baqqa mqarqra
A Frog's-eye view

 
VISITED BY THE BBC

At 14:50 British time the BBC entered this site searching for "Mashtin". When they found the true meaning of Mr. Bakir's name they removed him from their site. (They returned to this site at 16.52) Watch out for the IP addresses 132.185.132.14 and 132.185.240.0/20. Big Auntie is watching you!

posted by Ribbity at 7:09 PM

 
TO YOU SHE'S A KITTEN, BUT TO ME SHE'S JUST A DAWG

A remarkable case of mistaken identity from the ancient Egyptian tabloids. (Report).

posted by Ribbity at 10:11 PM

 
SADDAM EMPLOYS FROGS

If you don't believe me, just look at this report from the NY times (registration perhaps required):

As early as 1988, Iraq subsequently admitted to the United Nations, it had experimented on converting short-range "Frog" rockets with a cluster warhead using aluminum shells and some components from another rocket, the Ababil 50. However, Iraq said that it had done nothing but produce drawings and that no prototypes were built.

When the evidence of those programs from Haidar Farm was analyzed in 1997, intelligence agencies supporting the United Nations weapons inspectors said materials found there included "all the necessary files and specifications to build" an unconventional, probably chemical, warhead for the Frogs.

Photographs, used by an American official to buttress the administration's position on Iraq, were said by the official to depict the newly discovered munitions.

They show a large, cylindrical body of roughly the same size as a conventional Frog missile, with a series of round cluster munitions, about the size of soccer balls or basketballs, set into cavities in the rocket. The official who did not say how the photographs were obtained

Why, that Saddam really knows no limits, enslaving frogs to do his dirty work!

posted by Ribbity at 5:28 AM

 
BACK IN HAIFA

I was back in Haifa again today, and once again travelled by minbus down the Moriah Boulevard where the 37 bus as blown up on Wednesday. The difference was that this time, the minibus was full of school-children, even though for children it costs twice as much as the regular buses (for adults the price is virtually identical). I suppose their parents are no longer allowing them to travel by bus, and this is easier than arranging personal transport for every child.

As we approached 48 Moriah Boulevard, I realised exactly where the explosion took place. When I need to stay overnight in Haifa for work, I rent a room in an old lady's house not far from this stop (the Shimshon Junction, for those who know the area). As Imshin has written, it's hard to imagine wholesale slaughter taking place in this peaceful suburban neighbourhood. The bus stop itself was all but gone, and the wall behind it had become a tragic mural of paintings, death notices, photographs and banners (personal, not political), while along the pavement lay the remains of dozens of burnt out memorial candles.

As at all these dreadful sites, eventually the burnt out cannisters will be cleared away, the murals removed, and in their place will appear a small metal plaque with the names of those killed elegantly engraved upon it. Already by this morning, several days after the murderous attack, only a few solitary candles remained alight. But for those injured, and for the friends and families of those killed, the story is only beginning.


posted by Ribbity at 9:29 PM