Tag: Tunisia

Kasserine Pass

It is that time again when the old professor gives up a history lesson for all to try and ignore.

The Winter of 1942 was when the US entered into the shooting part of the war.

My interest is because my uncle and my father were part of this historical event…..This is when the US came face to face with Rommel and his Afrika Corps…..and it was not very pretty…..

Beware a Desert Fox when he’s cornered.

It was North Africa, in the winter of 1943, and American soldiers were feeling cocky as they prepared for their first ground battle against the Germans in World War II. So far, it hadn’t been a bad war for the U.S. Army. The GIs were well fed, well paid and well equipped, especially compared to their threadbare and envious British allies. Even better, their baptism by fire had been to splash ashore in Algeria and Morocco in November 1942, where the defenders had been unmotivated Vichy French soldiers who soon capitulated.

http://nationalinterest.org/blog/kasserine-pass-americas-most-humiliating-defeat-world-war-ii-19574

As I said it is a personal account for me…..my uncle and later my father were in North Africa…..my uncle was with the First Division and my father a little later with the Army Air Corps…..

This was the US first ass kicking of World War Two…..a learning experience and we know how the war turned out, right?

Closing Thought–20Jun17

Update:  The first tropical storm approaches the coast where I live…not predicted to be a strong storm but will get a bunch of rain and some wind…we should be safe from any major damage….this time.

Speaking of the “first”…….

Have you guys ever read a story or report that made you sit up and ask…..WTF?

Well, I read one that made me ask that question and shake my head….

It appears that some cultures still hang on the old belief of the purity of the woman they are about to marry…..yes I am talking about that virginity thing.

A story out of Tunisia about a procedure that is being done to solve that problem for some women……hymenoplasty.

In Tunisia, young women are expected to be virgins when they marry, leading to a growing trade in hymen reconstruction surgery.

Yasmine (not her real name) looks nervous. She’s biting her nails and checks her mobile phone constantly.

“I consider this to be deception and I’m really worried,” she says.

We’re on the fourth floor of a private clinic in Tunis – the gynaecology service. Around us in the pink waiting room, other women wait patiently to be seen.

Yasmine confides in me that she is having a hymenoplasty, a short procedure that promises to reconstruct her virginity surgically.

Source: The Tunisian women who want to be virgins again – BBC News

Personally, I do not understand this fixation on virginity….but then I do not have to worry about it.

What happens if the news gets out of which doctors are doing this….will there be a religious backlash?

What about the women themselves?  If found out will they be safe?

Wave bye bye….time for me to shut it down for the day….back tomorrow with more stuff….chuq

A Nobel For The Right Reason

Can any of you recall when in 2009 when Obama was given the Nobel Peace Prize?  Sure you do…..the net went batcrap crazy because he got it for nothing or so some claimed……

I agree that his prize was a bit premature and that Obama had not proven that he deserved the prize……and in my opinion he still has not shown that he deserved the prize…..

This prize is given to those individuals that have …..okay but what are the requirements to qualify for the peace prize?

There is no particular requirement for winning the Nobel Peace Prize because each and every one of us is qualified. The only difference why only a few won this award is because those people risked their lives just to wake the nation’s nationalism. Those people also left their family for the country and they make a non-violence way to get the things his/ her country wants to have.

If you will recall last year’s winner of the Nobel Peae Prize was the Pakistani young woman that was shot in the face because she wanted an education…..and has worked tirelessly to promote the issue worldwide……Malala Yousafzai became the youngest-ever winner, when she shared the prize with a children’s rights activist from India.

This brings me to the person/s that won the prize this session…….

Pope Francis and Angela Merkel were among the early favorites, but this year’s Nobel Peace Prize has gone to a group that hasn’t been in the headlines as much: the Tunisian National Dialogue Quartet. “After the Arab Spring in Tunisia in 2010-2011, the Quartet paved the way for a peaceful dialogue between the citizens,” tweeted the Nobel organization. Before the announcement in Oslo, the five-member committee hadn’t given any hints as to which of the 273 nominees, which included 205 people and 68 organizations, would be this year’s winner, the Guardian reports.

The quartet is a coalition of four groups: the Tunisian General Labor Union; the Tunisian Confederation of Industry, Trade, and Handicrafts; the Tunisian Human Rights League; and the Tunisian Order of Lawyers, the AP reports, noting that the prize will be seen as an enormous victory for Tunisia, which has been shaken by two major terrorist attacks this year. In its citation, the Nobel committee praised the group for its contribution to “the building of a pluralistic democracy” in Tunisia. The committee’s chairman says the group helped Tunisia pull back from the brink of civil war in 2013, the Guardian reports.

The Arab Spring began in Tunisia  when

The series of protests and demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa that commenced in 2010 became known as the “Arab Spring”,  and sometimes as the “Arab Spring and Winter”,  “Arab Awakening”  or “Arab Uprisings”  even though not all the participants in the protests were Arab. It was sparked by the first protests that occurred in Tunisia on 18 December 2010 in Sidi Bouzid, following Mohamed Bouazizi‘s self-immolation in protest of police corruption and ill treatment.  With the success of the protests in Tunisia, a wave of unrest sparked by the Tunisian “Burning Man” struck Algeria, Jordan, Egypt, and Yemen, then spread to other countries. The largest, most organised demonstrations often occurred on a “day of rage”, usually Friday afternoon prayers.   The protests also triggered similar unrest outside the region.

The action in Tunisia and now the Peace Prize could have wide ranging results…..the world would be a better place if their example was followed….let it be a blueprint to the future.

Source: Tunisia Nobel Peace Prize resonates across Middle East – Al-Monitor: the Pulse of the Middle East

Just like Malala,  the Tunisians deserved the recognition and the respect that comes with the prize……

Congrats to the Tunisian National Dialog Quartet!

Was Arab Spring A Success?

Inkwell Institute

Middle East Desk

How many of my readers remember the Arab Spring?

A couple of years ago the Arab World blew up…..blew up into demonstrations, protests, civil disobedience and yes….revolution.  It hit almost every country across North Africa and the Middle East…….Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, even countries like Syria, Bahrain,  Jordan….so many protests and so many changes occurring……

Well the whole  exercise did change some things and some things not so much……regime changes in Libya, Egypt, Algeria and Tunisia….then nothing in places like Bahrain, Jordan…….and then there is the situation in Syria…….that one is a bloody mess.

So far not much has really changed other than the leadership….not much democracy breaking out…….lots of violence and protests and government changes, mostly to appease the multitudes and to prevent all out revolution……..

Ah, Tunisia……when I went to the Middle East many years ago I went for a job with the UN headquartered in Tunis…..unfortunately I did not get the job….my Arabic was not as good as it should have been and my French just sucked…….after a couple of weeks I landed a job with a Spanish newspaper with their North Africa desk located in Tunis……and from there the rest is as they say….history.

The one bright spot has been the country of Tunisia……..the country where it all began…….the Arab Spring was fueled by a situation in Tunisia…….18 December 2010 in Sidi Bouzid, following Mohamed Bouazizi‘s self-immolation in protest of police corruption and ill treatment….from that one seemingly small occurrence fueled the events that spiraled out of control.

(BTW, if you are a Star Wars fan….what was the name of the planet that Luke lived on?  Take a good look at the map……in southern Tunisia….look familiar?)

Since the beginning Tunisia has struggled but after many months of legislative deadlock….a constitution and elections to be held in late 2014…….Tunisia is emerging as a secular society meaning that extremists are having a hard time establishing a foothold……..it’s economy is getting better but not far from the toilet……unfortunately the IMF will step in and destroy the economy so they can strengthen it…….

Tunisia has a way to go but it is tracking well to be the first true democracy in North Africa…….we should do all we can as a country to help these brave souls accomplish what they are hoping to do…….a true secular democratic society.

What say you?