… Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan gave the president — dubbed “the Wolf of the Desert” by a Kuwaiti poet — a gigantic necklace made of gold, diamonds, rubies and emeralds, so gaudy and cumbersome that even the Secret Service agent carrying it seemed nonplussed. Here in Saudi Arabia, the king draped W. with an emerald-and-ruby necklace that could have come from Ali Baba’s cave.
***
In Abu Dhabi, the president made a less-than-rousing speech about democracy while staying in the less-than-democratic Emirates Palace hotel’s basketball-court-size Ruler’s Suite — an honor reserved for royalty and W. and denied to Elton John, who is coming later this month to play the Palace.
The president’s grandiose room included a ballroom, in case Mr. Bush wanted to practice the tribal sword dancing he has been rather sheepishly doing with some of his hosts, something between Zorba and Zorro. The $3 billion, seven-star, 84,114-square-foot pink marble hotel — said to be the most expensive ever built — would make Trump blush. It glistens with 64,000 square feet of 22-carat gold leaf, 1,000 chandeliers, 20,000 roses changed every day, 200 fountains, a dome higher than St. Peter’s, an archway larger than the Arc de Triomphe, a beach with white sand shipped in from Algeria and a private heliport. The rooms, scattered with rose petals, range from $1,598 to $12,251.
[President George W. Bush shares a moment with Sheika Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, United Arab Emirates Minister of Economy and Planning, during dinner Sunday, Jan. 13, 2008, in the desert near Abu Dhabi. White House photo by Eric Draper]
http://www.egypttoday.com/article.aspx?ArticleID=7801 William Webb would never have had to hide in the bathroom of a convention, waiting for a gaggle of girls to lose interest. But Imam Suhaib Webb is a different story. Such is the American Muslim community’s fascination with the American-born Azhari student that one day he had to do just that. ”I’m married!” he says, almost at a loss for word, “This is fitna!” 
Posted by zalkhatib under
Personal,
Poetry [2] Comments
Beautifully performed by Shaykh Diya. If you go to the original, there’s a downloadable mp3 link.
Available here
How were polls so wrong? Who knows?
No one reason predictions of Obama win were so off-base
LUIS TORRES DE LA LLOSA
Experts on Wednesday said there was no single reason why opinion polls predicting a clear victory for Democrat Barack Obama on the eve of the New Hampshire presidential primaries were so wrong.
Polls predicted an Obama victory over his fellow senator Hillary Clinton by a margin of five to 13 percentage points — but when voters cast ballots on Tuesday, Clinton won 39 per cent against 36 for Obama.
“It is simply unprecedented for so many polls to have been so wrong,” said Gary Langer, director of polling at ABC News, who has been conducting political polls for more than 15 years. “We need to know why.”
Muharram 1.
moonsighting.com reports numerous sightings in NA. good enough for me.
***
“Year by year passes you by while you sleep deeply in the slumber of heedlessness, season by season passes while you drown in a sea of sins enveloping you – Oh you who witnesses more and more signs and indications with every passing year and month, who hears more and more signs (ayat) and suwar but benefits not by what he hears, nor by what he sees of the most magnificent of matters – (tell me), what hope remains for he upon whom misery has already been ordained in The Book inscribed?
(( For truly, it is not the eyes that are blind, but rather blind are the hearts within their breasts )) al Hajj: 46
(( And whomever Allah grants not light, then no light whatsoever will he have… )) an Nur: 40 “
- Ibn Rajab al Hanbali, Subtleties of Gnosis (Lata’if al Ma’arif)
are a circus. they strike me as entertainment TV more than anything – just a means to kick up people’s adrenaline and boost ratings. first this one wins a primary, then that one, then this “dark horse”, then… blah blah blah… when i look at it i just feel the whole thing is staged, and i feel like we’re living in the novel 1984.
i am still wondering why polls can show results that are so different than primary ballot results.
so far, the most intelligent candidate i’ve seen is Ron Paul – he shuts down the opposition when he speaks, he seems by far to be the most grounded, sincere (though who can tell), and knowledgeable candidate…. and the rest of the panel really have no rebuttal for what he says. usually they just laugh at him like hyenas or try to misquote or put words in his mouth (giulani does this frequently). in the polls ive read about and seen, he leads, yet in the primaries he comes in third or fourth. on Fox tv, they tried their best to make him look like a fool, and he came out winning the debate by a healthy 11%. yet in primary ballots he seems to lag. this strikes me as odd. on the internet opinion seems heavily in his favor.
does anyone have a reasonable explanation? i can think of some, and my most favored at the moment is that the american “elections” are about as legitimate as the elections in most of the arab world.
The MSA is hosting Br. Faisal Kutty once again, this time to speak on marginalization and radicalism in a Canadian context.
Faisal Kutty, presenter
This session will look at the history of institutionalized discrimination and worldwide marginalization of Muslims and other religious groups. Faisal Kutty, Vice-Chair of the Canadian Council on Canadian Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN), and renowned lawyer has acted on behalf of individuals and institutions involved in anti-terrorism investigations. He will reflect on the colonial legacy left in Muslim countries and how it connects to the current emergence of radicalism.
Faisal Kutty is a Toronto-based writer, human rights activist and co-founder of the law firm of Kutty, Syed & Mohamed. He currently serves as general counsel for the Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association (CMCLA) and as Vice-Chair and legal counsel to the Canadian Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN). He has spoken and written extensively on human rights, the impact of anti-terror laws on immigrant communities and Islam and the West. He has also acted on behalf of dozens of individuals and charities that have been directly impacted and targeted by anti-terrorism laws and policies. He recently filed submissions on the No-Fly List to Transport Canada on behalf of more than two-dozen organizations. He is currently acting as counsel to CAIR-CAN and the CMCLA at the Iacobucci and the Air India inquiries, both of which are looking at issues surrounding national security.
Event URL:
http://www.iweek.ualberta.ca
Date
Wednesday January 30, 2008
2:00 pm - 3:30 pm
Location
North Campus: Students’ Union Building (SUB) Dinwoodie Lounge
Sponsors
Muslim Students’ Association
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