ICC T20:We Have a Winner!

In more ways than one. Having an all-winning team winning something is just continuation. Having an all-losing team winning something is just a coincidence. Having Pakistan win the T20 World Cup is just astounding!

There are many tiny elements that seen individually cannot predict the final outcome. The slowly building media-realization of a pitch-perfectly-consistent bowler; the simple move of a batsman from #6 to #3; the return of an old player; the wiping off of a grin from the captain’s face and the simple feeling of pride on success  garnered carefully by the team’s management; all these factors exist and have existed at different times, but for all of them to come together and produce a fitting outcome for a team & a country that needed something like this, desperately.

It makes me happier in the knowledge that the displaced refugees from the Northern Areas of Pakistan would be smiling last night. Many would be jumping in joy and the ones able to, would be dancing and celebrating on the streets. Victims of mindless terror attacks and suicide bombings might have forgotten their sorrows and allowed for a smile to flit across their faces, bringing back some of the color lost to tension, fear and sorrow. The politicians, keeping their lies to themselves, commended the team, their first truth spoken in years. It makes me happier to see the people spontaneously coming onto the streets, instead of running for their homes; people dancing and laughing openly, instead of unashamed tears over losing a loved one; the municipality cleaning the roads of confetti and sweetmeat boxes and colorful ribbons, instead of washing away blood and dismembered parts. It makes me happy to have Pakistan in the news for winning a World Cup, instead of losing a life.

Jolly good show, sir!

-FK

(Ir+Om)an

Iran, Oman & the Kish Gas Field

Yup, it’s official. Following my previous posts there was a pending visit, I was waiting for our Deputy Prime Minister to visit but it seems as if I have been upstaged by the govt. and now it is His Majesty himself who is going to pay the newly crowned Iranian President a visit. While this is significant on many levels, it is a bold statement by His Majesty to be the first head of state to visit the Iranian President after his elections. Whilst partial recount is underway, we really don’t know the state of Moosavi supporters’ unrest by the 28th. But it figures that the state police in Iran will have squashed all opposition to make it peaceful enough for our delegation to visit.

And the enoturage is impressive too. ToO states:

His Majesty the Sultan will be accompanied by a high level delegation comprising

Sayyid Ali bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, minister of the Diwan of Royal Court,

Gen. Ali bin Majid Al Ma’amari, Royal Office minister;

Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, minister responsible for foreign affairs;

Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, minister of national economy and deputy chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council;

Abdul Aziz bin Mohammed Al Rowas, His Majesty the Sultan’s adviser for cultural affairs,

Dr Ali bin Mohammed bin Moosa, minister of health;

Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, commerce and industry minister;

Lt.-General Malik bin Sulaiman Al Ma’amari, inspector-general of police and customs,

Dr Mohammed bin Hamad Al Romhi, minister of oil and gas,

Sheikh Yahya bin Abdullah Al Fannah Al Araimi, the Sultanate’s ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Iran.

Nice! That’s 7 ministers, 10 portfolios and 13 heads of profiles and 1 Head of State. Seems like Oman will get a corner of the international media for this event, since all spotlights are pointing there already. Oman will be like a minor character in a play suddenly sharing the stage with the main female lead who has been hogging the stage. Now whether this character uses this opportunity to do something screenworthy and make her presence felt or will just pass on the glass of water, play his minor part and exit left, is yet to be seen. Hoping it is the former, expected to be the latter.

But then again, expect important development to happen on the Gas Sharing thingies floating around. With the ongoing gas field deals, the joint gas and energy company setup, tourism and infrastructure deals setup, I want to think that nuclear issues are also going to be discussed, however I don’t think that is going to be announced anywhere.

Well, let’s see.

-FK

Pigeon-headedness

Seems that in their astoundingly successful quest to achieve the lowest form of distorted truths and moral values possible, people living across the mountainous borders have once again numbed my senses and rendered me speechless, hapless, unable to move, respond or cry/laugh. The only possible response that I can evoke at a time like this are zangjillion thanks to the-powers-that-be that I am not living, forced to live, or planning to live in that country anytime in the foreseeable future.

A court in SA has ruled that the testimony of pigeon-breeders is inadmissable in court. And to justify the ruling, the esteemed personality added that this was because pigeon-breeding was an act of the people of ‘Lut. Google-translate, in all its wisdom tranlsates this to “…because pigeon-breeding was an act of sodomites”. Furthermore, the presence of these birds on rooftops reveals the presence of houses of sins!

God! Just typing that has again numbed half my neurons and threatened to fry the rest!!

Original and Google Translate Version:

شهادة مربي الحمام غير جائزة

Pigeon breeders testimony inadmissible

عبد الله المقاطي ـ ظلم Abdullah Almqati injustice

أكد لـ «عكاظ» عضو هيئة كبار العلماء الدكتور صالح السدلان أن شهادة مربي الحمام أمام القضاء غير جائزة، وقال «إن شهادة مربي الحمام مرفوضة شرعا؛ لأن اللعب بهذا الطائر كان من فعل قوم لوط، إضافة إلى أن القائم على هذه المهنة يعتلي أسطح المنازل ويكشف عورات البيوت»، لكنه استدرك «إن تربية الحمام للاستثمار شيء طبيعي ولا غضاضة فيها».

He told «Okaz» Member of the senior scientists, Dr. Saleh Alsdlan pigeon enthusiasts that the testimony inadmissible in court, and said «The Certificate of pigeon enthusiasts religiously unacceptable; play because this bird was the work of the sodomites, in addition to that based on these dot the rooftops of profession reveals SINS houses », he added« The pigeon is natural to invest in the no objection ».

I don’t fark on SA. Infact I seethe, burn, ponder and rant on my own, but I won’t fark on it. Because it is so skullnumbing that the people who wrestled control over the world’s most resource-rich country, who have control of the undividedly holiest places in the Muslim world, who are center to Mecca, Medina, the general area of hijaz, who were handed over the holiest relics of the fastest-growing religion in the world…. they are nimbnomcoops.. and that too an extent that is unmatchable. Infact, I believe that it is going to be a very close contest of moral stupidity between the Taliban and these people.

But then again, Bin Laden is a Saudi national!

My anger is not over this case of pigeon breeders, I just thought that I’d post this cause it was in the ‘funny’ category. But just thinking about the mechanisms that bring such people and such judgments to fruition are the cause of my neurotic aneurysm. Dead expats, torture cases, pedophilia, rampant social and moral vices, flagrant disregard for the law, stupid laws itself, corruption, homo-hetro rape…ergh! C’mon,  “Custodians of the Holy Mosques”?, I’d not let you custode my dead cat, let alone the Holy Mosques!

I must stop before I really do burst an artery.

-FK

Our North Northerly Neighbours

Iran. The bad boy to the Western hemisphere. The injured and wounded but resilient, emerging and on-the-cusp-of-power  nation to its people. The country that the world is wary of. Whilst Iran has no overt friends, Pakistan, Lebanon and Syria tend to display a soft corner. But not the Arab League. But then again, Oman was represented at the Head of State session by deputy Prime Minister Oman Sayyid Fahd Bin Mahmoud Al-Said. Local coverage was also low-key.

Post-summit, diplomatic cross-linkings are going on. The Iranian FM visited us back in March. Lieutenant-General Malik bin Sulaiman Al Ma’amari, IG ROP visited Iran. The official statement noted the cooperation of both the countries in curbing illegal immigrancy.

Our ambassador in Iran then met the Iranian Deputy FM, groundwork was layed, followed up by the visit of our Minister for Foreign Affairs visiting Iran this week. He met the Iranian President and Iranian FM. Again, local papers are wary of covering this piece, instead Iranian and other news agencies are reporting on the same.

The ongoing Egyptian stand against the Hezbullah is something over the top for the region. Egypt’s miniscule, but far-reaching activities, like closing the border, allowing/disallowing refugees, prohibiting imprmput markets along its borders etc etc are like small squeezes and nuances in the diplomacy and internally (within Arab League) varied levels of support for the Palestinian cause. Iran, of course, retaliated.

Bu now we see SA being its usual self, aloof. Egypt tried to make a move, but currently nothing is coming out of it. Iran; I get a mental image of an Australian rugby player; continues on it’s path. Obama is reconciling and I think the American/Iranian journalist could be freed in a reciprocal manner being the Iranian reply to Obama’s green signals, that is, IF Iran wants to give a green signal. Oman, doing good in its own way in this matter. After all, with all due respect, our North Northerly Neighbours better than our Notherly ones.

-The Fark Knight

Stolen-stolen Divorce Agreement

Sabra has posted a divorce agreement that she has “borrowed” from Michelle Malkin’s blog this commenter. Whilst I’m not quoting the whole thing here, I’ll take excerpts and rant about it.