abd al-Rahim is a cultural phenomenon who maintains a delicate balance between ‘fool’ and ‘hero.’ The archetypal ‘fool’ in Middle Eastern culture is Joha, or Goha in Egypt, known endearingly as the wise fool or trickster. Like ‘Abd al-Rahim, Goha ‘is portrayed as either very stupid or miraculously clever.”
Here he is, then: Sha’ban ‘Abd al-Rahim, resplendent in his “gaudy shoes that match either his belt or his outfit (which he says often matches his upholstery and curtains)” performs his catchy Swine Flu Song on Egyptian TV.
Your Reader Tips are, as always, welcome in the comments.
An excellent story by Mr. Mellville and it’s audio. http://www.thoughtaudio.com/titlelist/TA0049-Bartleby/index.html
Yes, well, independent of the case of who, exactly, Mr. Mellville happens to be, a reference without which I am not interested, it remains the case that I can’t seem to get Sha’ban ‘Abd al-Rahim, Margaret Atwood, and Laura Branigan out of my mind. Rx, I think: Port.
Okay!?!?!?
I’ll have to rethink my plans to enter Egypt and bring a pig with me.
“May Allah protect us from cats and dogs to.”
Maybe he’s on to something… those filthy infidel pigs…
Some sad news here regarding Victoria Stafford from Woodstock Ontario. Thanks to SDA commenter Joe Molnar et. al. for reminding us of the situation during the early days of this ordeal.
My condolenses to the entire Stafford family.
David Thompson has a post up that highlights the — sadly typical — hypocrisy of some of the rich-bashing, choice-bashing “well-heeled class warriors” in Britain.
In one link (to You-Tube), a rich British ecocrite who owns a private Villa in Italy is taken head-on by a straight-talking fellow named Richard Littlejohn.
In another, columnist Zoe Williams of The Guardian suggests that a formula be put in place that would “(put) people who would normally be aiming for the private sector at the bottom of the waiting lists” for state-funded schooling. “If the queue for your local primary was too rufty-tufty and not intellectually challenging enough (for your child), you can bloody well get to the back of that queue now.”
“Yes, yes, this seems unviable and vindictive…and as for vindictive, ha! Good. At the very bottom of the waiting list, put the kids who have been removed from a private school…somewhat above them, but below everybody else, put the kids who have siblings at private schools; also near the bottom, put the children whose parents’ first choice was a faith school.”
This next bit from Williams eerily confirms the long-term, serious threat coming from the mindset of these long-march “neighbourhood watch” types that Kate recently posted about (“Tony Blair’s Britain”):
“There are other questions an admission process could use to whittle out privateers. Do they have a 4X4? Can the parents provide a letter from any local leftwing organisation, attesting to their commitment to open-access state education? Did they go to any meetings?”
“With…these schools in demand, it’s time to defend their places for the bog-standard locals who were never trying to pay or pray their way out of them.”
The whole thing, and other worthwhile links — check them all out — at
http://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/05/stiff-competition.html
including some appalling examples of class-war hypocrisy on the part of those-who-would-rule that may bring to mind Al Gore and his energy-gorging mansion, or Suzuki’s several houses and his belching tour bus, or just in general many of those never-disappearing GTA ruling-class Liberal-types.
Obama Youth.
Kids.
With guns.
On the streets.
In America.
Obama’s America.
I did not make this up.
Choose your… oh, wait!
http://thecanadiansentinel.blogspot.com/2009/05/obama-youth-armed-and-dangerous.html
The Obamapus.
What is it?
http://thecanadiansentinel.blogspot.com/2009/05/obamapuss-tentacles-of-equalization.html
This Ain’t Bill Clinton, Folks. It’s Even Worse.
There’s a picture worth a billion words. It’s surreal, as the guy looks exactly like Slick Willy.
http://thecanadiansentinel.blogspot.com/2009/05/this-aint-bill-clinton-folks-its-even.html
wow EBD. my “bad” meter is pegged.
and then, 8 minutes of Laura Branigan ? are you kidding Vit? Are you two having a shit contest?
but speaking of pigs.. er… The flu formerly known as “swine flu”…
Tuesday at Pamela Geller’s http://atlasshugs2000.typepad.com she had a clip of how the 250,000 pigs belonging to the Copts in Egypt are / were being disposed of, while still living, into the lime… a horrific death.
another take on that here…
http://www.juliangorin.com/wordpress/?p=2109 and at the Sydney Morning Herald
didn’t see it posted here or in msm here in Canada.
*
“I guess Christine Elliott hasn’t actually read Ezra’s new book.”
*
EBD, thank you for that link to David Thompson’s blog. VERY interesting!
I’ve never understood the mentality of rich Leftists. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I suppose they probably feel guilty that they have so much and others do not. But then the policies they campaign for always raise taxes and government encroachment in people’s lives, which only makes it more difficult for “average working people” to ever get ahead.
What a strange conundrum!
Letter from a Dodge dealer
“This atrocity will most likely force my family into bankruptcy. This will also cause our 50+ employees to be unemployed. How will they provide for their families? This is a total economic disaster.”
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/05/letter_from_a_dodge_dealer.html
To Bernie:
Doge’s problem is not Obama! It’s the FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Move over baby–the F-150 is in the passing lane!!
To Bernie:
Dodge’s problem is not Obama! It’s the FORD MOTOR COMPANY. Move over baby–the F-150 is in the passing lane!!
What is a shit contest?
” … catchy Swine Flu Song.” ? Nice pun, nice sarc !
Canadian Sentinel, is George Soros partying on an Austin Powers time-machine yacht that’s grooved him all the way back to the mid-70s? Look at those girls – look at the picture quality – look at the straws – look at the couch!
I must know.
Oh, and Zoe Williams is evil incarnate.
Johnny B., don’t keep your Ford long. Friend’s mid 90’s Bronco replaced auto tranny+ Front end; under 160K. Another friend, new F150, had to get a new motor. Windstar; 3 tranny fixes under 150K, rear wiper motor corroded to junk +2 fuel pumps. 91 Mustang; new fuel pump every 40K.
Relative’s PT Cruser; $400 for replacement of failed spark plugs? Dodge Cummins $3000 front end work; never off highway.
My 93 Chev minivan; 235K going strong when I sold it. 84 GMC 4×4; 225K when I sold it, no problems. 91 S-10 230K no problems.
Read the Lemon Aid books before you buy.
The credit of the U.S. government may be close to being downgraded:
“Day of reckoning looms for the U.S. dollar”
Cal-i-forn-ia here we come…
“FBI arrest four in alleged plot to bomb Bronx synagogues, shoot down plane”
The perps were so dumb, the Left might start yelling “entrapment.” Small mercies…
Gunney99….they don’t call’em “found on the road dead” for nothing!Or the old “fix or repair daily”,
Associated Press (MSM) carries this report.
O’Barry SOeterO.
…-
“OBAMA PRESIDENTIAL ELIGIBILITY IN DOUBT(sic)
Accused of lying, concealing true citizenship
Obama – Smoking gun finally found?
AP- WASHINGTON D.C. – In a move certain to fuel the debate over Obama’s qualifications for the presidency, the group “Americans for Freedom of Information” has released copies of President Obama’s college transcripts from Occidental College. Released today, the transcript indicates that Obama under the name Barry Soetoro, received financial aid as a foreign student from Indonesia as an undergraduate at the school. The transcript was released by Occidental College in compliance with a court order in a suit brought by the group in the Superior Court of California. The transcript shows that Obama (Soetoro) applied for financial aid and was awarded a fellowship for foreign students from the Fulbright Foundation Scholarship program. To qualify, for the scholarship, a student must claim foreign citizenship. This document would seem to provide the smoking gun that many of Obama’s detractors have been seeking. The news has created a firestorm at the White House as the release casts increasing doubt about Obama’s legitimacy and qualification to serve as president. When reached for comment in London, where he has been in meetings with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Obama smiled but refused comment on the issue.”
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=13289661&content_dir=ua_congressorg
…-
“Barry Meets Israeli Prime Minister
Barry Soetoro (a.k.a. “Barack Hussein Obama”) meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today. Now, Barry has shown contempt for English royalty, disrespect for life, and utter disdain for the American Constitution. How will he behave toward Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu? The two are now meeting in Washington, DC, 10:30 a.m., Monday, May 18, 2009. Ignorance and uncouth may account for Barry and Michelle’s misconduct in Britian; a liberal self-idolizing narcisissism may account for Barry’s relish for killing (in the name of abortion); a thorough education in Communism surely explains his hatred for America and the American constitution. But, what will be cause of his aversion to Israel? Racism?”
http://www.badeagle.com/page/2/
“Seal hunting
Political animals
European politicians are breathtakingly hypocritical about sealskins
ROUGHLY handled, and incompetently stunned, terrified animals may awaken several times before they are slaughtered. Some have their throats slit fully conscious. Europe’s industrial farms dispatch 1m sheep, cattle and pigs every day. You cannot cater to the welfare of a large animal like a pig when the line must kill five in a minute.
If the European Parliament were really interested in animal welfare, then it might look rather more closely at the farming industry that the European Union so lavishly rewards with subsidies. But it has more pressing business. On May 5th MEPs, suddenly disgusted by the cruelty of people far away hunting seals, voted to endorse a ban on the trade of seal products, most of which come from Canada. Their hypocritical recommendation, which still has to be approved by the European Commission and Council, isn’t even much good for the seals.
Bash it on the head, quick
Every year, 300,000 seals meet their end not by mauling from a polar bear, but instantaneously from gunshot or a blow from a club. Four years ago the WWF, an environmental organisation, commissioned an independent vet’s report which concluded that seal clubbing is not cruel if it is properly done by competent and trained professionals. The report judged that the Canadian hunt was professional and highly regulated. And the vets said that popular horror of the seal hunt seemed to be based largely on emotion and on images that are difficult even for experienced observers to interpret.
By the grim standards of Europe’s farrowing sheds, millions of seals enjoy a blissful life fishing and breeding on the Canadian ice. At least Canadian seals have the luxury of being stunned before they die. Compassion in World Farming, a lobby group, says that half the sheep killed in France are conscious when their throats are slit.
Such treatment is possible through a loophole that allows for religious slaughter—a loophole that the same champions of animal welfare in the European Parliament voted to avoid closing on May 7th.
A few seals are killed to protect fish, others as a source of blubber or food. Most are indeed killed for their fur. That may not be to everyone’s taste, but it is hardly unEuropean.
Europe’s fur farms produce over 30m mink and fox pelts a year. Every four or five days Europe kills more animals for their fur than the entire annual Canadian hunt does in a year. Seal hunting sounds unfair; but Europeans are reluctant to ban the hunting of similarly defenceless game birds, deer or wild boar.
A ban on the seal hunt would spare individual seals, but it may not do much for the seal population as a whole. When wildlife cannot be traded, it loses its value and thus the incentive for people to conserve it. Today the hunters exploiting the seals have an excellent reason to maintain a healthy and growing population. A trade ban would mean that the management or maintenance of a wild population becomes just another drain on resources. Sometimes ecotourism pays the bills, but it works only in places that are easy for tourists to get to.
Why did the European Parliament overlook all this?
Seal-murdering foreigners are a soft target and animal-welfare groups have been lobbying MEPs for years.
It may not be a coincidence that they finally voted for a ban just a month before they face elections. Having been invisible to their constituents for the past five years, what better way for MEPs to save their own skins than to fight valiantly for those of baby seals?”
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13649231
…-
“Canada criticized for posting Economist’s seal article on website
Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government came under attack Wednesday for promoting a British magazine’s accusation that European politicians, who have devastated the Canadian sealing industry by banning seal product imports, are trying to punish “seal-murdering foreigners” for political gain.
The Economist said European parliamentarians are guilty of “breathtaking hypocrisy” and cited Europe’s own animal rights shortcomings, such as exemptions allowing sheep to have their throats cut while still alive to respect Jewish and Muslim traditions.”
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=1613557
Maz2 — Interesting development re Obama legitimacy — but unfortunately no press coverage that I could find. The story is apparantly being ignored, but I am puzzled about why something from AP would not appear on Google News.
Maz2,
re Eligibility…Also in the US, billboards financed by individuals are starting to go up.It states: “Where’s the Birth Certificate?”
Google World Net Daily to view article and pictures.
Was Barry in Britain yesterday or is this an older report?
———————————————-
Kate,
Proposal for a “juxtaposing” post:
-Obama to address nation this AM re: Guatanamo/ Congress/Quagmire.
-4 Terrorists arrested in NYC. Re: “This is Jihad” 1 terrorist said
-Even add a third with Cheney suppose to address nation also this AM. (Reports and transcripts might be harder to get than Barry’s address for obvious MSM reasons)
thank you maz2.
following Pamela Geller’s quest for the real birth cert.. we’ve seen the ups and downs in this story. Someday.. someday… adios B. Hussien jajaja…
Well ‘EBD’ I won’t be running out to buy his record. Thanks for the listen though.
*CBC Headline rewritten.
Muslims accused in NY bomb case intent on Muslim holy war, aka Muslim jihad.
CBC: “The men — James Cromitie, David Williams, Onta Williams and Laguerre Payen” “All four men were Muslims and hailed from Newburgh, N.Y.”
More: O’s hOly war.
…-
*”Accused in NY bomb plot case intent on holy war: top police official
Four men who were arrested late Wednesday after allegedly plotting to bomb two New York City synagogues and shoot down nearby military aircraft were bent on waging holy war, but weren’t associated with any terrorist organization, officials said …”
urlm.in/clwt
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“Obama Tries to Restore Order on Gitmo, After Senate Blocks Closure Funds
President Obama will deliver a speech Thursday addressing plans to close the Guantanamo detention camp as Democrats back off support for funding the closure.
President Obama is trying to keep Democratic unrest from derailing his plans to close the Guantanamo Bay detention camp after the Senate voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to yank money for shuttering the prison.
The president is delivering a speech Thursday meant to shed light on how the administration expects to transfer 240 detainees off the island by January 2010.
The address appears overdue, considering the resistance and mixed messages coming from top-ranking Democrats over the issue on Capitol Hill.
By a vote of 90-6, the Senate approved an amendment to a war funding bill Wednesday that not only blocks supplemental funds from being used to close Guantanamo and move detainees to U.S. soil, but also orders that no funds already in U.S. coffers be redirected toward that purpose.
The Senate also overwhelmingly approved an amendment offered by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that requires a classified threat assessment of each detainee at Guantanamo. It was a severe blow to the impassioned opposition of Sen. Dick Durbin, (D-Ill.), who argued that the release of that sensitive information might jeopardize the prosecutions of the detainees.
Sen. Dan Inouye, D-Hawaii, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the vote to strip the $80 million Obama had wanted should not be seen as a rebuke to the administration but a “wake up call.””
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2255405/posts
SCOC is an acronym for Supreme Court of Canada.
The Supremes have committed sanity.
Meanwhile, the leftists are in shock. Taliban Jack LaytoNDP has had another head-explosion*.
…-
“Afghan detainees have no Charter rights: SCOC
OTTAWA — The Supreme Court of Canada declined Thursday to be the final referee on whether the Charter of Rights should apply abroad to protect Afghan detainees whom Canadian forces have handed over to Afghan authorities.
Amnesty International Canada and the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association have been fighting the matter in court for two years, arguing that the charter obligations of Canadian soldiers should not end at the border and must apply to “government agents acting in foreign countries.””
urlm.in/clwv
…-
Taliban Jack: “*My head exploded that year.”
http://www.gendercide.org/case_montreal.html
Thanks Bourque
If you look at Bourque you will find in Bold letters & near the top two articles, one Minister Clements trip to the states to try & stop the growing protectionist movement their.
The otheron Ambassador Wilson’s work on this file.
However if you go to NNW where do you find this subject 3/4 of the way down, Why? Because it is not a relevent tory scandal or bash.
The Canadian MSM needs to wake-up on this movement before it is too late. Canadians are not aware of what is developing in the states that will dramaticaly effect Canada, The msm needs to report what the Govt of Canada is trying to do.
TOTUS with another O’Bushism.
…-
“Obama Flubs Gates’ Name During Speech (Teleprompter turns on Obama)
President Barack Obama sees his secretary of defense just about every day, but he still flubbed Robert Gates’ name on Thursday.
Gates was in the crowd for Obama’s national security speech. Pointing him out, the president said “William Gates” was on hand.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2255553/posts
Juxtapose this (from Rush Limbaugh show today)
—————–
May 21, 2009 – Obama OKs nuclear deal with United Arab Emirates
Aug 6, 2008 – [Obama] said the focus should be finding new energy sources.
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1242212428027&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/election2008/2008-08-05-mccain-nuclear_N.htm
Spengler, Science, Ethics and Abortion: The Perspective of Britain’s Chief Rabbi
“Why should an intelligent person believe in God?” That was the first question posed to Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks at a dinner for religion journalists sponsored last night by the Templeton Foundation, by the Washington Post’s Sally Quinn. Rabbi Sacks, the author of eighteen books and a philosopher of note, responded (I paraphrase) that the universe cannot provide its own meaning, just as a logical system cannot prove its own premises (according to the Gödel incompleteness theorem). This meaning of the universe that lies outside the universe we call God, he added. Morality is not written in nature: you can’t read ethics off the world. Judaism has a dual epistemology, he continued, Torah (revelation) and Hokhma (wisdom).
The interesting question is: If we cannot derive morality from nature, then why is revelational morality not arbitrary? The answer, Rabbi Sacks said, is to be found in the concept of covenant…
S&P cuts New York Times rating deeper into junk status
Thu May 21, 2009 3:48pm EDT
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Standard & Poor’s on Thursday cut its rating on the New York Times Co (NYT.N) deeper into junk status, citing rising leverage in the midst of a newspaper industry slump.
A drop in ad revenue aggravated by the long U.S. recession will likely lead to a spike in leverage at the Times by 2010, S&P said in a statement. The rating agency said it expects the economy to begin to recover late this year, but there is significant uncertainty about when the newspaper ad slump will begin to heal.
S&P downgraded the Times’ corporate credit rating by one notch to B, the fifth-highest junk rating, from B-plus. The outlook is stable, meaning another downgrade is not expected over the next two years.
Dollar falls to lowest this year, debt worries weigh
Reuters, Thursday May 21 2009
NEW YORK, May 21 (Reuters) – The dollar on Thursday plunged to its lowest level this year against a currency basket and the euro neared a five-month high above $1.39 as fear of widening U.S. deficits soured investors on dollar-denominated assets.
Standard & Poor’s announcement that it could downgrade Britain’s triple-A credit rating weighed on sterling earlier. Bill Gross, co-chief investment officer at Pacific Investment Management Co, said concern that the United States was headed for a similar predicament hurt the dollar and drove the 10-year Treasury yield near a two-week high.
“No one wants to admit it but there might be investors nervous enough with the extreme levels of indebtedness of the U.S. government so that just the thought of a downgrade would provide an excuse to sell dollars,” said Matt Esteve, a trader at Tempus Consulting in Washington.
“If such a thing happened, the impact would be huge.”
“So why is the Liberal Party taking advice from Ed Clark, the architect of the NEP?”
http://caiti-online.blogspot.com/2009/05/what-is-ed-clarks-track-record-of.html
(via Bourque)
bryanr: “The msm needs to report what the Govt of Canada is trying to do.”
BINGO!
We need to come to the blogs to find out what PMSH and the CPC are actually doing, unadulterated by the Canadian MSM’s hate-filter.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is one of the hardest working PMs Canada’s ever had. There’s no shortage of material on which the MSM could report. But they filter, filter, filter — to the point where all we get is negative spin about how the CPC are reacting to the Librano$ or what they’re saying about the Librano$ or how mean they are to the Librano$ or what a bully PMSH is to the Librano$, and to Count Iggula in particular.
I’d like to hear about the CPC without the constant MSM-manufactured CPC-LPC-connected-at- the-hip crap. I’d like to hear what the CPC is doing for Canadians, I’d like to see photos of our Prime Minister going about his business here in Canada, in the States, in Europe and I’d like to see photos of Stephen Harper with his beautiful, smart wife, Lareen Harper.
It seems this is too much to ask — which is why fewer Canadians are watching Canadian television and reading fewer papers and magazines. Give us the news and we’ll tune in. Give us all-Liberal, all-the-time, and we’ll stop reading/watching them.