“The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” –Nahum 1:3
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I’ve discovered a great blog — Sabbah’s blog — which has this to say about the above images:
The storm hit on Tuesday, at the former Iraqi airbase at al-Asad, about 180 km (110 miles) west of Baghdad, now home to a US marine corps unit.
The sandstorm approaching at around 60 mph (95 km/h) engulfed people, buildings and equipment. The sky turned orange as the storm approached, until total darkness blanketed the ground.
Experts say such storms are extremely rare in Iraq, and can spring up almost without warning. Pictures taken by Gunnery Sergeant Shannon Aldredge, US marine corps photographer. [source: BBC]
More about Sabbah:
It’s your prerogative to ignore what I have to say. It’s not your prerogative to keep me from saying it, nor to keep me from hearing what someone else has to say. There is a point. Don’t expect to understand it yet. You’re still in kindergarten. So am I. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t keep trying to understand.
It’s all about me!
I believe that everyone should do at least one thing in his life that is completely out of character – it’s a good way to test one’s limits – and making this blog was mine.
The Short Form:
My name is Haitham Sabbah; Husband and a Father of an active 2 boys and 1 little girl.
Pointy-haired sales support manager for a major mobile telecom company.
Electronics & Communication Engineer from Birla Institute of Technology.
Born at Kuwait on 1969. Jordania national with Palestinian origions.
This Blog:
So what is this blog? At the moment, nothing much. I’m interested in everything, but my chief interest is in the intersection between advanced technologies, polotics and individual liberty. The vast majority of my posts touches on this in one way or another.
One thing this will not be is a “warblog.” I don’t intend to concentrate on war in general, or any war in particular. However I’m tied down to my Palestinian origins and Arab side in general. Depending on who is pissing me off most at any given moment, i might criticize some (specially West).
For the time being, this will be a blog under construction. I won’t comment every day – this is a diary, not a career – but new articles will appear on a regular basis. Also, as time and my poor HTML skills permit, I’ll add a comment section and links to sites that I find of interest, including newspapers, Israeli and Palestinian blogs, friends’ journals and the other things that make the Web such a rich tapestry. I hope you’ll stay with me, and join the conversation.
Shallow Thoughts:
- I read a lot. Mostly science.
- I watch an odd mixture of TV. Very little on a schedule. A lot of re-runs.
- I write. Not as much as I’d like or I should. I used to draw a lot, too. Not enough time in the day…
- I blog, therefore I am.
Some of the above are delved into further in my weblog.
Deep Thoughts:
- I dislike whiners, easy-answerers, and opportunists on all ends of the political spectra.
- With great rights come great responsibilities. …
Read all of his “deep thoughts.”
I’ve invited Sabbah to post here. If you’d like, write to him too and ask him to come on over: haitham [at] sabbah.biz
I told him he’s a heck of a writer.
Living here in the Arizona desert, I can say first-hand that those dust storms are not pleasant to deal with.
Since I’m a heathen, I don’t know any nifty Bible verses to go along with the photos … do any of you?
“The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.” —Nahum 1:3
Oh that’s a good one. I added it. Is Nathum a chapter in the Bible? I have the hardest time in crossword puzzles when the clues ask for books of the Bible.
Old Testament Prophet, not very well know but this was appropriate. Gotta use my Religious Studies degree somehow eh?
“LXIII. The unassailing Repentence of the Kings and the Mighty
I. In those days shall the mighty and the kings who possess the earth implore (Him) to grant them a little respite from His angels if punishment to whom they were delivered, thay they might fall down and worship before the Lord of Spirits, and confess their sins before Him. And they shall bless and glorify the Lord of Spirits and say:
Blessed is the Lord of spirits, the Lord of kings, the Lord of princes, the Lord of the rich, the Lord of glory, and the Lord of wisdom.
He shall enlighten every secret thing.
Your power is from generation to generation; and your glory for ever and ever.
Deep are all your secrets, and numberless; and your righteousness cannot be calculated.
Now we know, that we should glorify and bless the Lord of kings, him who is King over all things.
They shall also say, Who has granted us rest to glorify, laud, bless, and confess in the presence of his glory?
And now small is the rest we desire; but we do not find it; we reject, and do not possess it. Light has passed away from before us; and darkness has covered our thrones for ever.
For we have not confessed before him; we have not glorified the name of the Lord of kings; we have not glorified the Lord in all his works; but we have trusted in the sceptre of our dominion and of our glory.
In the day of our suffering and of our trouble he will not save us, neither shall we find rest. We confess that our Lord is faithful in all his works, in all his judgments, and in his righteousness.
In his judgments he pays no respect to persons; and we must depart from his presence, on account of our evil deeds.
All our sins are truly without number.
Then shall they say to themselves, Our souls are satiated with the instruments of crime;
But that prevents us not from descending to the flaming womb of hell.
Book of Enoch
If you haven’t had a chance, read Jim Wallis’ God’s Politics. He mentions how the Old Testament prophets would be summoned to the White House lawn if they were around today because of Bush’s hypocrisy. I’m halfway through and like what I’m reading.
Considering the human race is little more than a parasite on earth, you would think, that humans would behave better. Sooo many underestimate the power of the good Mother. Visited the site: http://www.sabbah.biz/mt/ and enjoyed my visit. To all, spend more time with mother nature, she is indeed the grandest lady of all. EtJ
Would you be tempted to level the human race, and let the animals, tree, flowers, and plants roam free ??
what do you mean if?…lol and don’t you mean Goddess?..lol.
Leezy,
I could say yes dear, Goddess is right, or I could point out no way, God is proper. There is NO way that a woman would let things get out of hand, like they have. Or speculate that the Divine is neither, a well balanced mix of the female and male essence, the ying and the yang. I’m soooooo confused……. :>)
Keep Smiling :>) :>) laughing as well !!!
but I’d happily rapture up the wingnuts and assign them all a nice place with firing ranges, and lots of fast cars.
Yes. Unequivocally, yes.
In the waiting room of my medical clinic a few weeks back, I talked to an elderly Makah — the Makah live on the very tip of the northwest corner of the Olympic Peninsula.
He told me that even the raccoons and squirrels have almost disappeared from their area.
And I asked him, “Do you ever think about what this land would be like if the “white man” hadn’t come here?” And he smiled sadly.
I think about it a lot. I’ve imagined grizzlies and wolves and cougars on the same space where I have walked along the sidewalks of downtown Seattle. There are no more grizzlies or wolves in all of Washington state … hunted to extinction … it’s tragic if I let myself think about it.
I remember reading the words of an old Indian Chief that was talking to a wiser than, most white man(Jung). The Chief observed that Indians and others, appreciated Mother Earth, and thanked her daily. He observed that Indians thought with their hearts(and may I add souls). He oberved that white men thought with their brains, and were never satisified. I must add that there are many many fine white folks, and there are bad people of other races. Attune to the heart and soul, and turn the brain off with every chance. EtJ
“The meeting of two personalities is like the contact of two chemical substances: if there is any reaction, both are transformed.”
Carl Jung
I’m very touched by what you wrote. Thank you.
Susan, I am humbled by your kind and caring words. I appreciate your heathen ways, they are not cluttered with the seeds of division; fostered by religion. EtJ
THANK YOU !!
‘For each holds a gift in their hand’……
Gotta go, time to play grown-up for a bit(work) Eeeek, I hate when that happens. Financial reality sucks.
This is funny.
The Urban Legends site took a look at these photos:
“Comments: Though I have not been able to ascertain their precise origin as yet, these emailed images do appear to be authentic and their timing coincides with news coverage of a major sandstorm in western Iraq on Tuesday, April 26, 2005. …”
I certainly wouldn’t rule out the earth making his/her/its point known from time to time.
People used to laugh at me when I would say that the very earth of California protested against (Republican) governor Pete Wilson… we had floods, wildfires, mudslides, earthquakes and just about every disaster there could be. We even had the frogs!
Then relative calm during poor, boring Gray Davis’ term.. and then when Ahnold got elected I said… “just watch”. And what’s the first thing that happened? Major fires, before he even took office, and then days and days and days and days of torrential downpours of rain, and the attendent mudslides and so on.
So, while some may say “that’s just California”… I say, someone/thing is telling us something ;).
Maybe if the entire country of Iraq was covered under a cloud of darkness, everyone would just pack up and go home. Sigh.
Lots of heathens on the blogs I think…me too.
Reminds me of my favorite commerical line from when I was a kid….
“It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature”
She’s pretty pissed off these days!
H. just added an update to his Sabbah blog:
Update: Hope they didn’t awaken “The Mummies”! After all who knows. Maybe they did. Following photos are from the some scenery of “The Mummy” movie:
Pretty amusing. As is his comment beneath the new photos.