While reading a recent issue of the Canadian Geographic, I came across a news item mentioning two Canadians in Thailand, who run a magazine targeted for Westerners, called Farang. The similarity of this term to the Arabic ones piqued my interested, so I did some research on it.

Locust swarms have infested large swaths of Africa, north and south of the Sahara.Locusts have been reported as far west as the Canary Islands and Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic, Mauritania, Northern Nigeria, Chad

Yesterday and today, we had a feel of what is to come this winter. There was some freezing rain that made for a spectacular show today.

Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn al-Walid ibn Khalaf al-Fihri al-Tartushi أبو بكر محمد بن الوليد بن خلف الفهري الطرطوشي (b. 451 A.H./1059 C.E. - d. 520 A.H/1127 C.E.) was a famous jurist originally from Tortosa طرطوشة, in Muslim Spain.

One of famous Andalusian figures in Muslim Spain is Abu al-Walid Sulaiman ibn Khalaf ibn Saad ibn Ayub al-Tujaibi al-Maliki al-Baji أبو الوليد سليمان بن خلف بن سعد بن أيوب التجيبي الأندلسي الباجي الفقيه المالكي (b. 403 A.H. - d. 474 A.H.). This is a collection of sources on him.

Cranes in migration is a sight to behold.I recall seeing cranes in Istanbul Turkey in the early 1990s, circling and calling over the city. Also, in Jeddah, I saw cranesseveral times, where it is a stop on their route from Eurasia to Africa. Jeddah must be a conspicuous marker on the Red Sea coast, and among the Hijaz mountain range, and the deserts around it. They are seen over the al-Andalus district (Palestine Road), and the Old Airportarea. I have a video tape of them somewhere.

Today, we had the first snowfall for this season.Upon waking up, we found that everything got a dusting overnight. It was not covering everything, but grass areas, cars, roofs, were all partially covered by a centimeter or less. The temperature was below zero during day time for the first time this winter.

The following is a brief background on how the neo-con policies were a significant driver behind attacking IraqFor the longest of time, I wanted to write something about the influence neocons have in America's Foreign Policy, but never got around to it. The other day, I stumbled across a post on Slashdot that nicely summarizes the topic, by someone called egrinake, who seems to be from Norway.

Here are some notes and thoughts on the results of the US Presidential Elections of 2004, where George W. Bush won a second term.

Here are some funny Canadian web sites, many of them with a political slant, specially with our neighbors to the south.

• MarryAnAmerican is a way for miserable progressive liberal Americans suffering the tyranny of the current US government to be emancipated by marrying a Canadian.
• VirtualCanadian is for those Americans who are not ready to move can register to be virtual Canadians.