Wednesday, February 13, 2008

About The Blog

Some of you are probably wondering about the things that are happening to me, and the changes of the blog and what prompted them. Here's a quick explanation.

When SCIRI/Badr first started assassinating Sunnis in Baghdad left and right, I couldn't hear anyone reporting it for a long time, people would show up on TV and talk about national peace and unity while Sunnis were being killed everywhere, there was absolutely no mention of the story anywhere, but it was the talk of the town ; I felt as if nobody would hear our voice and that made me so afraid, in fact, it was the only reason I voted for the Sunni Islamic 618 bloc and not the 731 Secular Allawi one. It was about a month later when the story began to unfold on TV and Newspapers.

What I want to illustrate here is that things might change on the inside quite a long time before they do so visibly. The changes that I implemented to this blog and the desire to do so have been long thought of, I just didn't know how I would finally impart with the name I've been using for quite a long time now, after all, "Konfused Kollege Kid" was a gimmicky name for a gimmicky blog, as you can read from my earlier posts, I had totally different aspirations then, kinda like a more articulate version of Pentra.
People have been telling me how black hurts the eyes, and I must say I agree with them ; I'm not so satisfied with the headline picture, all the time I have the urge to fill the spaces to the left and right, what do you think?
As for the name, the Arabic signifies that Arabic language is going to play a more prominent role here, I can't decide whether I will dedicate another blog for it or just throw the whole thing here.
Shaqshaqa is taken from a famous Shiite sermon in which the usually reserved Ali throws a fit and rants about his lost caliphate title in a very angry, but articulate manner, after he is interrupted one of his companions ask him to continue but Ali replies to him dramatically: "O' Ibn `Abbas it was like the foam of a Camel (Shaqshaqa) which gushed out but subsided." Meaning he has calmed down now. I've always loved the word 'Catharsis', which basically means a similar, but less Camel-inclined, thing in English.
So people, don't worry, I'm really feeling quite okay.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello Abbas ,

Abbas is an unusual name for a metaler but its a nice old name.

You seem to do a lot of thinking and questioning ,I would like to know if you have ever considered the partition of Iraq as a solution?
I know it sounds bad , i very much hate the idea but i can't help not thinking of it as a good way out .

You know it was the time i spent viewing some iraqi blogs and sites and not the violence , that led me to think seriously about that , after all a good divorce is always better than a bad marriage and a miserable life together.
I dismissed the hateful thought for a while due to the latest improvements in Iraq , but started thinking about it again after reading some of your recent posts and comments.
I would love to know what you think. Regards.

ahmed said...

hello mayssam,

Partitioning Iraq is probably a bad idea, I think the South will have a lot of trouble in not being an Iranian enclave, that is not to mention the hegemony of religion there. Kurdistan and Kirkuk? That's like another hell altogether.
As for Anbar, I don't know but it seems to be a pretty barren place all on its own.

At this rate, as I see it, division seems inevitable, even in a polite manner 'federalism', which might be a good thing the way I see it, The only way for Iraq to be united is for religion to die.

RhusLancia said...

abbas, I like the header graffic (fatwa violation?). Maybe you could put photos in the empty spaces, like a Baghdad skyline, Tigris landscape, etc. I'm sure you have some more your "style" though.

Anonymous said...

Abbas, the (no longer a) Kid? A reference to the ancestral source of the Abbasid line?

In ancient Greece, catharsis was the psychological purging that was supposed to result from getting completely into the story (a willing suspension of disbelief) of a well-made tragic drama. Melina Mercouri explained it well in Never on Sunday. But in modern terms, it also means a physical purging, often from the end opposite the source of babbling, or شقشقة !

Stay well and be careful in the real world of Amman, Kid.

onix said...

strangely i understand you changed your blog. Some more media or cartoons are not a bad idea either,
otoh. they distract from the concept of the blog a lot.
(football post, sidebars, and a few youtube links and you see no blog.) I hope you will chaotically put your arab stuff overhere as well, one is not an anarchist for no reason.

That kurdistan does not exist maybe a western plot, afterall russia would have had another potential trading partner. The way you treat kurdish here also appears to appeal to a bias. I think kurdish belong to the better mentality's in the world. If it was not for their neighbours Kurdistan would be a great spot on earth with kirkuk. Fortunately for you kurdish understand this as well, that building more tiny nations will hardly be the way to unite the world, uhm... arab.. well irak, anyone in fact, can you imagine the 3 us inspired anti syrian diplomacy's? spare me, federalism forever, long live kurdistan. One thing you have, The federation of irak can reclaim all of kurdistan outside irak.

Anonymous said...

" Partitioning Iraq is probably a bad idea, I think the South will have a lot of trouble in not being an Iranian enclave, that is not to mention the hegemony of religion there."

Abbas , all 3 entities ( or 4 or 5 ) will have a lot of trouble in not being turkish , saudi , syrian ,iranian .. enclaves , and not just the south.
Religion is very powerful in all of Iraq .Islamism has been gaining ground everywhere in Iraq , including Kurdstan. I think you are right , partition is probably a bad idea , but if it is done the right way , clean and organized, may be it will work , who knows? I see it this way , people will feel safe now they are seperated and then they will concentrate on rebuilding and correcting the mistakes they made when they were thretened . It may also lead to strengthening ties and improving relations between former iraqis , and who knows? they might re-unite hahahhhahah. Personnaly am for Federalism.
"The only way for Iraq to be united is for religion to die."

Religion is one of many divisive forces , not even the main one in my opinion. How do you propose to kill it anyway? You have a plan?

Regards.

nadia said...

I actually really liked the old top image, not that this one is so bad, and I prefer the white, but you've got some script or something embedded that slows my computer down quite a bit every time I load your page, I could do wout it.

The personal changes were, like you said, apparent to be going on for some time. I was just curious, you had some ideas before that I really didn't agree with, and I'm always curious about how different people see arabism, and I guess what it means to be arabized and/or westernized, everytime I think I understand it someone says something else that confuses me even more. I have my opinions about the discussion going on one post down but I'm staying out of it.

I'm really sorry, about your friend and about everything.

nadia said...

also, catharsis is seriously about as metal a blog name as you can get.

Fatima said...

whatever you decide to name your blog, it's still my favorite iraqi blog. The name abbas could go though, i can't seem to get used to it for you. Keep it up!

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