neurotic Iraqi wife
September 24, 2007
A Neurotic SuShi...
Last Friday, as I was on my way to work, I passed by the weekly bazaar that’s held in our compound and all of sudden I remembered a funny incident which Im gonna share with you. Eight or nine months into my first year here, back in 06, and just after all hell broke loose because of the Samarra bombings, I saw one of my expat ex-coworkers exhibiting a blue stone ring on his pinky finger. A blue stone (turquoise or fayrouz in arabic) or even a Carnelian (aqeeq in Arabic) is widely worn by Iraqi men, by Iraqi Shia’ men to be precise. (There are certain stories behind it, on more information on the significance of these rings, you can go here I just googled my question and this informative site came up). I myself didnt know the real reason behind the rings.
I was bemused at the idea of an American wearing the exact ring, so I smiled and asked him “hey, where’d you get that ring?” One of the Iraqis gave it to me, why do you ask? Do you like it? I stood there contemplating, all focus on his pinky. Umm, no, Im not a big fan of men wearing stones, but I do find it intriguing that you are, since its kinda of a typical thing that men from certain areas in Iraq do. What area he asked. The South I said. The South? He repeated. You mean the Sunni’s? I laughed and said nope, the Shia’s. Is that good or bad? I sensed some fear in his eyes. So I decided to tease him abit to get him going. Well, if you do go on site visits, especially ones that are in the West, I think you better make sure that, that ring is left well behind in your room. Tell me more he said. Theres nothing more to say I said.
So you a Sunni or a Shia? He asked. No I’m a sushi, I replied calmly. The guy just looked at me and said “say what?” I’m an S U S H I, I repeated the letters slowly, incase he didn’t get it the second time around. What’s that? The raw fish? He asked. Are you a Buddhist and got reincarnated into a fish or Are you a Muslim? I just cracked up, couldn’t keep a straight face anymore (nor did I find me representing raw fish as fun). No I’m a Muslim sushi I said in a as a matter of fact tone. Again that bewildered look. You lost me he said. Ok ok ok, I relented and went off to explain, my Sushism.
Me: You asked me whether I was a Sunni or a Shia, correct?
Man: Correct
Me: And I answered, Im a sushi, correct?
Man: Aha correct
Me: Ok so far so good.
Man still looking at me with his confused look.
Me: In Iraq my friend, well, let me rephrase, in the Iraq that my parents once knew, there were no questions of sunni’s or shia’s. You are you, you are Iraqi. Be it a Sunni muslim, a Shia Muslim, a Christian, Kurd, you are an Iraqi. And because I don’t believe in all this sectarian differentiation, Im gonna be a sushi. A Sunni AND a Shia. GET IT?
Man: I love sushi, the food that is.
Me: I love sushi, the new sect that is.
And we both laughed.
Man: You still didn’t answer my question
Me: I think I have. And btw, you know how it is rude to ask a woman her age? (Aha, he nodded). Well its kinda rude to ask an Iraqi about his sushism.
And here my story ends, Im gonna go back to work and leave you with your thoughts oh and by the way, I never saw that guy wearing the ring again, lol… It probably scared the hell outta him. But now after reading the significance of these rings, Im at awe, hey I might even start liking the idea of HUBBY wearing a turquoise on his pinky, hmmm. As for now, if anyone asks about being either a Sunni or a Shia', then SuShi will be my reply. Im still Neurotic, a Neurotic SuShi...
I was bemused at the idea of an American wearing the exact ring, so I smiled and asked him “hey, where’d you get that ring?” One of the Iraqis gave it to me, why do you ask? Do you like it? I stood there contemplating, all focus on his pinky. Umm, no, Im not a big fan of men wearing stones, but I do find it intriguing that you are, since its kinda of a typical thing that men from certain areas in Iraq do. What area he asked. The South I said. The South? He repeated. You mean the Sunni’s? I laughed and said nope, the Shia’s. Is that good or bad? I sensed some fear in his eyes. So I decided to tease him abit to get him going. Well, if you do go on site visits, especially ones that are in the West, I think you better make sure that, that ring is left well behind in your room. Tell me more he said. Theres nothing more to say I said.
So you a Sunni or a Shia? He asked. No I’m a sushi, I replied calmly. The guy just looked at me and said “say what?” I’m an S U S H I, I repeated the letters slowly, incase he didn’t get it the second time around. What’s that? The raw fish? He asked. Are you a Buddhist and got reincarnated into a fish or Are you a Muslim? I just cracked up, couldn’t keep a straight face anymore (nor did I find me representing raw fish as fun). No I’m a Muslim sushi I said in a as a matter of fact tone. Again that bewildered look. You lost me he said. Ok ok ok, I relented and went off to explain, my Sushism.
Me: You asked me whether I was a Sunni or a Shia, correct?
Man: Correct
Me: And I answered, Im a sushi, correct?
Man: Aha correct
Me: Ok so far so good.
Man still looking at me with his confused look.
Me: In Iraq my friend, well, let me rephrase, in the Iraq that my parents once knew, there were no questions of sunni’s or shia’s. You are you, you are Iraqi. Be it a Sunni muslim, a Shia Muslim, a Christian, Kurd, you are an Iraqi. And because I don’t believe in all this sectarian differentiation, Im gonna be a sushi. A Sunni AND a Shia. GET IT?
Man: I love sushi, the food that is.
Me: I love sushi, the new sect that is.
And we both laughed.
Man: You still didn’t answer my question
Me: I think I have. And btw, you know how it is rude to ask a woman her age? (Aha, he nodded). Well its kinda rude to ask an Iraqi about his sushism.
And here my story ends, Im gonna go back to work and leave you with your thoughts oh and by the way, I never saw that guy wearing the ring again, lol… It probably scared the hell outta him. But now after reading the significance of these rings, Im at awe, hey I might even start liking the idea of HUBBY wearing a turquoise on his pinky, hmmm. As for now, if anyone asks about being either a Sunni or a Shia', then SuShi will be my reply. Im still Neurotic, a Neurotic SuShi...
65 Comments:
afternoon Sushi, t=you remind me of myself, while Yugoslavia was falling apart I still refused to identify myself as a Serb or Croatian or Bosnian ( child of a mixed marriage) but I always used to say I am a Yugoslav. We speak the same language, for godsake. And now, it`s all over and so many lives lost, and we are getting back to the same interests again..
NEUROTICA LUV; SUSHI EH? THAT IS EXACTLY WHY YOUR`E SO LOVABLE DARLINGwww.bfbs.com your Olaff
Hey NW, that is a really GOOD one..... God bless you. i remember NW when i wasin High school or in College, it was a shame if you ask someone if he is a Muslim or Christian. Just imagine how bad poeple used to feel when you ask them wheather they are Sunnis or Shiaas.
Funny how Iraqis seem to think that hiding their faith was a solution, somehow being a sushi covered up all the hate an resentment of a 1000 year of suffering. I would suggest to my Iraqi friend that the study race relation here in the US, and I mean all of it. I know it sounds strange, but maybe understanding our past will help you see yours.
Dear Madtom, we were not hiding our faith, but we used to respect each others' believes. But Al-Qaida and others who wanted a piece of the cake (or all of it) targeted the religion and Tribal origin factors in the Iraqi society.
HELLO again NEUROTICA ; IT SEEMS OUR FRIEND alaa continues disregarding the sinnister axisof eviliranien threat & concentrates on the ramshackle rabble that are completely a nthing zero compared to the sinnister eviliran so if you would priorotise it prperly please & yes you are right these divisions HAD NOT BEEN AN ISSUE SINCE TIME IMMEMORIAL & the 1890s UP TO the 1980s more or less " Sir T.E. La wrence´´s Book" www.bfbs.com loads of greetings to you Neurotica
Sorry SIR T.E. LAWRENCE´s BOOK " THE 7 PILLARS OF WISDOM " THE ANGLO-ARABIAN PENINSULA -THE BRITISH COMMONWEALTH" LOADS OF PEOPLE OF ALL SORTS SPAN THE COMMONWEALTH COOPERATING & CONDUCTING BUSINESS THE REGION SHOULD TRY BELONGING THE MODEL ALL THE VERY BEST OF REGARDS www.bfbs.com
"targeted the religion and Tribal origin factors in the Iraqi society."
Thank you, but I understood that already. But you can only target something that exist already. And it was not just the enemies, but also the politicians which knew exactly how to stroke the fires...They knew what embers lied just beneath the calm surface.
Pretending is not respect, it's patronizing. We pretended to have good race relations for over 100 years. Black people would walk on one side of the street, whites on the other, and all was well...yet the hate that built up between the side could have triggered an atomic reaction. It was only the fear of another civil war that saved us, or is slowly saving us today.
Neurotica-
I mean no one harm. I love life and people. I just want truth. And I'm confused by this:
"And KILL them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then SLAY them; such is the recompense of the UNBELIEVERS." (Surah 2-191)
"So when the sacred months have passed away, then SLAY the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them captives and besiege them and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful." (Surah 9-5)
"Prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey and a woman (if they pass in front of a praying person)". (Bukhari, vol. 2, 135)
"....and the men are a degree above them (women),....." (Sura 2-228)
I see people say how Islam is a religion of peace. I'm more interested in a religion of truth. Either there is a God or not. And He speaks or not. Is this God speaking? I'm confused. I believe these words cause the world more problems than Iraq, Iran, US, al-Queda, Saudi, Cuba, Bush and everybody else combined. Help me understand.
Julie.
.....am I an idolater?
Julie, you CAN'T go into the koran and pick pieces of it and come and say this proves this and that ... you take it as a whole or not at all ...
We can do that with the Bible and Toraht as well.
This: "And KILL them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then SLAY them; such is the recompense of the UNBELIEVERS." (Surah 2-191)
REFERS TO THE WARS THE EARLY MUSLIMS FOUGHT AGAINST THE QURAYSH TRIBES - WHENCE THEY DROVE YOU OUT IS WHEN MUSLIMS WERE PERSECUTED FOR THEIR FAITH IN MECCA, HAD THEIR BELONGINGS CONFISCATED AND WERE THROWN OUT OF THEIR HOMES - HENCE THEIR FLIGHT TO MEDINA.
IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!
"So when the sacred months have passed away, then SLAY the idolaters wherever you find them,"
BECAUSE MECCA WAS A CENTRE FOR IDOL WORSHIP, VARIOUS PAGAN RELIGIONS.
WHY DONT YOU LOOK AT HOW CHRISTIANS BURNED THE GREAT ALEXANDRIA LIBRARY? OR KILLED THOSE EARLY CHRISTIANS WHO DID NOT BELIEVE JESUS WAS THE SON OF GOD?
WHY ARE YOU NOT WRITING OF THOSE ATROCITIES?
I am not muslem but am sick and tired of the constant rewriting of history ... and the perversion of it to suit some agenda ...
"Prayer is annulled by a dog, a donkey and a woman (if they pass in front of a praying person)". (Bukhari, vol. 2, 135) THIS IS HADITA AND YET YOU MIX IT WITH THE KORAN ...
YOU MEAN NO ONE HARM? that's a lie. YOU COME HERE SPEWING LIES AND MIXED UP PROPAGANDA THAT IS USED TO DESTROY IRAQ DAY AND AGAIN AND YOU SAY YOU MEAN NO ONE HARM?
you arent trying to understend you just want to attack koranic muslems. Say hello to Dani, by the way.
neurotic wife, sorry again for talking like this ... i like sushi ... iraqis should be sushi like you
I don't think I said anything proved anything, I just said "help me understand". But see how angry you got? And accused me so. I just want to understand, that's all...truth that's it. If these words mean nothing than what is it that is justifying muslims around the world to do what they do? Let's get it on the table. I have no desire to kill someone if they are a idolater. Why blow up Israel? Or the trade centers? Or Israel atheletes? Or embassys? Or train stations? Or restaurants? Or weddings? I just want to understand. Help me. Don't hate me.
Again...am I an idolater?
Oh by the way I didn't mix up anything, I clearly marked the source. Are you saying that Haditha has no influence or power?
Hiya Nina, I know, people can be really ignorant. There was this guy, an Iraqi, who hubby and I met when we went to prosperity palace, one of Saddam's palaces that is now occupied by the coalition. We went there to buy a few things, and this iraqi man kept asking hubby and I abt our names. We gave him our fathers names as our family name. He said no, which tribe are you from, we laughed and said no tribe. Then he said ok, where are you from in Iraq, hubby said Baghdad. He said ok, where in Baghdad. HUBBY got really angry. He told him what are you trying to find out? The man started to stutter, and said no its nothing just wanted to know. So hubby said, look, we are iraqis and thats what matters, then he added, and btw, just for your info, im from one sect and my wife is from another. Hope that satisfies your curiousity...It just made us sad.
Olaff, i dont like sushi, i like sashimi ;-)
Alaa, you know, these differences,although stem from thousands of years, it was never that apparent until Bremmer came and messed up everything!!!Yes I blame him.
Madtom!!!Where have you been. Ive missed you. You stopped coming by here...
Julie, first off, an idolator is someone that worships stones. ie, stone figures. And as Anon explained these verses were written for the early wars with the Quraysh tribe. Im no proffessor in Islam, but once you read the other sora's you will be overwhelmed at how right God is. And btw, a friend of mine, who started reading the translated version told me how close the Quran ideology is with the Catholics. The verses you have picked are the same ones that al qaeda use as their reasoning for killing and slaying millions of innocent people. Theres a verse that says "la ikraha fil deen" which means, you cant force someone on religeon, which negates some of the verses you have picked...
Neurotica- "the same ones that al qaeda use as their reasoning for killing and slaying millions of innocent people."
Just a question, not a confrontation..... is it just al qaeda?
Most people understand idolatry as worshiping anything other than the real God.....such as money or sex or success or fame or your husband or your life or your looks or your position or Jesus, etc. I just want to understand.
عِبادَة الأوْثان او الأصْنام
does that mean just stones?
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I really like this topic, I followed Middle East situation even though not much, some people like to identify themselves according to their difference and forced it to be the most superior whether they are religion, races, or anything you can tell.
I'm Chinese but I'm not the Chinese you used to see in People's Republic of China, I'm Indonesia Chinese and born in Indonesia. Most of people, identify us as Chinese with bad stereotype, but I still proudly to say that I'm Indonesian. We still live in a world that difference made us separated and distinct from the other. But I like the way you think, most people in the world still do not understand your thinking about that. "If you different, you do not have to say it loud again and again"
Yulianto- Your attitude makes me smile.
hi neuritica.
well a lovely post ......... a very creative name . and a very good idea for a country having sectarian clashes . i think we should have the same creative names in some of our country parts that have the most sectarian clashes.
btw ur name should be ;
alonewife
and mine would be ;
neuroticsoul
(lolz..........)
plz read the comments on last post ............
take care
and have a nice time
HELLO NEURITICA ;ALRIGHT LUV WE SHAL ENJOY SASHIMI TOGETHER YOU LUVELY LASSIE YOURS AS ALWAYS www.bfbs.com walter@swedenmail.com Olaff
Speaking of Mecca & Medina, I have another question........as a Christian can I visit Mecca? Or Medina? Can I drive into either of those cities, pull up next to a store and buy a soda? If I did drive to those cities and was found out, what would happen to me?
JULES LUV IT IS MUCH MORE INTERESTING TO NIP TO THE LOCAL AT HIGH STR:KENSINGTON & INDULGE IN A tipple of a PINTA of BEER OR whiskey Or anything else you fancy hmmmmmmmmmmmmm how about it then ??????????????????bring all your friends & loved ones Make a party along KENSINGTON HIGH STR: & FORGET BORING STAYED PLACES
I’m glad you consider yourself as a sushi and I’m so glad you have an open mind. People are taking this issue so seriously these days and just like u said, it didn’t matter in Iraq whether u were Sunni or Shi3ii, so why would it matter now? It didn’t matter when people got married to the opposite sect and it didn’t matter when we celebrated Eid, or a wedding, or Ramadan. Subhanallah...
The sad thing is that we're separating now more than ever in a time where prejudice and hatred is so common against the Muslims and we need to stand together but we cant even get along, which is ironic because Islam is a religion of unity and peace. People don’t get that anymore, and that’s why there’s a widespread of fear among the non Muslims. I don’t even think they're fighting against each other because of their sect, but because of pride and honour, and no where does it say in the Quran to turn against each other and slaughter ourselves till we are no more.
Allah Wiyach :)
Alacoacoa
Neurotica,
I have not gone anywhere, I come by to read every post you do. I just don't comment, as you have no need of my comments. As I predicted way back when, your comments would overflow with bloggies in no time. And so they did.
This topic just calls out to me and I just had to jump into the fray.
Here is a gift to Sushi ... drown in it:
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Senate is expected to vote as early as Tuesday on a Bosnia-style plan to subdivide Iraq on ethnic lines, touted by backers as the sole hope of forging a federal state out of sectarian strife.
Though the measure is non-binding, and would not force a change in President George W. Bush's war strategy even if it passes, the vote will provide a key test of an idea drawing rising interest in Washington.
Advocates say the plan, championed by Democratic senator and presidential hopeful Joseph Biden, offers a route to a political solution in Iraq that could allow US troops to eventually go home without leaving chaos behind.
A loose autonomous federation of Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni entities might look good on paper, but critics charge it ignores Iraq's ethnic stew, such as cities where ethnic groups live side-by-side and inter-marry, and are not divided by lines on a map.
"Critics have come along and said 'I don't like your plan,'" Biden said, adding: "if you don't like Biden's proposal, what is your idea?"
The plan, drawn up with former Carter administration foreign policy expert Leslie Gelb, would provide for a federal system as permitted by Iraq's constitution, stop Iraq from becoming a failed state and:
- Separate Iraq into Kurdish, Shiite and Sunni entities, with a federal government in Baghdad in charge of border security and oil revenues.
- Aim to defuse sectarian violence by offering Sunnis a share of oil revenues.
- Boost reconstruction aid and debt relief.
- Launch an international diplomatic effort to rally the world's great powers and Iraq's neighbors to the new federation's cause.
The plan, offered as an amendment to a defense policy bill, already has achieved what many other Iraq war measures have failed to do: attract support from across the political chasm carved in Washington by the war.
Several Republicans, who back Bush's troop surge strategy, but bemoan political deadlock in Baghdad, have signed on.
"We have a flawed political design that we are pushing currently in Baghdad," said Republican presidential longshot Senator Sam Brownback, one of 11 co-sponsors of the bill.
Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison looked for inspiration to the Dayton Peace Accords which led to the creation of a semi-autonomous Muslim-Croat federation and a Bosnian Serb Republic.
"I think what we have seen in Bosnia is a lessening of tensions when there is a capability for the security forces, the educational and the religious sects to have their own ability to govern within themselves," she said.
Critics, who have included the White House, have argued Biden plan is a recipe for more chaos in Iraq.
US ally Turkey would oppose such an initiative, fearful of unrest among its Kurdish population, they say, adding that a partitioned Iraq would lead outside powers like Iran and Saudi Arabia to bolster rival ethnic militia.
Other critics say frontier drawing in the Middle East by western powers has caused enough historical heartache, and it should be up to Iraqis to shape their future.
Some also say that partitioning Iraq, even if Baghdad remains whole, could encourage ethnic cleansing.
US ambassador to Baghdad Ryan Crocker backed devolving of power to Iraqi regions, but opposed a formal partition during an appearance in Congress this month.
"Baghdad, in spite of all of the violence it has seen and all of the population displacements, remains a very mixed city, Sunnis and Shia together," Crocker said.
"Any notion that that city of over five million people can be neatly divided up or painlessly cleansed of a huge number of people is just incorrect."
The bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which delivered recommendations in December warned partition could trigger mass population flows, the collapse of the fragile Iraqi security forces and ethnic cleansing by strengthened militias.
But Biden argued that all other options have failed, and says Iraq's ethnic groups are already separating.
"President Bush, and many Democrats continue to cling to choice number one," he said in a campaign mailing to supporters at the weekend, arguing US troops could not "build or force unity where none exists."
Say, bye-bye Sushi ...
1 Corinthians 11:4-16 contains the only reference in the New Testament to a headcovering for women and to an absence of a headcovering for men. Various early Church Fathers, such as Hermas[1], Clement of Alexandria[2] and Tertullian[3] also mentioned women's headcoverings. Early Christian art shows women wearing headcoverings.[4]
Both at that time and through the ensuing centuries, women usually wore a headcovering in public, as they still do in some Middle Eastern countries. But during the 1900s, the practice of headcovering gradually disappeared from many churches, which dropped their requirement that women cover their heads during worship services.
In Protestant churches
Martin Luther's wife, a former nun, wore a headcovering. Protestant theologians and founding fathers John Knox and John Calvin both called for women to wear headcoverings.[5],[6] Commentators such as Matthew Henry, A. R. Fausset and A. T. Robertson wrote that women should wear a headcovering.
Women in a few Protestant and Anabaptist denominations still practice headcovering, at least during worship services. Among them are the Mennonites, Plymouth Brethren, Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ of the Apostolic Faith, and the stricter Dutch Reformed.
Piotr
Olaff- Are you saying that the UK is a better destination than Romania? lol. "the Man" and I would love it. Make it a pint of Sam Adams. Lager. One day, one day.........oh, one day.
Hey do you know that in Romania & Hungary they won't let us put ice in our drinks. What a bummer. Is it like that in UK? You know how us Americans like ice in our drinks!
Not beer. Ice that is.
Although we like our beer cold!
neurotic, i enjoyed your post but PLEASE get rid of that picture, it makes reading your post extremely difficult. Or change the color of your font. Btw i personally can't stand "word verification" and this will be my first and last comment here because of your "word verification". All the best.
I H8 Wasabi, which sounds like....
JULES LUV ; YOU OR YOUR HUBBY SEEM TO BE ORIGINALL Y FROM HUNGARY OR ROMANIA IS THAT THE REASON YOU MENTION THESE PLACES REPEATEDLY? LONDON PUBS & CLUBS SERVE ICE IN A BUCKET FOR WHOEVER IS IN THEMOOD TO SCOOP SOME & DROP ITIN THIER DRINKS SCOTCH ON THE ROCKS NONO THEY ARENOTHAVING THIER ROCKS OFF?????!! ANYWAY YES IAM SAYING THAT LONDON IS THE MOSTVIBRANT SOCIAL CONTACT FOR LOADS OF THE OTHER & A BIT ON THE SIDE IF YOU LIKE & MAYBE PARIS IS ABIT LIKE THAT OR ROME OR EVEN ATHENS??? AMSTERDAM OR MAYBE BERLIN OR PRAGUE BUT HAVING IMMIGRATED TO FIRST SETTKE IN L.A.- & THEN SPENT 5 YEARS ALL AROUND THE MAIN CITIES FROM THE WEST COAST TO THE EAST & BACk incl. MInneapolis & etc. THER SIMPLY HAD NOT BEEN THE STREET SOCIAL EXCITEMENT READY CONTACT THAT YOU MAY COME ACCROSS IN OXFORD ST oR THE CHEMPSYLYSEEin PARIS SO YES LONDON IS INTERSTING loads of love
SORRY I MEAN INTERESTING LONDON THAT IS SOCIALLY EXCITING
All the religions hump "goto Pussy!!!" End program without Mormons? or the hot potato from the Mormon show?
Like Neighbors?
"Hey Neighbor!!!"
"...Hello Mr. Horse."
Springfield excellent.
Haha funny story, but you know after all no matter of how Sushi you thought you are, your heart will prove being not just a raw piece of meat...
It's not possible at all to stay neutral in the Iraq of today, that Iraq you once knew is gone with Saddam, you just proved that the new Iraq the unsushi Iraq is an evident on that Saddam was a real man.
Ok, seriously, I'm beginning to think 'anon' has Tourette's Syndrome.
Melanie
PS: Loved the sushi post :)
HELLO MELANIE LUV WE SEEM TO HAVE SIMMILAR POINTS OF VIEW SHALL WE HAVE A LITTLE TIPPLE UP THE ROAD KENSINGTON HIGH ST AT THE LOCAL & CHIT CHAT LOADS OF THE BEST OF MERRY JOLLY GREETINGS www.bfbs.com walter@swedenmail.com yours OLaff
loooooooooool,
I laughed my guts out when I read your story that was so funny.
BTW I hate those rings , I really do , although I'm also a SUSHI.
and I wish those times could come back when all the Iraqis used to be Sushis.
and BTW and I think you know that in Iraq there is sectarian love in addition to sectarian violence.
my friend in college had a love story with a girl for more than 3 years , but because of the sectarian love her parents didn't agree to let them marry each other! even though her parents are highly educated doctors!
what a farce!
HELLO NEUROTICA LUV LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL IT IS HIGH TIME THAT THE THE GOOD & THE ENLIGHTENED BROAD MINDED LOT COMEEEEEEEEEEEEE TOGETHER & FORM AN OPPOSITION TO THAXIS OF EVILIRANIEN SECTARIAN LOT SIMPLY DO AWAY WITH THAT LOT HINDERING THE COUNTRY & REGION FROM MOVING ON TO BETTER TIMES www.bfbs.com YOURS AS ALWAYS OLAFF
Olaff,
Sounds good! :)
Did I see you mention spending time in the US?
Melanie
Hi. I'm writing a paper for a college course I'm taking. It requires me to look up blogs from people who live in different countries and write about them like an anthropoligist would. Anyway, I can probably just search your blog some more but I was wondering if there is a more defined answer as to what your husband is doing to rebuild Iraq.
Very cool blog!
-Hannah
Bravo Im a sushi too .
MELANIE LUV ARE YOU ASKING ME IF I HAD BEEN THERE ? IF SO , THEN YES IT TOOK 5 YEARS visiting cities right across from my residential Long-Beach L.A. Suburb to S.Frisco & INTO THE ROCKIES via OREGON &SEATTLE & DULLUTH MINNEAPOLIS & WISCONSON & BOSTON CHICAGO & N.Y. & BALTIMORE ARKANSAS DODGE CITY ARIZONA OAKLAHOMA NEVADA & BACK TO L.A. 5 YEARS WORKING HERE & THERE SAID BYE TO BOTH MY BROTHERS IN L.A. & RETURNED TO MY LOVELY LOVABLE HOME GOOD O`L BLIGHTY ENGLAND & LONDON WHERE SOCIAL LIFE IS REAL SOCIAL LIFE LOVE IT
Ok, seriously, I'm beginning to think 'anon' has Tourette's Syndrome.
Melanie
Melanie, yeah tonal harmony like Mozart or who ever anyway. What's up with being damned for the next 50 years with Big Oil. The shit cures Poison Ivy and makes hmmm the joke about Jesus's arms being splayed on the Cross as a measure for his love of everyone pretty fucking noteworthy. Jesus is dying for someone elses gasoline, we're all automatically Christians now. "Jesus loves you this much!", now give me a hug. They make this stuff called Silicon, in the Silicon Valley and it holds memory in the form of metal. Like Doll with Boobs who used to be my friend until she decided that being human isn't helping the people be entertained. I stopped singing her the songs she wanted to hear because I thought it was time to be an adult so she shot SCUDS at SYria. The ENd. SO Neurotic super Commie, Adieux. I just wanted a wife not the Legion of Doom. Nah they drink ovaltine. If I didn't have to retrace my memory...oh yeah love is dead. We used to be faggots with each other? Now she's a shapeless deathdealer and I'm ...retarded
Anon-
Is dying bad?
Blackwater guards killed 16 in week of violence By Leila Fadel, McClatchy Newspapers
2 hours, 20 minutes ago
BAGHDAD — On Sept. 9 , the day before Army Gen. David Petraeus , the U.S. military commander in Iraq , and U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker told Congress that things were getting better, Batoul Mohammed Ali Hussein came to Baghdad on business for the day.
A clerk in the Iraqi customs office in Diyala province, she was in the capital to drop off and pick up paperwork at the central office near busy al Khilani Square, not far from the fortified Green Zone, where top U.S. and Iraqi officials live and work. U.S. officials often pass through the square in heavily guarded convoys on their way to other parts of Baghdad .
As Hussein walked out of the customs building, an embassy convoy of sport-utility vehicles drove through the intersection. Blackwater security guards, charged with protecting the diplomats, yelled at construction workers at an unfinished building to move back. Instead, the workers threw rocks. The guards, witnesses said, responded with gunfire, spraying the intersection with bullets.
Hussein, who was on the opposite side of the street from the construction site, fell to the ground, shot in the leg. As she struggled to her feet and took a step, eyewitnesses said, a Blackwater security guard trained his weapon on her and shot her multiple times. She died on the spot, and the customs documents she'd held in her arms fluttered down the street.
Before the shooting stopped, four other people were killed in what would be the beginning of eight days of violence that Iraqi officials say bolster their argument that Blackwater should be banned from working in Iraq .
During the ensuing week, as Crocker and Petraeus told Congress that the surge of more U.S. troops to Iraq was beginning to work and President Bush gave a televised address in which he said "ordinary life was beginning to return" to Baghdad , Blackwater security guards shot at least 43 people on crowded Baghdad streets. At least 16 of those people died.
Two Blackwater guards died in one of the incidents, which was triggered when a roadside bomb struck a Blackwater vehicle.
Still, it was an astounding amount of violence attributed to Blackwater. In the same eight-day period, according to statistics compiled by McClatchy Newspapers , other acts of violence across the embattled capital claimed the lives of 32 people and left 87 injured, not including unidentified bodies found dumped on Baghdad's streets.
The best known of that week's incidents took place the following Sunday, Sept. 16 , when Blackwater guards killed 11 and wounded 12 at the busy al Nisour traffic circle in central Baghdad .
Iraqi officials said the guards were unprovoked when they opened fire on a white car carrying three people, including a baby. All died. The security guards then fired at other nearby vehicles, including a minibus loaded with passengers, killing a mother of eight. An Iraqi soldier also died.
In Blackwater's only statement regarding the Sept. 16 incident, Anne Tyrell , the company's spokeswoman, denied that the dead were civilians. "The 'civilians' reportedly fired upon by Blackwater professionals were in fact armed enemies," she said in an e-mail, "and Blackwater personnel returned defensive fire."
A joint commission of five U.S. State Department officials, three U.S. military officials and eight Iraqis has been formed to investigate the incident, though almost two weeks later, the commission has yet to meet. A U.S. Embassy statement on Thursday, the first official written comment from the embassy since the al Nisour shooting, said that the group was "preparing" to meet.
Blackwater and the U.S. Embassy didn't respond to requests for information about the other incidents.
But interviews with eyewitnesses and survivors of each incident describe similar circumstances in which Blackwater guards took aggressive action against civilians who seemed to pose no threat.
"They killed her in cold blood," Hussein Jumaa Hassan , 30, a parking lot attendant, said of Hussein.
Hassan pointed to the bullet-pocked concrete column behind him. He'd hidden behind it.
"I was boiling with anger, and I wished that I had a weapon in my hands in those minutes," he said. "They wanted to kill us all."
Anyone who moved was shot until the convoy left the square, witnesses said. Also among the dead was Kadhim Gayes , a city hall guard.
It took two days for Hussein's family to retrieve her body from the morgue. Before they could, her sister signed a sheet acknowledging the contents of her purse, which had been collected by security guards at the Baghdad city hall— a Samsung cell phone, a change purse with six keys and 37,000 Iraqi dinars ($30) , gold bracelets, a notebook, pens, and photos of her and her children.
Three days later, Blackwater guards were back in al Khilani Square, Iraqi government officials said. This time, there was no shooting, witnesses said. Instead, the Blackwater guards hurled frozen bottles of water into store windows and windshields, breaking the glass.
Ibrahim Rubaie , the deputy security director at a nearby Baghdad city government office building, said it's common for Blackwater guards to shoot as they drive through the square. He said Blackwater guards also shot and wounded people in the square on June 21 , though there are no official reports of such an incident.
On Sept. 13 — the same day Bush gave his "ordinary life" speech— Blackwater guards were escorting State Department officials down Palestine Street near the Shiite enclave of Sadr City when a roadside bomb detonated, ripping through one of the Blackwater vehicles.
The blast killed two Blackwater guards. As other guards went to retrieve the dead, they fired wildly in several directions, witnesses said.
Mohammed Mazin was at home when he heard the bang, which shattered one of his windows.
Then he heard gunfire, and he and his son, Laith, went to the roof to see what was going on.
What they saw were security contractors shooting in different directions as a helicopter hovered overhead. Bullets flew through his home's windows, he said.
No civilians were killed that day, but five were wounded, according to Iraq's Interior Ministry .
The following Sunday, Blackwater guards opened fire as the State Department convoy they were escorting crossed in front of stopped traffic at the al Nisour traffic circle.
While U.S. officials have offered no explanation of what occurred that day, witnesses and Iraqi investigators agree that the guards' first target was a white car that either hadn't quite stopped or was trying to nudge its way to the front of traffic.
In the car were a man whose name is uncertain; Mahasin Muhsin , a mother and doctor; and Muhsin's young son. The guards first shot the man, who was driving. As Muhsin screamed, a Blackwater guard shot her. The car exploded, and Muhsin and the child burned, witnesses said.
Afrah Sattar , 27, was on a bus approaching the square when she saw the guards fire on the white car. She and her mother, Ghania Hussein , were headed to the Certificate of Identification Office in Baghdad to pick up proof of Sattar's Iraqi citizenship for an upcoming trip to a religious shrine in Iran .
When she saw the gunmen turn toward the bus, Sattar looked at her mother in fear. "They're going to shoot at us, Mama," she said. Her mother hugged her close. Moments later, a bullet pierced her mother's skull and another struck her shoulder, Sattar recalled.
As her mother's body went limp, blood dripped onto Sattar's head, still cradled in her mother's arms.
"Mother, mother," she called out. No answer. She hugged her mother's body and kissed her lips and began to pray, "We belong to God and we return to God." The bus emptied, and Sattar sat alone at the back, with her mother's bleeding body.
"I'm lost now, I'm lost," she said days later in her simple two-bedroom home. Ten people lived there; now there are nine.
"They are killers," she said of the Blackwater guards. "I swear to God, not one bullet was shot at them. Why did they shoot us? My mother didn't carry a weapon."
Downstairs, her father, Sattar Ghafil Slom al Kaabi, 67, sat beneath a smiling picture of his wife and recalled their 40-year love story and how they raised eight children together. On the way to the holy city of Najaf to bury her, he'd stopped his car, with her coffin strapped to the top. He got out and stood beside the coffin. He wanted to be with her a little longer.
"I loved her more than anything," he said, his voice wavering. "Now that she is dead, I love her more."
(Special correspondents Mohammed al Dulaimy , Hussein Kadhim and Laith Hammoudi contributed to this report.)
I know every politician dies on the P not the Q. I wish Saddam had the time to hold Oil in congress with diplomatic objectives. I think the world was using the Middle East like a prostitute and when technology measured into capabilities rendering Oil useless. The Middle East faced the scrutiny of a thousand Homo-Sapiens miserable in Cro-Magnum polluted Oil space. Truth is they're all Homo-Sapiens. The entire world the Nation of Procrastination. Chemical weapons equal pollution. Miserable account. It was hard for procrastination to break up with motor carriage and when the carriage flipped...No one wanted back in. Except NIW somehow blessed. The planning where Procrastination is patient in light of they're own misuse of ...well everything. Communication is really important. They surprised me once. She said Man and tonally Man equal'd Bad. Woman, Mom equal'd good because she should she has boobs. When Man died she should with boobs screaming for her new book and the shoulds that made them goo. In respect we called them Hoo's. Is Man Bad? So I asked Procrastination if they know anything about giving me boobs. Now I'm in the book. Illusive in the structure of the shoulds who where bibs for there story book gives. Where procrastination lives yet the Fed-Ex is always in. blah blah blah wanna kill me?
Olaff,
So how did you like my home? I'm originally from So. Cal. 50 miles east of Los Angeles, Fontana to be exact. I'm now situated in New Mexico, going to nursing school in the middle of nowhere! lol.
Melanie
Anon...
"wanna kill me?".....not me, but if you're an idolater..........???
NIW-I really enjoyed this post. One of the best in a while. SUSHI! I think it's hilarious. It would be if there were not such hatred assocciated with sect today in Iraq. Well, I think you're a wonderful woman being guided by principle. I do have to say that I am an American and my fellow countrymen are by and large good but our government is dangerous, murderous, and basically out of control. It's been this way for a long time. BTW, why do Iraqis want to come the US? I hear Sweden is a good place. Keep writing. All the Best. Salaam
lie said...
Anon...
"wanna kill me?".....not me, but if you're an idolater..........???
September 30, 2007 8:02 AM
Gee Whiz lady? They mentioned Moses failed to keep the Israelites on Earth cause His Twin tablets weren't as nice as the shiny shit. Christianity was way cooler cause we like have invisible creatures and stuff and then we made 'em slaves again 'cept Christianity is way more embarrassing then Judaism. In the Red Sea and Santa was there, and Janet Jackson building a Pharm tolerance for Allah and all these other horrible jokes were there
MALANIE LOOOOL IF I`D MET YOU I MAY HAVE STAYED AS I HAD ALREADY SORTED OUT MY SOCIAL SECURITY NO. & Drvers License In LONG BEACH BUT ALAS 5 YEARS & IT BORED ME SOCIALLy STILL THOUGH SEND A NOTE DIRECT & KEEP IN TOUCH LUV MY E,MAIL ADD:- walter@swedenmail.com LOADS OF LOVE OLAFF CHHERS WE MAY DISCUSS THE PROS & CONS OF SOCIAL LIFE AROUND THE PLACE ????
Anon- as a Father is more embarrassing than his son.
Invisible is real.
Invisible is in your heart.
Invisible is what cooks your food. Invisible is what I am to you.
Invisible to you is that you are the Israelites.
Reel Big Fish huh? Christinanity is so fucking Waltered. They Mathau'd those criminy Pegasus police. Who wants to be God again? I just wanted a wife? Geez is it because I said boobs you want to be a woman again, how many days has it been? I'm made of sin and robot. Hookers from Hell. When was the last time you fantasized about Johnny Depp, They totally Depped jumpstreet your invisible inhibitor, so sad. I'll cook my own hooker heart. If people were nice to each other I wouldn't be IRA. I need a manual on human drug hybrids not a hero. Meter Maid Ira. Misogynist Captain Crunch Berry defeatist. I figured how they make slaves. Invisibility is a lot like suicide don't you think? I'd fuck the Meter Maid truth is my dick is too small and she needs a human. Actually I feel double crossed right now and have a lot of stuff I would like to see done. When hands were communication like sign for shelter in prayer and all that pre drug hybrid stuff white lady. Actually saving yourself gets difficult now that Asshole Bitch doesn't know how to tell me where reality is, besides Mexico which is too general, Ahem Asshole Bitch doesn't have love in her abacus anymore. I'm already starting to show signs of decay, like the convict from that movie Blow which sucks because I'm so perverted I impersonate the crippled church girl. You're right they have no hearts thats why debris are challenged with available sentience. Wasting the white boy cause maybe they can make him scream for the other pervert loser(S). I really detest sick people who are into that kind of pornography. Right here among us and they lie to see the screams of our children. They never felt pain being desensitized sick how they need to see suffering in order to feel. An entire species right here under my Fuzzy black girl mittens. I hope they're not on Ritalin they're harder to distract when they're on Amphetamines. I asked for my wife they strapped me up with a non stop acid trip. They don't communicate for power purposes or they turn gay or feral or they get in heat. Or they skip steps white lady. They married me to a Pyramid. They say the dying calms them down. They didn't establish reciprocal communicable respect and left me in rape terrors I formalized replete with the specter of Kamikaze. I say a plague. The deceit of Kings now the Deceit of vegetables. Just like the 1st grade. Obsolete white kid.
I just want to clarify if I left the wrong impression. The U.S. has a major responsibility to the Iraqi people. I, for one, would welcome them here with open arms. I only mention Sweden because it seems to have a more hospitable and compassionate policy towards the people of Iraq. This is what is necessary and is also our responsibility. Assalaamualaykum and Happy Ramadaan!
I just saw pictures from Iraqi torture victims... TAKE CARE!
THAT IS RIGHT " FROM GERMANY MATE" IRAQI TORTURE VICTIMS VICTIMISED & TORTURED BY THE AXIS OFEVILIRAN __TAKECARE
Caring and being careful goes without saying, actually golden isn't silent anymore violence seems able and willing. Why have I heard the phrase "Take Care" more often than usual. What issue isn't being focus'd on? We have to label living? We're fucked.
World peace! Make love and not war!
ryo
Moving on........I wear a cornellian (aqeeq) te brown stone, have been since I was in grade 5. lol! I didn't know the cannotations behind it, it just looked beautiful on my mum's finger, thence I took it from her.
Wow I've been wearing it for more than 11 years. woohoo!
I can safely say that I've never in my life been hit or beaten up etc, or is that just a coincidence....(excluding teh one-off spanking from my mother that is...) Alhamdolilah.
The market of the Dubai real estate will recover in 2011 after a fall of the prices this year. It's may be the condition of Low Prices Dubai Property untill 2011.
Even Dubai and Abu Dhabi The Top City for the right now, but in 2009 will be the year of the reduction for Dubai Property, 2010 will be probably a year of stabilization, and in the 2011 we believe that the re-establishment will occur.
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