Olympic.org Article: International Olympic Committee Brokers Agreement with Iraqi Government

Lausanne, Switzerland – An agreement between the Iraqi government and the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday clears the way for Iraqi participation in the Olympic Games in Beijing.

In a productive meeting at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, the IOC and the Government of Iraq agreed on a series of steps that will lead to a fully functioning, independent National Olympic Committee in Iraq. The agreement re-establishes the independent NOC of Iraq which will be allowed to take part in the Beijing Games.

Iraqi athletes will compete in Beijing under the Iraqi flag, led by coaches and team leaders selected by the independent Iraqi National Olympic Committee. Five government representatives will be invited by the IOC as observers to the Games in Beijing. The agreement also calls for the transparent and fair election of a new, independent Iraqi National Olympic Committee, no later than the end of November 2008. This process will be overseen by the IOC and the Olympic Council of Asia and will be held in cooperation with the Government of Iraq, and in accordance with the Olympic Charter.

“I commend the government of Iraq for reaching an agreement that serves the long-term interest of Iraqi athletes,” IOC President Jacques Rogge said. “We have said all along that we want to see Iraqi athletes in Beijing.”

The IOC helped establish an independent Iraqi National Olympic Committee in February 2004, and has provided substantial financial support and other assistance to Iraqi athletes. In May this year, the Iraqi government sought to disband the independent NOC and replace it with one headed by a government official — a clear violation of the Olympic Charter regarding government interference.

The IOC responded on 4 June by suspending the government-imposed committee. The IOC urged Iraqi officials to resolve the matter and issued an open invitation for a meeting in Lausanne.

The deadline for competitors entering the Beijing Olympic Games for all events except athletics passed on 23 July. As a result, the slots for five Iraqi athletes have been redistributed, but two Iraqi athletics competitors will have the opportunity to compete in Beijing.

“We look forward to seeing the Iraqi flag in Beijing,” Rogge said.

29 July 2007: One Year Later

1 Aug. 2008 Solar Eclipse Visible in Iraq

The Solar Eclipse taking place on Fri. 1 Aug. 2008 will be visible in Iraq, getting better as you go Northeast, so Sulaimaniya (where i was until 24 Jul.) will be the best place to watch it in Iraq with a sun coverage of 15%.

Baghdad (where i am right now) will have a coverage of 10% , but still, it is the only Arab capital that would get to see it, at least partially, since its totality is taking place over the North Pole and Russia.

I will keep you posted with what i find.

Space.com Article: Viewer's Guide: Aug. 1 Solar Eclipse

Joe Rao
SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist
SPACE.com

Friday, August 1 is a red-letter day for eclipse enthusiasts. On that date, the sun will be partially eclipsed over an immense area that includes western and central Asia, parts of northern and central Europe, all of Greenland and even a small slice of northeastern North America.

A total solar eclipse — the first in nearly two and a half years — will be visible along a narrow track that will start over the Northwest Passage of Canada, gives a glancing blow to northern Greenland, then shifts southeast through Siberia and western Mongolia and before ending near the famed Silk Route of China.

The path of totality for this upcoming eclipse is never more than 157 miles (252 km) wide.



Where it's visible

The total eclipse begins at sunrise over Northern Canada's Queen Maud Gulf, where the moon's umbra will first touch down on the Earth, resulting in Canada's hosting its first total solar eclipse since February 26, 1979.

As the sun comes into view over the north-northeast horizon its disk will become completely blocked by the moon. This is in the area of the famous Northwest Passage, a sea route connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Arctic archipelago of Canada. The various islands of the archipelago are separated from one another and the Canadian mainland by a series of Arctic waterways collectively known as the Northwestern Passages. Politically, this region belongs to Nunavut, the largest and newest of the territories of Canada; it was separated officially from the vast Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999.

Although the umbral shadow narrowly misses the towns of Cambridge Bay on Victoria Island, and Resolute on Cornwallis Island, its northern edge just clips the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world: Canada's remote outpost of Alert, which lies just 508 miles (817 km) from the North Pole and has a population of just 5. Here, totality will last 43 seconds.
Crossing the open Arctic, the southern half of the totality path slides across the many fjords of northermost Greenland, coming to within 450 miles (720 km) of the North Pole at 9:38 UT over the Arctic Ocean before turning southeast. Totality sweeps over the Norwegian island group of Svalbard, while the northern edge of the umbra's path just grazes Russia's Franz Josef Land island group, then cuts across the crescent-shaped island of Novaya Zemlya on its way to central Asia. The umbra first touches the Russian coast on the Yamal Peninsula. Not far inland, greatest eclipse, producing 2 minutes 27 seconds of totality, is attained near the town of Nadym (pop. ~46,000), just inland from the boot-shaped Gulf of Obskaja.

Spending part of your summer in Siberia may sound a bit more appealing upon hearing that the central path passes almost directly over the city of Novosibirsk, Russia's third most populous city (pop. ~1.4 million) where totality begins at 10:44 UT and will last 2 minutes 18 seconds. The center of the path will then follow the Mongolia-China border for several hundred kilometers, with Olgij, Mongolia getting 1 min 36s of totality. Totality finally whisks into north-central China, crossing the west end of the Great Wall before leaving the Earth at a point northeast of the major city of Xi'an (pop. 3.9 million).

The northern half of Maine as well as the Canadian Maritime Provinces will experience a partial eclipse at sunrise.



Eclipse expedition

A most unusual attempt to rendezvous with the moon's shadow will be made by an Airbus A330-200 twin-engine long-range aircraft. Following a flight plan optimized specifically for the purpose of viewing this eclipse, all of the many unusual requirements of this flight have been evaluated and satisfied with arrangements by the air charter company Deutsche Polarflug (AirEvents) which has previously operated successful over-flights of the North Pole with this same aircraft.

Glenn Schneider, from the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory and a veteran of 26 total eclipses, has worked out the detailed formulation of the flight plan. He is targeting a point from the high polar north, at approximately +83-degrees latitude and about 440 nautical miles from the North Pole at an altitude of 37,000 feet above the Arctic Ocean.

This will be a unique event in the annals of solar eclipse-chasing since there are no records of any total solar eclipse observations as far north as this. While total solar eclipses in the polar regions are not rare, accessibility is very difficult. Until this juncture in time (and technology) very high-latitude (north or south) total solar eclipses have been elusive. The total solar eclipse of 23 November 2003 was the first in history to have been observed from the Antarctic.

Once again it needs repeating: to look at the sun without proper eye protection is dangerous. Even if you are in the path of the total eclipse you will need to protect your eyes during the partial phases.

Reuters Article: Iraqis say they like Obama, divided on his policies

By Khaled al-Ansary and Mohammed Abbas

U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is popular among Iraqis.

In two dozen interviews across the country, many told Reuters a black man would understand their plight.

Obama arrived in Iraq on Monday on only his second trip to the country. He wants to bolster his foreign policy credentials and counter accusations from Republican presidential rival John McCain that he has not seen conditions in Iraq for himself.

"I support Obama. I think he is the best for Iraq and for the world ... if McCain wins I will be devastated," said Mustafa Salah, an office worker in the southern city of Basra.

Hisham Fadhil, a doctor in northern Kirkuk added: "He is much better than others because he is black and black people were tyrannized in America. I think he will feel our suffering."

Obama is the son of a white mother and a black Kenyan father. He refers to himself as black and often talks of his multi-cultural background.

Ordinary Iraqis are unlikely to get a glimpse of Obama, who will spend most of his time surrounded by heavy security.

While violence is at a four-year low and some efforts have been made toward national reconciliation, the threat of car bomb attacks and kidnapping has not disappeared.

Indeed, Iraqis are divided over Obama's plan to withdraw U.S. combat troops within 16 months if he wins office. Some say the policy is overdue while others are opposed because they feel Iraq's security forces are not ready.

"What Obama said about pulling out U.S. forces is just for political gains. It is unrealistic," said Munadhil al-Mayyahi, an independent politician in Basra.

Kamiran Mohammed, from Kirkuk, said he visited the United States recently as part of a polling watchdog to study elections. Obama would be good for Iraq, not McCain, he said.

"When I was in the United States I found Democrats are more peaceful and avoid wars," Mohammed said.

OBAMA OPPOSED INVASION

Obama made his opposition to the U.S.-led invasion five years ago a centerpiece of his election campaign.

McCain supported President George W. Bush's decision to go to war, and also his troop "surge" last year, which helped pull Iraq back from the brink of sectarian civil war.

"The face of America was spoilt by the Republicans and Bush. A McCain win means Bush stays," said Zainab Riyad, a teacher.

Questions about Obama's heritage -- he is a Protestant Christian but his Kenyan father was raised a Muslim -- and whether this background would lead to better U.S. policy in the Middle East drew a cynical response from most Iraqis.

Obama's campaign has sought to dispel rumors he is Muslim.

"Frankly, Muslims in our society have not done anything for us," said Mohammed Sadeq, who owns a mobile telephone store in Baghdad. Another Iraqi pointed to wars between fellow Muslims.

Others were dismissive of the U.S. presidential election in general, more concerned with the struggle of daily life in Iraq.

"For the moment I'm thinking about getting enough electricity. I do not believe either candidate will change the situation in Iraq," said Abdul-Mahdi Hadi, a Basra teacher.

(Reporting by reporters in Baghdad, Basra, Kirkuk and Kerbala, Writing by Mohammed Abbas: Editing by Dean Yates and Matthew Jones)

The Hollywood Dental Clinic!

Last night, I was eating when i felt a "crack" in my mouth. I had broke a tooth.

It didn't hurt me at all, and it never did. I take good care of my teeth, but teeth sometimes have a mind of their own.

I called a friend, and another, and they gave me the details on how to go to the Dental Clinic in Sulaimaniya's Piramerd Street.

"You'd enter the center, pay the rate, then go to room #1. There, you'll find a doctor who looks like Jennifer Lopez, only whiter and a bit fat. She would check your tooth and decide what would happen next."

 

I went in the morning, and there wasn't any Jennifer Lopezes. There was a young dentist and he told me to come back in the afternoon because my tooth needed to be extracted.

 

I went in the afternoon, only to find the place very crowded, and there was a man sitting at the door of the Examination room organizing the entry process. He told some of the male patients that they must wait for the male dentist to finish a male patient before they would get to enter, for the male dentist was to see the male patients, and the female dentist was to see the female dentists! This sounded as if it wasn't the somewhat progressive Sulaimaniya, but something like Kabul under the Taliban!

 

Anyway... My name was finally called and i entered the Examination Room which had a completely different / meaningless name in English... Something that was like "The looking-into-your-mouth Dept."!  Dr. "Jennifer Lopez" was in the next booth and she had a sort of resemblance to J.Lo's serious roles like the one in Angel Eyes movie plus the glasses. The male dentist was someone like Robin Williams in the movie Nine Months. He, just like the young dentist in the morning knew almost no Arabic, so i had to speak with him in English. His English had a funny accent of sorts, again just like Robin Williams in Nine Months!

 

He sent me to the Dental X-Ray unit, where i waited for some 20 more minutes before getting to the device, and more English followed with the X-Ray doctor.

 

Finally, I went back to "Jennifer Lopez" & "Robin Williams'" room, where "Robin Williams" said to me that there was almost no option other than to get rid of the tooth.

 

I would've, but the problem was that i couldn't let them take the tooth off that day because of a visit to some friends that i was making about two hours later, so i asked "Robin Williams" to try finding a solution for this tooth's problem; and he said that i should check room #22, and see if they could fill it.

 

I went to room #22 as he said, and there was no Taliban rule that a patient must be examined by a doctor of the same sex. There was a male doctor along with two female doctors. The doctor that examined me looked a little bit like Selma Hayek, although she was whiter and not so Latino unlike Selma.

 

Dr. "Selma Hayek " had the best English of the day. She said to me the very same thing that "Robin Williams" said earlier, that this tooth has to go. I told her of my time restriction and she said that i will have to go to Room #5 the next time to get the tooth pulled. I thanked "Selma Hayek", and left the building, hoping to come back in the next few days to finish what i couldn't finish today.

 

God knows which movie star i would run into in this Trip to Hollywood to get rid of my broken tooth!!!

 

One final note to my father:

Dad! B.D.S. is not Baghdad Dental School! B.D.S. is Bachelor in Dental Surgery!! Otherwise, all of those movie stars would've known Arabic!!!

Two Kurdish Drivers

The group i deal with the most, day in day out, while being in Sulaimaniya is the taxi drivers.

I rarely use the cheaper buses mainly because i don't know their exact routes, or to avoid going into the busy bus stations; but i use taxis at least twice a day.

I don't tend to speak with taxi drivers, not in Sulaimaniya, not in Baghdad, and not anywhere i've been to. I believe that i should not distract the driver from his job, which is to drive, of course.

But i do really recall two conversations i had with two drivers who were very different from one another.

The first conversation was about a year ago with a young driver, who was looking in awe at the high buildings built (or being built) on both sides of Salim Street, when he said to me with a wide smile:
- "Kak-e gian! (My dear sir!) Sulaimaniya is Europe!!!"

There was one thing i learned from living in Iraq for a long time under Saddam: Never trust what taxi drivers say to you because you don't know their motives to say that, and whether they were Security apparatus agents (wakeel Eminn) or someone who is speaking honestly.

So didn't argue with the young driver. I would've said to him:
- "Excuse me! But does Europe have 8-10 hours electricity blackouts per day?! Does Europe have water shortages several times a week?! Does Europe have unsolvable traffic jams on streets full of potholes?! And finally, if Sulaimaniya is Europe, then what is Dubai?!?!"

But i chose to remain silent, for if words were made of silver then silence is made of gold (at least in that case).

However, the driver that i met today spoke in a way that was genuine, honest and true. We almost witnessed an accident by a reckless driver in a new car, on of many (cars and reckless drivers) filling Sulaimaniya streets.

The driver said:

- "You know, kak-e (Sir), this country astonishes me! You see drivers like this in a car like that and cannot stop yourself from thinking that someone must take that car from him and give him a donkey instead!"

Today, it was early in the morning so i was in a mood to turn his monologue into a dialogue.

- "But you know something? I met a driver last year, and he said to me that Sulaimaniya is Europe!"

- "Europe?! Take a look around you!!! What kind of 'Europe' is this?! This is the land of (administrative) corruption! And i mean all of Iraq!! This is not Iraq! This is Gandalistan!!! (The land of corruption)"

He went on:
- "You know what?! Despite the fact that there is corruption and money-pocketing everywhere in Iraq, but i believe that Nuri Al-Maliki is a real man! He is a man more than anyone here in the Kurdistan Regional Government!!! You know why?! Because whenever there is peace in any part which was volatile in the past, construction and services rush to that place, and people's lives go back to normal in no time; whereas we in Kurdistan have lived in stability for like 10 years now, or lets say five since Saddam's threat was gone, and the services remain the same if not worse!"

There was even more:
- "You know?! I don't care who comes and rules what! I don't care even if it was the Devil himself! But the most important thing is that he, as a ruler, would make his people live in dignity without poverty or need, and give people their God-given and Iraq-given rights!!!"

There, i was silent again; not because that i disagreed, but because of what he said, which was soo good that made adding anything else rather useless.

As i went out of his car after reaching my destination, i wondered if any Iraqi politician or Member of Parliament, living in their Air Conditioned environment, and riding their brand-new cars, would ever think of listening to "their" people, and the voice of a taxi driver who simply thinks that his city in Iraq is light years away from being close to Europe!

BBC ON THIS DAY: 14 July 1958

Coup in Iraq sparks jitters in Middle East

A group of Iraqi army officers have staged a coup in Iraq and overthrown the monarchy.

Baghdad Radio announced the Army has liberated the Iraqi people from domination by a corrupt group put in power by "imperialism".

From now on Iraq would be a republic that would "maintain ties with other Arab countries". It said some 12,000 Iraqi troops based in neighbouring Jordan have been ordered to return.

Major-General Abdul Karim el Qasim is Iraq's new prime minister, defence minister and commander-in-chief.

Baghdad Radio also announced that Crown Prince Abdul Illah and Nuri es Said, prime minister of the Iraq-Jordan Federation, had been assassinated.



King Faisal reported killed

It said the body of the Crown Prince, the powerful uncle of 23-year-old King Faisal, was hanging outside the Defence Ministry for all to see.

Reports from the US Embassy in Baghdad say the British Embassy has been ransacked and set on fire. The ambassador, Sir Michael Wright, and his wife were held at the embassy until late this afternoon when they were released. They are now in a Baghdad hotel.

Unconfirmed reports suggest King Faisal himself has also been killed.

His cousin, King Hussein of Jordan, has declared himself head of the Arab Federation - the five-month alliance between Iraq and Jordan - in the "absence" of King Faisal.

In a broadcast to his subjects, King Hussein condemned the coup as the work of outsiders.

While Iraqis are celebrating on the streets of Baghdad, the news is a cause for concern for western powers worried about their oil interests and instability in the region.



Mixed reaction in Arab world

The insurrection was probably inspired by a similar uprising staged in Egypt by Colonel Gamal Abdel Nasser six years ago. In February this year he formed a political union between Egypt and Syria known as the United Arab Republic (UAR).

Radio stations in the UAR are naturally delighted by news of the Iraq coup.

But leaders of Jordan and Lebanon fear it might inspire Arab nationalist rebellions in their own states and have appealed to Britain and the United States to send troops to their countries.

The US President Dwight D Eisenhower is said to be "extremely disturbed" by the Iraqi revolt and has called for an emergency session of the United Nations Security Council.

Officials in Washington fear the Iraqi coup will mean the end of the Baghdad Pact whose members include Turkey, Persia and Pakistan. It was intended to stem the influence of the Soviet Union in the region.

There are fears the Iraq coup will have a domino effect and that the pro-Western oil regimes of Kuwait, Bahrain and the Trucial States may fall to Arab nationalists.

AFP Article: 'World's oldest blogger' dies in Australia

An Australian woman described as the world's oldest Internet blogger has died at the age of 108 after posting a final message about singing "a happy song" in her nursing home.

Olive Riley "passed away peacefully on July 12 and will be mourned by thousands of Internet friends and hundreds of descendants and other relatives," a note on her website said.

Riley had posted more than 70 entries on her blog from Woy Woy on the east coast since February last year, sharing her thoughts on modern life and her experiences living through the entire 20th century.

Born in the outback town of Broken Hill on October 20 1899, she lived through two world wars and raised three children while doing various jobs, including ranch cook and barmaid.

In her final post on June 26, she wrote: "I can't believe I've been here in this nursing home for more than a week.

"How the days have flown, even though I've been in bed most of the time. I still feel weak, and can't shake off that bad cough.

"Penny, who's in the next bed to mine, had a visit one day this week from her daughter, who's a professional singer. Guess what happened! She and I sang a happy song, as I do every day, and before long we were joined by several nurses, who sang along too. It was quite a concert!"

Riley's blog, initially on www.allaboutolive.com.au and more recently at http://worldsoldestblogger.blogspot.com, was "mind-blowing to her," her great grandson Darren Stone said.

"She had people communicating with her from as far away as Russia and America on a continual basis, not just once in a while," he told the national AAP news agency.

"She enjoyed the notoriety -- it kept her mind fresh."

Down Memory Lane: 1993: My Favorite Song/Movie

This was my favorite song "Leylim Ley" by Ibrahim Tatlises, from the movie "Mavi Mavi" 15 years ago in 1993.

Voices of Iraq Article: Shiites and Sunnis hold joint prayer in Baghdad

KARBALA, July 9 (VOI) - A Shiite Shrine official on Wednesday said a delegation of Karbala clerics and tribal chieftains held a prayer with Sunnis in Baghdad in a bid of sectarian unity after two years of revenge killings between the two denominations.

"The delegation met an invitation, sent by the Sunni endowments chief, to visit Baghdad," a Shiite spokesman from al-Hussein shrine's administration, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI).

The spokesman noted "the two sides held a joint prayer led by Sunni endowments chief, Abdel Ghafour al-Samarrai."

"The two agreed to renounce killing and displacing operations carried out by groups claiming affiliation to Sunnis and/or Shiites," he added.

In February 2006, Iraq witnessed rising sectarian killings and displacing operations that stripped thousands of their houses and properties after Shiite shrines in Samarra were bombed.

The spokesman pointed out "Karbala's delegation included 85 figures comprised of clerics, tribal chieftains and provincial officials."

Earlier, 40 spokesmen from the predominantly Sunni district of Adhamiya visited Karbala for two days in April in response to an invitation sent by the Shiite province clerics.

Karbala, the capital city of Karbala province and the second holiest Shiite province after Najaf, lies 108 km south of Baghdad

Shatha Hassoun (Iddeysh Kan Fi Nas)

Song originally by Feyrouz, sung here by Iraqi singer Shatha Hassoun.