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The Iraq History Project recorded more than 9,000 testimonies since 2003 on torture victims under the previous regime. These included, of course, Assyrians. I wanted to share one with you a testimony from one Assyrian all so you know what real Assyrian heroes look like, and the realities of...

The GAO is the Government Accountability Office - they are the body of the US Government which has oversight over our spending and programs to make sure all are running efficiently and are cost effective (that's the short description). It looks like the GAO wants to more efficiently give...

Here's a youtube video of Lawrence Mansour, of Detroit, at a recent rally in Washington DC. He has spent time in Iraq and is coming out with a documentary soon on the Assyrian Aid Society, footage from the Nineveh Plains I think...

Iraq: Deadly Reminders of Unfinished Business The deadly attack by Al-Qaeda-linked militants on a Catholic church in Baghdad, followed by an even deadlier spate of coordinated explosions targeting Shi'a neighborhoods and a series of bombings targeting Christian homes, has plunged Iraqis of all...

Warning:this is very, very difficult to read. Baghdad Church Massacre Victims in Paris for Treatment, Recount Harrowing Ordeal Paris (AINA) -- On Sunday afternoon, October 31, Muslim terrorists stormed into Our Lady of Deliverance Syriac Catholic church in central Baghdad during the evening...

I skipped the first 9 paragraphs because it just goes over the history of Assyrians in Mesopotamia and blah blah blah we know all that stuff. And yes, sorry, it's google translate again. The demands we are of Iraqi minorities, including Christians, we, like other citizens of our people, fair...

I know, I know. I hate google translate too. But this isn't too difficult to understand. Just FYI. Criticism of the Iraqi national and Talabani welcomed the proposal by a Christian establishment of a zone for Christians الاثنين, 29 نوفمبر 2010 04:02 . Monday, November 29, 2010 04:02. بغداد ...

20 Miles Closer to Nineveh Extended Preview By Lawrence Mansour

I love Assyrians, but some of them think just because they have passion for our issues, they are automatically qualified to be politicians for our issues or speak with some authority on our issues. Most of us do not. I think - even now - most people do not understand what they mean when they...

Do they exist? Are there any really good ones? Either English songs (like Jingle Bells) translated into Assyrian OR uniquely Assyrian songs? If yes, email the title and singer (with the translation of the title) to: worldview[at]wbez.org.  This is a very prominent radio station on NPR which...

Yesterday, CAIR-Chicago staff and interns participated in a rally alongside the Assyrian community of Chicago to condemn violence against Iraqi Christians. The rally was organized in response to the massacre of dozens of Assyrian Christians in Baghdad on October 31st. It was a tricky decision...

Lives of fear for Iraqi Christians By Jim Muir BBC News, Baghdad A week after the worst single disaster to afflict Iraq's Christians in modern times, the Catholic cathedral in central Baghdad where the killing took place was back in business. With its windows still smashed and walls scarred...

http://ia311215.us.archive.org/3/items/bookofgovernorsh01thomuoft/bookofgovernorsh01thomuoft.pdf Full book, it will take a while to load, but you can save it as a PDF as well. It was written in the 8th or 9th century, translated in the 19th in Assyrian and English. Some very interesting...

I'm sorry. This is new today. Attacks target Iraq's Christians again, killing 5 By HAMID AHMED, Associated Press Hamid Ahmed, Associated Press ? Wed Nov 10, 10:50 am ET BAGHDAD ? Baghdad's Christians came under attack again Wednesday when a coordinated series of roadside bombs blew up in...

The Iraqi government is not the only entity seriously embarrassed by the attack against the church in Baghdad - apparently so are a lot of groups. Al Qaeda is even infighting over it - they embarrassed themselves (Pictures of dead toddlers in a church is apparently bad press even for al Qaeda)...

Please sticky - I'd prefer if this wasn't merged with the other thread, because people will, I promise, get confused about location and details. The Black March in Chicago Join Assyrians Across the World in Protest This week, in reaction to the hideous crimes against Assyrian Christians in...

The attacks this week are meant to distract and disrupt the political process in Iraq as political factions near agreement to form a new government. Iraqi security officials knew this would happen - they should have been more prepared. Baghdad: Series of blasts kills at least 40 people The...

Iraq?s Image is Set to Change Posted on 13 October 2010. When many people think of Iraq, they think only of wars, decades of high inflation, blistering sun, and power cuts, but the people clinging to this outdated and narrow image of the country will not be the winners in the new Iraq. As...

Pentagon Plans $4.2bn Arms Sales to Iraq The Pentagon issued a proposal on Monday to sell weapons worth $4.2bn to Iraq, including 18 F-16 fighter aircraft, Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, laser-guided bombs and reconnaissance equipment, according to a report from the Financial Times. The...

No, it's a real thing!! Mesopotamia Equity Fund Private equity firm plans Iraq investment fund DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Private equity firm MerchantBridge says it's launching a fund to invest in Iraqi stocks, joining a growing number of international companies betting on the country's...

Iraq awards three gas fields in effort to become major exporter Oct 20, 2010 Eric Watkins OGJ Oil Diplomacy Editor LOS ANGELES, Oct. 20 -- The Iraqi government, aiming to boost the country?s role in natural gas production, hailed the results of its licensing round after naming winners for...

In concordance with the dozen or so research pieces posted a couple of weeks ago, and also coupled with understanding the bigger picture in Iraq, we begin to better understand how Iraq is going to fit into the Middle Eastern landscape. This article would have been unthinkable a few years ago...

I hope with the money coming into Iraq, the Iraqi people get their fair share of their country's wealth. Man I hope they have a strong labor movement. One of the immediate advantages of this type of gigantic investment is that Iraqi infrastructure becomes up and running again, which in turn...

Of course, this article sets the courtse for the other published pieces I put up for your bookmarking/research.  This article is (impressively!) from 2006, and sets the tone from which all of the human rights pieces in the following years confirm.  Of course, it was still written a year after...

Fred Phelps, leading hate-minister of the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas, USA, often protests at the funerals of dead soldiers coming back from Iraq, insisting that they deserved to die because the US has become a "haven for homosexuals". Yeah I don't understand the logic either, but hey...

Just for fun, an oldie but goodie.  This article by an American journalist in Iraq was the culmination of years of discussion that the KRG was using Christians to sow internal divisions in order to "own" our national conversation and aspirations in Iraq. My comments in purple. Kurdish...

Another break from the thick academic type report, journalist Sam Brennen (World Politics Review) discusses the corruption in the KRG. The Misrule of Massoud Barzani: Iraqi Kurdistan's Yasser Arafat Once an oasis of stability in Iraq, the Kurdish north is increasingly a source of unrest...

Again, (and again and again!!) all of the (superficial) beneficial things for minorities in the KRG Region are put into context by this international human rights organization.  The very basic context for the Assyrians is that we are being "courted" by the Ba'athist like KDP in the way that the...

The numerous think-tank and other academic/research pieces I have put up are a thick read with a lot of intricate detail, so I figured I would put up a lighter piece.  A change of pace, this is a news article which discusses the KDP's (political) actions towards our churches, which of course...

This is a most excellent article by the International Crisis Group, which discusses in far more detail the reason behind virtually all Kurdish and Arab actions towards minorities in "disputed" territories. In a subsequent publication  by the KRG office in London, in an attempt to defend their...

Of course, Assyrian activists were making these claims since around 2005, and when international organizations and human rights monitors went in to do the groundwork, they quickly realized that the Christians were facing terrorism throughout Iraq, but experiencing Ba'athist like oppression...

This is a good article which reiterates much of what came out after elections this year as to the diminishing authority of the KRG in Iraq. The previous years of marginalization and oppression of ethnic minorities has been to specifically avoid this turnout, but even they have lost their...

Kurdistan's Troubled Democracy By Scott Carpenter and Michael Rubin Saturday, April 18, 2009 Shortly after taking office, President Obama congratulated Iraqis on successful provincial elections. "Millions of Iraqi citizens from every ethnic and religious group went peacefully to the polls...

Kurdistan's Democracy Deficit Reformers in Iraq's Kurdish region hope for Change in the upcoming election. by Jerry Weinberger 07/22/2009 12:00:00 AM On July 25th, the Kurdish region of Iraq is scheduled to have its first major election since 2005. The election is pivotal, and vital to U.S...

Again, make good use of bookmarking on your AVN profile. These articles are informative because they put everything - the good and bad, into context. Is Iraqi Kurdistan a Good Ally? By Michael Rubin  |  AEI Online (January 2008)  U.S. sympathy to Kurdistan is understandable but is...

This report discusses the physical threat against minorities throughout Iraq, and focuses on the KRG region at page 8. They interview Assyrians who discuss the good, the bad, and the ugly of our on again/off again allies, the Kurdish authorities. Christian groups generally love the KRG region...

For Zawoyo and others - AVN is a good resource for research, you should bookmark these threads which hold background information. When read through, we begin to get a full understanding of the political maneuvering and intention behind KRG spending on minorities (not only Assyrians - Yezidis...

An Assyrian Christian man from Nahla in the Dohuk Governorate of Iraq has been convicted of murdering his sister. Robert Aowyamlik has been imprisoned within the Kurdistan Region since 14th February 2009, which was two months after the disappearance and murder of his sister in December 2008...

No longer a conspiracy theory, now, just proven history. Everyone who wrapped themselves in a flag to support the patriotism of the war were doing the will of multi-national corporations. Per usual. Newly Declassified Documents Show Bush Administration Looked For Excuse To Start War In Iraq...

Angry at atheists, of course, citing, as they all do, Hitler....a Catholic nominally at the very least...as "the atheist example" of murder and extremism. eZdNdXDP7HM Never gets old.

There is beauty in the world! There have been stories around the country of politicians and activists working night and day - sometimes forming human shields around the property - to keep people from going homeless since the Bosses' stole the nation's wealth and caused a recession. Of course, as...

Some good news.  Iraqi Treasures Return, but Questions Remain A statue is lifted out of its protective case as hundreds of archeological treasures were brought back to Baghdad by the Iraqi Foreign Ministry from the United States. BAGHDAD ? Iraq announced on Tuesday the return of hundreds of...

The crimewave that shames the world It's one of the last great taboos: the murder of at least 20,000 women a year in the name of 'honour'. Nor is the problem confined to the Middle East: the contagion is spreading rapidly By Robert Fisk It is a tragedy, a horror, a crime against humanity...

I have some questions about your countries. I am familiar with some of these questions, but it would be great to hear it from you guys currently living there. If you live outside of the U.S; - What are your school systems like? From ages 5-17? How are your schools funded? How is the quality? -...

European Assyrians, why don't you have yearly conventions like we have in the US? They would be better organized and probably far more educational than our annoying ones. Any reason?

Wen khacha sqitta go shola. Mo it, mo lit? BTW, yimee y'odalakh RABA basimta. For realz.

NYPD Charges Man With Hate Crime After He Allegedly Stabbed Muslim Cab Driver The New York Police Department has confirmed to TPM that a cab driver in Manhttan was allegedly stabbed by a passenger who asked if the cabbie was Muslim, and says the incident is being treated as a hate crime. The...

....over the border into Kuwait. 2,866 days since Bush said "Mission Accomplished".

See how fun it can be? I mean, when you're not on the receiving end, of course. Then it's just insulting. http://www.ladda-upp.com/bilder-a/naoum_faik-817.jpg

Who has this album? Anyone in the world - do you own this 2-disk CD? If yes, I would like a burned copy, along with the songs on a USB. I don't usually burn Assyrian music, but I have been looking and waiting for 3 years to find this CD and for Assyrian markets/websites to restock to no avail...

....Kubba! The Kubba King A family business built on spiced meat and bulgur Mosul Kubba-brand kubba Mosul at George's Grill Kabab "You have to give me a couple days," says Ron Hermiz, sounding harried. "Everyone here is crying for the product." A customer in Michigan is on the phone...

The Assyrian American National Coalition (AANC) is looking for a new webmaster. Our current webmaster - who has been really great -  is leaving for another position.  The job can be performed from anywhere as long as you have internet connection and will require about 10-15 hours/month of your...

...apparently shut down shortly after the attacks against the Assyrian students heading to Mosul. Why? Where did Ishtar TV go?

Killing Taints Iraqi Kurdistan?s Image SULAIMANIYA, Iraq ? Kurdish writers and human rights advocates are protesting the torture and slaying of a young journalist, challenging what they say are oppressive restrictions to free speech in a part of Iraq that presents itself as safe and democratic...

What should the role of diaspora be? Accepting the basic premise that ethnic groups assimilate in diaspora after a few generations (despite any efforts), and keeping in ming we may or may not have Assyrians left in the middle east to provide us with that "tie", what should Assyrians in their...

For the first time in history, we, Assyrians, have a feminist, nationalist, self-identifying Assyrian woman in a Parliament in the Middle East. The three winning candidates from the ADM are: Rabi Younadam Kanna - Baghdad Rabitha Basima Yousif - Arbil Rabi Emad Youkhana - Karkuk The ADM is...

First, congratulations to Zowaa. Those three seats were earned and won by true supporters, and virtually free of charge if compared to the price tags of the KDP Christian party running against them (all 3 of them). 3 out of 5 seats makes a majority for the independent party, but the KDP still...

Great, now we're communist. I'm off to buy a red t-shirt. The Top Ten Immediate Benefits You'll Get When Health Care Reform Passes As soon as health care passes, the American people will see immediate benefits. The legislation will:     * Prohibit pre-existing condition exclusions for...

We now have an Assyrian women's volleyball league in the city of Chicago. Our season began about a month ago. There are 4 teams for our first season: Team Assyria Team Nineveh Team Babylon Team Ur It will be a year round league, and all women are welcome and encouraged to join, regardless of...

Now You've Gone and Upset the Natives Elections Then and Now: IECI v. IHEC In 2005, the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) governed Iraq's first-ever democratic parliamentary elections. I voted then through Out-of-Country voting(OCV). On March 5-7, the Independent High Electoral...

For years and years and years I have been telling people that Jon Stewart poked fun at Zowaa during the 2005 Iraqi elections on the very famous "Daily Show". I thought I would never, ever, be able to prove it because apparently I was the only Assyrian who had seen this episode. But, finally...

Why I Vote in Iraq I admit to being conflicted about whether or not to vote in the Iraqi ?OCV? or out-of-country voting elections held over the weekend here in Chicago (and in dozens of locations around the world), an admission that would earn me pretty nasty accusations of being uncaring or...

By Analeed Marcus, 8 March 2010 Iraq Parliamentary Elections took place March 7. As determined by Iraq, 16 countries held Out-of-Country voting centers, including the United States. As an Iraqi-American, I was eligible to vote under Iraq?s requirements and cast my ballot this weekend in...

http://www.ashurtv.net/ My father wrote this play :)

In the name of human rights and elections monitoring reporting, if no one else can document it properly, we will. PLEASE, give us your location and what they asked of you in terms of paperwork when you voted here. IHEC seems to have done an excellent job of confusing us this time around, and I...

I know this should be in the sports section, but considering the announcement's tomorrow (at noon EST??) thought this was a timely article. Half of Chicago want the Olympics, half don't. All I know is, stay away from Chicago that summer if we win. Why Chicago doesn't want the Olympics The...

on "Syria" and "Assyria". HbjfCTtcCms

Let's take a break from opinions and read some actual policy research. I have really yet to see a non-Assyrian entity explaining our issues so eloquently in the last 6 years of the Iraq war.  I very strongly recommend you read this latest paper by the International Crisis Group, most...

http://www.sporcle.com/ Ugh.

I know a lot of people for years have been asking for this - I hope this is just the beginning: http://www.admzowaa.com/ Enjoy.

...but to be fair, it's only because they make zero sense. 'World Leader' to Obama: Explain Why "They're Putting a Hitler Moustache On You" President Obama at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation dinner last night, discussing false claims made about the health care reform bill, told a...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/23/matthew-mcconaughey-canno_n_296655.html I hate matthew mcconaughey.

All this anti-healthcare reform is really - like so many of us have been saying over and over and over - white people angry that black people will benefit from their tax dollars.  EVEN THOUGH they will also benefit themselves. Plus, it's a false fear on its face anyway. I love Stephen Colbert...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/aemilia-scott/death-pac-takes-on-blue-c_b_295560.html

JrZseL_7XcQ Please.  Where will they go?

http://www.admzowaa.com/media

What do you guys think about this? Turkish Coalition of America Announces $100,000 Grant to Chaldean Federation of America In an effort to alleviate the suffering of thousands of Iraq?s war torn and displaced Chaldean Persons in Turkey, the Turkish Coalition of America (TCA) www.tc-america.org...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/96402/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart-thu-sep-17-2009

6 minutes - love this guy. http://www.hbo.com/billmaher/webcast/index.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/18/snl-on-joe-wilson-how-you_n_291090.html

America has the potential to be too good to be blockaded by the crazies - these are the same nuts blocking healthcare - or at least are the most vocal psychotics against it. lPwGV1h4lW8&feature=player_embedded

lUPMjC9mq5Y.

When Getting Beaten By Your Husband Is A Pre-Existing Condition With the White House zeroing in on the insurance-industry practice of discriminating against clients based on pre-existing conditions, administration allies are calling attention to how broadly insurers interpret the term to...

1hH3rIamUn0&feature=player_embedded.

September 4, 2009, 10:15 am Christian Soldiers By Campbell Robertson QARAQOSH, Iraq?-In a country thoroughly shattered, there is a particular hopelessness here in the Christian towns. When you arrive in a Sunni area, you?re struck by both a pervasive fear of the Shiite-led government and a...

The most difficult time for the non-Kurdish components in the north of Iraq: Is it the disputed areas or seized areas? Date: 25 August, 2009 No: Rep.22-H2509 The extent of demographical change in Kerkuk province: A region in Kerkuk city: map of 2002 compared with map of 2007 Unfortunately...

What a great gift for your daughters and/or nieces! Be sure to wrap it with their very first thong underwear and pasties. You thought My First Stripper Pole was bad (which was thankfully taken off the shelves), but it looks like there's a new toy in town selling the sexualization of young...

It's delicious, trust me.  This is enough to feed a family for a couple days, or me for one day.  :P Ingredients: Wrappings I like 1 Jar Grape Leaves (Ziyad or Orlando, both are good to cook with). 2 Large White Onions 2 Large Tomatoes 1 Zucchini Stuffing 1.5 cups of washed basmati rice 1...

You know...sometimes I wonder how wonderful life might have been if Lincoln had just looked the other way at secession.... Sometimes.  Not often. But sometimes. Missouri school district bans t-shirts for acknowledging evolution. T-shirts worn by members of the Smith-Cotton High School band...

hN4tFqftY_E _HtLQmSzVSo&NR=1 Brilliantly discussed and succinct.

This should happen more. The already-existing Death Panels which we for some reason choose to ignore. Town hall attendees boo GOP lawmaker for claiming public option would have prevented child?s birth. During a recent town hall meeting, Rep. Pete Olson (R-TX) told the story of a woman who was...

http://games.adultswim.com/spell-my-finger-twitchy-online-game.html

Until Medical Bills Do Us Part By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF Critics fret that health care reform would undermine American family values, not least by convening somber death panels to wheel away Grandma as if she were Old Yeller. But peel away the emotions and fearmongering, and in fact it is the...

Heh heh. Oh please oh please oh please. Texas ?tenthers? plan pro-secession rally tomorrow An organization calling itself the ?Texas Nationalist Movement? plans to march on the Texas capitol tomorrow to demand ?Sovereignty or Secession?:     Texans will converge on Austin to deliver a...

Imagine if small businesses did not have the burden of having to pay for our healthcare? On strike for health care justice Lee Sustar reports on the struggle of workers at SK Hand Tools to reverse management's cutoff of their health insurance. August 28, 2009 AN UNFAIR labor practices...

When you have spare time, this is a good laugh. A really good laugh. E4QdfyYCRZA LQBe2XfY-X4 zjns2aNdjP8 Jzm4Po93PaQ YQmVc5agXzo

Many Americans don't know this, but Illinois, everyone up to the age of 18 has healthcare, provided for by the state, and it is single payer.  The now shamed Governor Blagojevich passed it, and it has been wildly successful. It is, in essence, a public option.  Many, of course, who can afford...

You know how we all know "sound bytes" work? Because a recent poll said that 34% of respondents wanted "government out of Medicare."  Medicare, of course, is a government run, single payer program. But the words "the government" has been wh*red up to mean something big and scary, when in fact...

Teddy was a lion for civil rights Many of us once joked that Bill Clinton was the "first black president" (which he wasn't). We had it wrong. If such a title were to be given to any white man, that should have to be the late Senator Ted Kennedy. He was never president of the United States, but...

Who knows, maybe this healthcare debate will be the thing that finally outs conservatives as the racist, useless, degenerative, and harmful party to the United States that it is.  Or maybe the South will finally secede and leave the rest of us to move forward in progress. Here's hoping! Dying...

The Public Option, Who Makes Decisions to Treat Us, and Tort Reform How many times do we question someone who claims more knowledge than us, or we think they do? Many times, I suspect. This does not occur, however, when we have complete trust and faith in them, or we know from our own...

Love it. Republicans, Religion and the Triumph of Unreason How do they train themselves to be so impervious to reality?     Something strange has happened in America in the nine months since Barack Obama was elected. It has best been summarised by the comedian Bill Maher: "The Democrats have...

Baghdad Branch of the Zowaa mourns the deceased Comrade Johnny Youssef Mourns the Baghdad branch of the Assyrian Democratic Movement senueJoitte Comrade "Johnny Joseph Dinkha" who was killed in the explosion on 19.8.2009 near the Foreign Ministry building, which killed hundreds of martyrs...

I had to share some of these comments, they are in response to an article in the UK's Guardian newspaper defending the National Health System (NHS) against recent American attacks on it (surprise surprise, they read our news!!).  There was about 5 pages of comments addressing some of the things...

Joe Scarborough Is Shocked, Yet Awed by Single-Payer Logic Something rather remarkable happened on Tuesday's Morning Joe. Rep. Anthony Weiner of New York pointed out that the health insurance industry has no clothes, and Joe Scarborough, after first trying to spin it some gossamer threads...

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-august-17-2009/exclusive---betsy-mccaughey-extended-interview-pt--2 Hi-larious.   Sorry, you can watch the full thing here:  http://www.thedailyshow.com/

Facts on the Cost of Health Insurance Coverage Most Americans have health insurance through their employers, yet employment is no longer a guarantee of health insurance coverage.  As America continues to move from a manufacturing-based economy to a service economy, and employee working patterns...

Obama Smerconish Interview: "Guarantees" Reform, Still Open To GOP President Barack Obama guaranteed on Thursday that health care reform will be achieved, and he stuck by the public option as his preferred choice for revamping the insurance market. In an interview with Philadelphia-based radio...

Isn't this always the case though? States With Most Uninsured Most Likely To Believe Euthanasia, Govt. Takeover Myths The states that have been most skeptical of President Barack Obama's agenda for health care reform also have some of the highest levels of uninsured people in the nation. A...

If the President and the Democrats have any balls left, they'll pass REAL healthcare reform including a public option without the Republicans. Bipartisan Health Care Reform: Not Likely, Not Necessary As Carl Hulse and Jeff Zeleny reported in the New York Times, the Democrats appear to be...

Why the Right's Propaganda Works During a town hall meeting in Houston, a man shouts anti-Obama slogans. (Photo: AP)    Many on the Left are blaming President Barack Obama and middle-of-the-road Democrats for maneuvering health-care reform into a fast-approaching head-on collision. And some...

I despise Whole Foods, so I personally laughed my a** off when I read Mr. Mackey's editorial a few days ago, and then this reaction today. Heh heh. Whole Foods fans decry CEO's health care views Liberal customer base goes ballistic as executive pens conservative column By Ylan Q. Mui Whole...

The Brutal Truth About America?s Healthcare They came in their thousands, queuing through the night to secure one of the coveted wristbands offering entry into a strange parallel universe where medical care is a free and basic right and not an expensive luxury. Some of these Americans had...

Desperate Plea for Help Came Too Late for Ancient Assyrian Leader Hannah Devlin A letter scratched into a clay tablet reveals a desperate plea for reinforcements that came just too late. Alone, petrified and facing almost certain death, the ancient Assyrian leader Mannu-ki-Libbali scrawled...

One man?s vote casts suspicion on election Phil Sands, Foreign Correspondent ERBIL, IRAQ // As a British citizen who has lived outside of Iraqi Kurdistan for 15 years, Mohammad Malik?s name was not on any electoral register here and he was not eligible to take part in Saturday?s regional...

Some were begging in vain not for Assyrians not to do so (take sides), to remain "Iraqi" and only "Iraqi", even if it was a bitter pill to swallow. It fell on deaf ears. Now, it will be Assyrian vs. Assyrian should Baghdad and Arbil fight.  If being "Iraqi first" was a hard pill to swallow...

Iraq beefs up security after attacks on Christians BAGHDAD, July 13 -- Iraqi authorities on Monday tightened security around churches across Baghdad and in two Christian towns in the northern province of Nineveh, amid fears that a series of attacks against them could escalate. The security...

Kurdistan's Democracy Deficit Reformers in Iraq's Kurdish region hope for Change in the upcoming election. by Jerry Weinberger 07/22/2009 12:00:00 AM On July 25th, the Kurdish region of Iraq is scheduled to have its first major election since 2005. The election is pivotal, and vital to U.S...

U.N. wants Iraq Kurds to drop Kirkuk vote-diplomat By Tim Cocks BAGHDAD, July 21 (Reuters) - The United Nations is urging Iraqi Kurds not to push for a referendum on whether the Kirkuk oil area should be part of their northern enclave, saying such a vote would ignite conflict, a Western...

Source Issues Before Identity in Iraq By Meghan L. O'Sullivan Tuesday, July 21, 2009 During the first months of the Obama administration, Iraqis watching the appointments of Richard Holbrooke, George Mitchell and Dennis Ross would call me and ask, "Who will be Iraq's special envoy?" After six...

The ICG has consistently, over the years, gotten Iraq issues right, and I always enjoy reading their analysis.  For their latest: http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=6207

Did anyone else attend this last night?  I did, and it was pretty interesting.  A few Assyrian community leaders also spoke. Jan Schakowsky is a U.S. Congresswoman from Skokie/Evanston area in Illinois.  She has worked on our refugee issues before, and is now working on a sustainable option for...

I guess Aghajan didn't do his job properly enough, so now the KDP just wants to take it by force. Iraqi Kurds raise stakes as they vow to annex parts of Mosulf By Shirzad Abdulraham Azzaman, July 18, 2009 In a move that will certainly fuel tensions in an already restive region, Iraqi Kurds...

I know not everyone gets to see the British Museum, and I've just got back from there, so here are some pictures of the artifacts. http://s558.photobucket.com/albums/ss22/waleetatheassyrian/

'US tacitly telling Iraq Kurds to forget Kirkuk' Analysts interpret the unexpected trip by the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff to Iraq's northern city of a Kirkuk as a warning to ethnic Kurds. Adm. Mike Mullen traveled on Monday to the oil-rich city of Kirkuk which Kurds have claimed...

Iraq's Kurdish-Arab tensions 'serious' Published: July 14, 2009 at 5:50 PM WASHINGTON July 14 (UPI) -- The lingering disputes between the Kurdish and central governments in Iraq need a resolution before U.S. combat troops can leave the country, analysts say. Simmering acrimony between the two...

مقابلة مع الأسـتاذ سـركيس آغاجان وزير مالية حكومة إقليم كردسـتان General translation from google, not perfect, but better than it was a year ago!!: Many months have elapsed since the absence of Rabi Sargis from home and on the national political scene and to our people, the good and...

Controversy Over Kurdish Constitution The Kurdistan Constitution, passed by the Regional Parliament on June 24 and set to be put before Kurdish voters for approval in a July 25 referendum, has sparked controversy from both across the country and within Kurdish circles. Critics say the...

Robert McNamara, ex-defense secretary, dies (CNN) -- Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, a key architect of the U.S. war in Vietnam under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, has died at age 93, according to his family. Robert McNamara took a lead role in managing the...

Democracy, Justice, Securing our Nation's rights (Chaldean Syriac Assyrian) USA & Canada Branch 2100 Fifteen Mile Rd Suite C Sterling Heights MI 48310 email: adm.us.canada@gmail.com fax: 1-313-934-2530 ADM USA & Canada Press release The Assyrian Democratic Movement USA and Canada branch...

Kurdish Leaders Are Drunk With Power On June 12, Iranians voted for a president. While the Islamic Republic may not be a democracy, its leadership has always looked to the polls to bestow popular legitimacy. Ayatollah Ahmad Janati, chairman of the Guardian Council, for example, said just two...

Iraqi MPs slam planned Kurdish constitution 22 hours ago BAGHDAD (AFP) ? Fifty Iraqi MPs on Monday condemned a planned new constitution for Iraqi Kurdistan that is to be put to a referendum at the end of July. "Not only is it not compatible with the federal constitution but violates it and...

Iraq's next milestone: the Kurdish question The survival of the country depends on bridging the Kurd-Arab divide. By the Monitor's Editorial Board On June 30, Iraq will mark the withdrawal of US combat troops from its cities to surrounding areas. It counts as a major milestone on the road to...

ISDP NEWS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE House Committee Approves a Minimum of $20 Million for Iraqi Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac Christians and Other Vulnerable Minorities (Washington, DC ? June 30 2009): The United States Congress? Sub-Committee on State and Foreign Operations is targeting ?not...

This was painful to watch.  Mainly because she's so dumb. oiVlZo6a5aA&feature=related This was only part of the interview...before this bit, she was making a fool of herself.

US NGOs host Kurdistan Tourism Minister 22 June 2009 Washington, D.C. - This afternoon The Institute on Religion and Public Policy, the Leadership Council for Human Rights, and Faith in Action hosted Nimrud B. Youkhama, the Minister of Tourism from the Kurdistan Regional Government. Minister...

Jackson dies, almost takes Internet with him LONDON, England (CNN) -- How many people does it take to break the Internet? On June 25, we found out it's just one -- if that one is Michael Jackson. Jackson's death caused Twitter outages, as portrayed by Raul Orozco in this take on Twitter's...

Can anyone imagine East L.A. banning English?  :giggle: Since the Kurds have lost their control of Mosul, each day that passes without an all out war with Arabs is a day forgone.  They first insisted they would not recognize elections.  Then, they refused to allow the new Mosul governor to...

Should it be banned? Why? What does that say about freedom of religion/speech? What sort of precedent does it set for other religious symbols to be banned (i.e., yarmulke, crucifix/cross, etc)? What about women's rights - if a woman is freely choosing to wear one, how can a (supposedly...

While I liked Obama's principled speeches and policies, I always figured they would collide with reality.  A lot of people did. Obama?s Pledge on Donations Faces Reality WASHINGTON ? When President Obama arrived at the Mandarin Oriental hotel for a fund-raising reception on Thursday night...

I don't know if anyone already posted this, I did not see it, but it should be posted! For some historical background, Louis Sako is an Archbishop who writes publicly against "autonomy", which he believes would be a "Christian Ghetto".  I have also answered this charge myself, without...

orm9lcNCpEk Hahahha.  Racists.

The "Hangover Thread" inspired this. Enjoy: http://www.textsfromlastnight.com/ Some highlights (the numbers are phone area codes): (818): I just saw a commercial that said "call your doctor if er*ctions last more than 4 hours". I said "disgusting" and my mom said "I know, i hate when that...

Sigh. Slain officer remembered as a 'gentle giant' (CNN) -- After stints as a guard in the jails of Washington, D.C., and on the streets of post-Katrina New Orleans, Stephen Tyrone Johns had settled in to a job he liked at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, family members said. Security...

...Many thanks to this doctor, who is surely aware he is risking his own life. Doc to offer 3rd-term abortions in Kansas Staff from Dr. Tiller's clinic may join the Nebraskan to help train others The Associated Press OMAHA, Neb. - A Nebraska doctor says he'll perform third-term abortions in...

Here in the DC metro area, some political action groups against healthcare reform have sponsored television ads portraying a Canadian woman who said she would have died in Canada because the doctors there told her she would have to wait to have brain surgery.  She claimed only by coming to the...

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/10/museum.shooting/index.html Weird.  How did he get in with a gun? WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Gunfire at the entrance of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum wounded at least two people Wednesday, emergency officials said. Police cars mass outside the Holocaust...

I've decided finally that I cannot stand Christopher Hitchens, because contrarians drive me insane.  He's just interesting to read. When the Extreme Becomes the Norm What connects Obama's pronouncements on head scarves and the argument over released Guantanamo detainees? By Christopher Hitchens...

Goodness, do we need it.  The day I can walk in and out of a hospital and not get a bill for a penny is when I'll be satisfied. Health Care Reform FAQ What we argue about when we argue about health care policy. By Christopher Beam President Obama returned home from Europe this week...

European elections 2009: extremists make gains across Europe at the expense of the Left A record low turnout in the European elections helped far-Right and extremist parties benefit from the economic crisis at the expense of the centre-Left. Traditional Social Democrats and Socialists did...

I watched a documentary yesterday about the Assyrians in Iraq.  The filmmaker, an Assyrian, received a grant from the AUA Foundation to create this documentary, which travels from DC to Iraq to Jordan to talk to Assyrians who have fled Iraq.  There are some familiar faces in it, from groups in...

Some friends and I - every Friday - start an email thread in order to make the day go faster with a "Top 5" list.  I liked today's subject, so I'll share it with you guys...have fun with it! Today's Friday Top 5: What are the Top 5 ways you wouldn't want to be caught dead? 5.  In front of my...

6BlqLwCKkeY Full speech. I thought it was honest, and pretty good.  Finally, an American president who talks to us like we're adults instead of emotional children.

George Tiller shooting prompts PETA ad campaign in Wichita BY SUZANNE PEREZ TOBIAS The Wichita Eagle WICHITA - A national animal rights group plans to erect billboards in Wichita urging people on both sides of the abortion debate to go vegetarian. One version of the billboard says...

I usually find Thomas Friedman a colossal bore, but I liked this article. June 3, 2009 Op-Ed Columnist Obama on Obama By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN During a telephone interview Tuesday with President Obama about his speech to Arabs and Muslims in Cairo on Thursday, I got to tell the president my...

Hahahhahaa.  Alabama: It is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a motor vehicle. It is unlawful to wear a false mustache in church and cause "unseemly laughter." Brewton - it is against the law to travel along the streets in a motorboat. Mobile - it is illegal for pigeons...

I don't necessarily believe the Republican part is "toast", as Grover Norquist predicted to be the fate of the Democratic Party several years ago, but he does make some hilarious points. The Howls of a Fading Species By BOB HERBERT One can only hope that the hysterical howling of...

Anything short of me being able to go to the emergency room without insurance and not owing a penny isn't good enough. Kennedy plan to outline U.S. healthcare overhaul WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democratic plans for revamping U.S. healthcare are taking shape, with Senator Edward Kennedy soon to...

Does this mean we can ship them off to the Hague for war crimes?  Please? Cheney: No link between Saddam Hussein, 9/11 WASHINGTON (CNN)  -- Former Vice President Dick Cheney said Monday that he does not believe Saddam Hussein was involved in the planning or execution of the September 11...

Reagan Did It By PAUL KRUGMAN Published: May 31, 2009 ?This bill is the most important legislation for financial institutions in the last 50 years. It provides a long-term solution for troubled thrift institutions. ... All in all, I think we hit the jackpot.? So declared Ronald Reagan in...

Who Is to Blame for the Next Attack? By FRANK RICH AFTER watching the farce surrounding Dick Cheney?s coming-out party this month, you have to wonder: Which will reach Washington first, change or the terrorists? If change doesn?t arrive soon, terrorists may well rush in where the capital?s...

Chadians get fangs into 'vampire' Hungry people in the central African nation of Chad have raised an old culinary fad from the dead - to get their fangs stuck into fried blood. "Vampire", as it is jokingly dubbed, is a traditional dish making a comeback amid a global surge in food prices that...

Doctor who performed abortions shot to death (CNN) -- Dr. George Tiller, whose Kansas women's clinic was the epicenter of the state's battles over abortion for nearly two decades, was shot and killed at his church Sunday morning, his family said. Dr. George Tiller was one of the few U.S...

..daily sexism?  Annoying chauvenism?  Meaningless insults about your gender? For example: 1) You're walking down the street, and you get catcalls and whistles from men on the street. I tend to ignore them if I am not in a safe situation.  If I am in a safe situation, i.e., many people around...

http://www.ankawa.com/forum/index.php/topic,304004.0.html I thought he deserved his own thread :) Ankawa:  After the memorial service for the official and popular Coach with Iraqi officials by the Bishop in the province of Dohuk, led by the Deputy Governor of Dohuk Kourkis Shilmon Wardoni Mr...

Couple's 81st wedding anniversary The Milfords were married in 1928 - the year penicillin was discovered Britain's longest living married couple have celebrated their 81st wedding anniversary.  Frank and Anita Milford, who live together in a nursing home in Plymouth, Devon, exchanged vows on...

Obama names Sotomayor as Supreme Court nominee WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Obama has chosen federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court. Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic and third female U.S. Supreme Court justice if confirmed. Obama announced the nomination...

'Missing Link' Found? No, but Fossil Key to Evolution Missing Link' Found? No, but Fossil Key to Evolution Ida, 47-Million-Year-Old Primate Found in Germany; a Distant Ancestor? By NED POTTER May 19, 2009 ? Scientists say a 47-million-year-old fossil found in Germany may be a key link to...

Thu May 21, 4:42 am ET BAGHDAD, Iraq (AFP) ? A suicide bomber killed at least 12 people and wounded 25 others in an attack on a market in southern Baghdad on Thursday, security officials said. The bomber targeted a US patrol that was passing through a popular Assyrian market in the...

Michael Rubin: Americans hope for reform in Kurdistan Americans hope that there will be more reform in Kurdistan, but there is a feeling that it is not the job of Americans to bring change. Iraqi Kurds have their own future in their hands, says resident scholar at the American Enterprise...

...just kidding, there's nothing hilarious about them. Well, this one just comes straight out and says it, doesn't it?

vhd9_sqjHsI Ladies, at a very early age we have to decide to get thicker skin than men.  If they're not calling you ugly, they're calling you a wh*re.  But never forget, all that means is you're doing something right.

Dispute Over Land Simmering in Iraq BASHIKA, Iraq -- On a sunny day last week, a group of young Arabs from northern Iraq bundled up their colorful kites for an annual festival and headed to Mount Maqloub, where a gentle wind waited to lift their handiwork across a clear sky. By afternoon, they...

Shi'ite Maliki calls for majority rule in Iraq BAGHDAD, May 15 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, a member of Iraq's Shi'ite Arab majority, has called for a reduction in power-sharing pacts that have given minority Sunnis and Kurds a greater political voice since 2003. Maliki said...

Obama 'to revive military trials' Barack Obama signs the executive order to close Guantanamo Bay prison camp - 22/1/2009 US President Barack Obama is expected to announce on Friday that he is reviving military trials for some of the detainees at Guantanamo Bay. But legal rights for...

Iraqi Kurds Hoped for More From US, Leader Says SALAHUDDIN, Iraq (Reuters) -- Iraqi Kurds, who had grand hopes to expand their northern enclave after the fall of Saddam Hussein, have been let down by insufficient support from long-time ally the United States, the Kurdish president said...

1FaNzrtu0KM If this song doesn't get stuck in your head and/or you don't start singing it quietly to yourself every time you see tabouli....you'e lying.

May 13, 2009 Violence Rises in Iraq?s Tense North By CAMPBELL ROBERTSON BAGHDAD ? Tensions flared in Iraq?s volatile north on Tuesday with demonstrations in Mosul and a car bomb that killed 7 and wounded 18 in Kirkuk. The bomber in Kirkuk rammed a car into a police patrol near the headquarters...

...and my favorite, on so many levels...

You can calculate your impact on the environment according to your activities: http://www.nature.org/initiatives/climatechange/calculator/ Mine was 24, below the average for Americans, because I walk to work and rarely drive.  That seems to make a huge difference. And yes, clearly, I am bored...

I am obsessed with House.  Which is weird, because I don't really watch anything other than the news, Comedy Central, and my Golden Girls DVDs.  It's actually uncomfortable watching it because it is so graphic, I actually shift in my seat at the broken bones, the bleeding, the [insert...

If you haven't seen this, make some time to, it's pretty funny. YB1olxLwBWI Part 1 ouVzworH30s&feature=channel Part 2

Convicted soldier: 'You probably think I'm a monster' PADUCAH, Kentucky (CNN)  -- "You probably think I'm a monster." Former U.S. soldier Steven Green has been convicted of raping and killing a 14-year-old Iraqi girl. That's what FBI agents said former U.S. soldier Steven Green told them...

60-foot penis painted on roof An 18-year-old has secretly painted a 60ft drawing of a phallus on the roof of his parents' ?1million mansion in Berkshire. It was there for a year before his parents found out. They say he'll have to scrub it off when he gets back from travelling...

Pbmh1NvsGrA Beautiful.

Dr. Anobel Odisho, an Assyrian from California, has recently returned from a several-month journey through Syria and Jordan, interviewing Assyrian refugees on their experiences. www.projecttransient.com Watch at your leisure, he does a brilliant job.  His website is www.anobelodisho.com.  His...

http://www.seyfocenter.se/index.php?sid=2&aID=47 A Historical Recognition: Berzan Boti will, as an act of restitution, hand back his property to its rightful owners ? The Assyrians! As heir to the ottoman empire, Turkey has during 94 years denied the genocide they committed on the Assyrians...

Ladies (and Gents!) In a recent discussion with another Assyrian woman who grew up in Canada, it occurred to us that in the Middle East (and among Assyrians in general), there are veins of political, nationalist, religious, artistic/cultural, and academic movements...but no feminist ones.  The...

As many of you may remember from last year, the Embassies in Washington D.C. open their doors for a "Cultural Tourism" day.  The Assyrians were a huge hit last year, as Americans poured in wanting to see nearly 7,000 years of Assyrian history in Iraq. This year, we were just as big a hit. ...

SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq (AFP) -- Iraq's autonomous Kurds go to the polls this summer in an election likely to redraw the local political map and bring factional violence to the otherwise calm region. The two Kurdish parties that have dominated politics for decades will confront new challengers in...

I have seen friendships and relationships destroyed over jealousy - most of them petty.  What I also notice is that there usually is never a real substantial reason for the jealousy other than personal insecurity. Jealousy isn't the same as envy - I read somewhere once that envy is generally...

Human Rights Abuses in Iraq Still Widespread: UN The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq has released its 13th human-rights report, which covers the first six months of 2008 and shows a marked drop in violent attacks by militias or criminal gangs in the country. But Lisa Schlein reports...

Do you know of any? I do - I know whole families and individuals leaving Northern Iraq, and they are NOT IDPs (internally displaced persons) from other parts of Iraq due to the 2003 invasion - they have only ever lived in Northern Iraq.  Apparently, living under Kurdish rule is proving to be...

HOUSE OF SADDAM offers a fresh perspective on the dictator, his relationships and his actions behind closed doors, retelling events from inside the very heart of the regime. The international cast includes Igal Naor ("Rendition," "Munich") as Saddam Hussein; Oscar? nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo...

US global dominance 'set to wane' US economic, military and political dominance is likely to decline over the next two decades, according to a new US intelligence report on global trends. The National Intelligence Council (NIC) predicts China, India and Russia will increasingly challenge US...

...and it is good. :swoon: :2hearts: :2hearts: :2hearts:

It was bound to happen. Britain Grapples With Role for Islamic Justice By ELAINE SCIOLINO LONDON ? The woman in black wanted an Islamic divorce. She told the religious judge that her husband hit her, cursed her and wanted her dead. But her husband was opposed, and the Islamic scholar...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The Iraqi parliament on Monday began debate on a security pact that calls for all U.S. troops to leave the country by the end of 2011. U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker, left, and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari attend signing event Monday. The Iraqi Cabinet approved...

North Iraq (AINA) -- A car bomb exploded earlier today in the Assyrian town of Baghdede in the Nineveh Plain, east of Mosul. No one was killed in the blast which left twelve people injured, two of them with seriously. The car bomb was close to one of many churches in the area.

Astronomers capture first images of new planets (CNN)  -- The first-ever pictures of planets outside our solar system were released today in two studies. Artist's conception of the multiple planet system as captured by the Gemini Observatory on Hawaii. Artist's conception of the multiple...