Stopping Contact us links from opening email programs

Ever click the "Contact us" link on a company's web site and suddenly your email program kicks in making it double annoying that you now have to wait till it starts and then close it, wasting your time and trying your patience.

What idiot company manager does not care about pissing off the customers that decide to contact his company, if it serves no other purpose than gaining new clients and keeping current customers happy, why bother have a web site?

What idiot webmaster that knows not the difference between "email us" and "contact us", probably you're right to be thinking he must be working for the exact same idiot manager that does not even bother to check every link on his web site.

Rant over.

Now to cripple such annoyances by idiots that have no business being in business, here's my neat and simple solution to preventing stupid email addresses disguised as Contact Us links from wasting your time:

Simply remove your web browser email application association

In simpler terms, when you click on an email link, your web browser will just not know what to do and present you with a list of email applications asking if you'd like to start any of them, to which you can simply click "Cancel"

To disable launching email in Firefox go to:

Tools Menu > Applications Tab > Scroll down and click on "mailto" > choose "Always ask", then click "Ok"

To disable launching email in Internet Explorer:

Tools Menu > Internet Options > Programs Tab > IE7 or older: Find and delete
email
IE8 on Vista click 'set program' then 'set your default programs' then :

For every email program on the left like Outlook, Windows mail ..
Click the program name > Choose Defaults > Unselect "MAIL TO" then Save
(Requires Administrator Privileges)

Coming soon my take on web site designers that think every visitor to their sites has 10 minutes of their lives to waste for a useless flash rotating logo to load, on second thought let's get this one out of the way since we're here.

For the love of God add a "Skip Intro" link for those of us that can't spare the time, or those that have already enjoyed your unquestionable mastery of logo rotation, or just those that have a life!
And for those tricky little bastards that add the "Skip Intro" link but make it tiny and hide it to the far right or deep bottom: You are disgusting and rude.

Second Rant over.

You can all go back now to your happy lives, watching CNN or reading the papers for more news about injustice and politicians betraying humanity, hey, since we're here, have you heard the US representative speech to the UN Human Rights Council on how the Goldstone's report (pdf) is "unbalanced" in not being "even handed" when weighing the thousands of women and children killed in Ghaza by an F16 and Apache Helicopter equipped army against the 2 killed in Israel by home made Palestinian rockets? The Israeli's speech almost had me in tears when he said he knows not what to tell his "Peace Loving" people back home about this report that will slow down their zealous dream for peace and negotiation, I did not cry because I was busy wondering how people can keep a sreaight face while lying, I guess that's what they call politics.

Don't worry, I'm not going there, not today anyway.
Third Rant is Not over!

One day for One hour

Imagine there is a divine deal where we can trade one day from your life for an hour with anyone you want to be with, someone who passed away, someone who passed you by, a lost love, a departed friend, a father, mother or a sister, anyone you would like to spend one hour with and you are willing to trade one day from your life for that hour.

You have no control over what that person wants to do in that hour, you cannot get them to do or say anything they wouldn't want to talk about or do, just one very real hour. This is not a fantasy dream fulfillment service (ehm. divine deals are respectable, right?), but the exchange of one day from your lifespan with one hour with someone you want to be with living or dead but can't.

- Who would you choose and why?

- Will this deal become an addiction?

- Will people trade away the rest of their lives?

Again imagine you can again trade one day in your life for someone else to have an additional one hour in theirs, would you make the sacrifice? and for whom?

Now think what that last day in your life could have been spent doing, fulfilling a promise, loving someone, accomplishing a breakthrough in your field, curing cancer, writing a poem, letting someone know that you love them, winning the lottery and making sure your loved ones are well taken care of..

I am certain that most people reading this would take the fist deal and hesitate about the second, interesting how little we humans value a day in our life, how many memorable days can you count that idled by, where nothing much happened to remember them by? How many days do we deliberately dedicate to nothing much of value or to doing something we hate doing?

Perhaps when realizing what a day in our life can be worth we would treat our days differently, as a gift or as a currency, make better use of each and every day we get as if it was a gift, a divine gift, perhaps by just realizing that, we would be more reluctant to trade our days for an hour or ten hours.

The uncertainties in life make it more interesting and an adventure, the only loss is by wasting a moment of it and not treating it as a gift.

How to Disable middle mouse Autoscroll

Having switched to a new laptop (long story short, broke yet another one), it came with Vista and IE7 Grrr...

I just spent the better part of an hour researching the M$ help for ways to disable the middle mouse autoscroll "feature" in IE7

For those not suffering this monstrosity, autoscroll is what happens when you press your middle mouse button then move the mouse, you get what looks like a compass circle on your screen and now the page can scroll up, down, left or right with the mouse movement.

The official response is that you cannot disable autoscoll in IE7, although there are urban legends floating around that setting the vertical scrolling to 1 or 'one page at a time' inside your Control Panel Mouse properties Wheel tab. No, this does not stop autoscroll.

Firefox on the other hand is smart and gracious enough to provide us with an option:

Options > Advanced, General tab to turn off autoscrolling.

Adding insult to injury, here's another easy way to turn off autoscroll in Firefox:

Type about:config in the the Firefox address bar, scroll down to general.autoscroll, double click it and bingo, no more autoscroll.

All that's missing in Firefox is a button that uninstalls Windows Vista and IE7 !

Expectations, the dark side

It's been a while since my last post, I know, I've consciously avoided blogging at high saturation anger times, mostly because at those times one is not able to put together coherent organized thoughts or even come up with anything that would make any sense, just like turning up the stereo volume to the max all you're going to end up with is off peak incomprehensible saturated noise.

I just realized for the first time in my 40 something years how much what you expect from yourself and what you expect from others around you matters in how happy a life you lead. Amazing you might think that it took over 40 years for such a revelation to dawn upon me, better late than never.

What to expect from oneself:
High expectations is a driving force towards pushing oneself that extra bit to become a better person, to learn more, to earn more, to impress that girl, to be a better parent, or even to just get up in the morning and go to work!

Self expectation is like a human's back bone, and the lack of or distortion of higher self expectation and standards is what regularly populates our prisons, orphanages and the political scene. Self expectation has a dark side, it can be a whip and a cruel one. Somehow we are able to confuse dreams and upgrade them into expectations, only those of us that manage to put a plan and rationally map their way to their target have a chance to make it through the frustration.

What to expect from others:
Now this is exactly why I took a break from blogging, you simply cannot survive if evil, corruption, selfishness, apathy or greed.. surprises and gets you each and every time, it is madness to expect a perfect world, and suicide if you allow yourself to get dragged down with each of the seven sins.

The moment you reach helplessness or desperation know that you have just crossed the healthy allowable threshold of what you should expect from yourself or others, take a step back and trace the path of what got you there, then take a step forward and chart your way towards doing something about it and never allowing yourself to be overwhelmed again by your own or other's short comings.

Believe me, if you allow yourself a moment to take what I just said in, you might just become a happy and content person, as for myself, I decided to invest my moment in writing this post, guess I'm doomed to remain a one pissed Arab..

إيمان بكري : دستور يا أسيادنا

دستور يا أسيادنا
شعر إيمان بكري


دستور يا اخوانا يا بعدا

لأ سوري دستور م البعدا

محبوس حابس يا سيادنا

و بكاكي من فوق مدنة

و ورايا ديوك بيكاكو

حرصوا عالباقي معاكو

بركة مولانا هولاكو

حلت و علينا اللعنة

طرطور طرطر طراطير

بيغروا فالدساتير

و لا عاد فالحتة كبير

و يا وارث تورث مين

ما الورث إتباع و إتبعنا

نرجع تاني لموضوعنا

و بيان لديار الإفتا

من جمهورية زفتا

لعبو و عملوها إستفتا

صوت ياللي سامعنا

و قوللي ملك ولا كتابة

أسد شبل ف الغابة

و احلف وحياة راس بابا

زفة فمولد كدابة

و الله يجازي اللي خدعنا

للجوكر ألف تحية

ملعون خاش الحرية

يحيا قانون العبودية

و القوانين الوضعية

و الحكومات الشمولية

لها مني ألف تحية

وحياة أمي دي رجعية

و لو صوتنا و جعجعنا

واحد ولافيش غير هوه

قاعد متربع جوة

و بكيفك أو بالقوة

لو سوبر مان و فتوة

روح قله بقى يودعنا

عصابات شغل فتوات

و إستعباط على حركات

و السقا أبوه لو مات

حيقوم يسقي الشربات

و يكمل على مواجعنا

مزيكة و تراباتتو

و نفديك بالدم.. إفدوه

بس إحنا و رحمة أبوه

مين ده اللي حيلوي دراعنا

روح هاتلي لمون بالصودا

انا حاسة بريحة شوطة

حيصعدوا فصل الروضة

و الورث حيصبح موضة

لم الجدعان و اتبعنا

على قهوة ساقية مكي

نصرخ نلطم و حنبكي

ده ناويها و بيتكتكلي

قبل ما حتى يودعنا

ظقططوا يا عيال قولوا هيه

الحكم صبح تيك أواي

لو عايز قول أوكيه

و لو رافض قول أوكيه

في كلا الحالتين نوو واي

غير كودية و زار ينفعنا

لأنا عايزة بخور م الجاوي

و حمار أرمل و حصاوي

و دراع برغوت مش غاوي

تنطيط عفريت و مخاوي

شلة مقاطيع يقطعنا

حابس من شر الكرسي

من شر عزيزة و مرسي

من قرص النمل الفارسي

م الأحياء و الأموات

من كايرو إلى بغداد

أشتات أشتوت أشتات

حرصوا من لعب السيكا

م الحكشة و م البولوتيكا

و لا تشمت يوما فيكا

مارشيل بنت أم ماريكا

قول حاجة الله يهديكا

و ادعي معايا يخليكا

حلوا بقى عن أوجاعنا

و انصرفوا عليكوا اللعنة

انصرفوا عليكوا اللعنة

Egyptian Poet Iman Bkary الشاعرة المصرية إيمان بكري

My apologies again to those that cannot read Arabic,
but I had to post this Arabic poem in its original language.

The below is a piece by the Egyptian poet Iman Bakry
Called "There's nothing!"

Iman Bakry is the publishing manager at the General Egyptian Book Organization
She is one brave soul, her recitation brought me to tears laughing, something I have not experienced in years!
I only hope she does not lose her job because of this, and I will go now look her up and buy several copies of any book in her name! The last I enjoyed a poem was over 20 years ago, that's how good this lady is!

For those really eager for an English translation, although it might lose 99% of its meaning and soul, I'll do it later when I have more time.

As for those that would like to watch her recite it, you can do it on YouTube here.

مافيش حاجة

الشاعرة المصرية إيمان بكري



مانيش عايز خلاص حاجة

ولا محتاج أنا لحاجة

ولو عايز صحيح حاجة مخليتوليش ولا حاجة

عموماً بصوا فيه حاجة ...هقولها بس محتاج لعقول تفهم.. ولو حاجة

مهيش مفهومة او حاجة ....نفسرها بكام حاجة

نوضحها بكام حاجة وأهى حاجة مع حاجة هتظهر وتبان لنا حاجة

وانا ما بخفش من حاجة مانيش مسنودة ولا حاجة

لكن ما بخفش من حاجة

لكن فرضاً لو هقول حاجة هيحصل إيه ؟ ولا حاجة

هيعملوا إية ؟ ولا حاجة

ولو بعد الشر .. بعد الشر لو واحد من القاعدين من السامعين من الضالين فِهِم حاجة


هَيعملوا إيه ؟ اكيد برضُه ولا حاجة

فنتوكل على الستار لوجه الله نقول حاجة

فيه ناس بتعيش علشان حاجة و ناس بتموت علشان حاجة

و ناس بتموت على الحاجة

و ناس تديلك الحاجه وهى ليها محتاجه

و ناس تديلك الحاجه و تاخد قصادها ميت حاجه

و ناس تكبر تكون حاجه و ناس تصغر علشان حاجه

و ناس منظر ومش حاجة و تلقاه كبير حرس ونفير عليه منظر

وهو جبان وشيخ منصر ولا يبـنش عليه حاجة

كلامى يا خلق فيه حاجة .. لحد دلوقتى فيه حاجه

كلام عادى و بسيط جداً .. ولا فِهشِ ولا حاجة

ما انا ما أقدرش أقول حاجه صحيح نفسى أقول حاجه

وميت حاجه لكن مش قادرة اقول حاجة لأنى لو هقول حاجه

هييجى ناس بتوع حاجه وياخدونى ورا الحاجة

وهو لو سمع حاجه هيعملوهالى ميت حاجه

عموما ... بصو لو حد من القاعدين عايزنى أبلغه بحاجة يقول مايخفش من حاجة

نعم .. فيه إيه؟ ...لالأ مافيش سرقه ولا تهليب ولا تهريب ولا حاجة

وبتقول إيه...مصمصوا إيه.... وخصخصوا إيه....ده كله كلام مفيش حاجه

قضية إيه ..ياشيخ روح خلاص مافيش حاجه

حرامى إيه ... و لكح إيه ... و هرب إيه؟ شــفـافـيـه مافيش حاجة

وبتقول إيه .. لالآلأ عـــيب لافيه تدليس ولاترقيص ولا تدبيس ولا حاجه

سمع مع هوووس انا حاسس انه فيه حاجة

دقيقة سكات لَتبقى حداد انا حاسس انه فيه حاجه

زمنكوا ياخلق فيه حاجه ولازموا كام و ميت حاجه

ده لو يعنى إذا كان فيه حاجة

انا عن نفسى مش حاسس ولا بحاجة ولا متضايق و لا حاجة

سعادتك برضه مش زَيـىِ مافيش حاجة

أهـه بيقول مافيش حاجة جنابك برضه مش زَيـىِ وعلشان زَيـىِ مافيش حاجة

أهـه بيضحك بيقول مافيش حاجة

ما أنا قولتلكو من الأول مافيش حاجة

عليا النعمه يا اخوانّا مافيه حاجة

و رحمة ابويا ويّا أبوك على إللّى جابوك ما فيه حاجه

وعهد الله . وعهد الله. وعهد الله ما خللولنا ولا حاجه

بقولك إيه خـــلاص خلّص وفركش يلا اخوانا

 

God bless her!

Saddam Executed

Few hours ago, Iraq's president Saddam Hussein was executed, after a long struggle with his own demons, his enemies, his people, his captors, and finally a kangaroo court Saddam Hussein is between the hands of his creator pending his final judgment.

Saddam is at peace today but he left us all with troubling questions:

Why didn't Saddam fight off the occupation? What made him brutal against his own people and neighbors, how will history judge him? Do "they" really think they will achieve peace in Iraq now? Is Iraq better off today, was justice really met, who killed Saddam, who is killing in Iraq today?

I can only see only more violent deaths for Iraqis, Americans, British,... the world.

Today is another sad day for humanity.

Long live Iraq as Saddam used to say.

1PA
Dec 30 2006

Keith says it all, a MUST READ

In his MSNBC program Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Keith touches on the very essance if our frustrations, "Bush has been 'making it up' for too long, and the people have let him" this one is a MUST READ.

Thank you Pope Benedict

In a press release by the Vatican:

"It was certainly not the intention of the Holy Father to undertake a
comprehensive study of the jihad and of Muslim ideas on the subject, still less
to offend the sensibilities of Muslim faithful."

While it is not as explicit as some would have hoped, as it still does not address what offended Moslems world wide in his statements, specifically the misrepresentation of history, I believe everyone should move on, a fire extinguished I hope.

Et tu, Pope Benedict?

Speaking against violence at Regensburg University in Germany, Pope Benedict XVI quoted Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Paleologus saying"

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached"

As instructed by Islam the religion of peace, Moslems hold a great deal of reverence and respect to all Christians and the Pope, and the absolute majority of Moslems are against violence targeting civilians, the past half a century has been very difficult on Moslems trying to defend their faith and land against vultures from every land and religion, which naturally gave birth to the likes of Binladen.

Coming from a Byzantine or a neo Zionist, those words may pass, but from the Pontiff it is very harsh and cruel, speaking ill not about today's radicals (whom all we all are against), but about our beloved Prophet Mohamed is a grave matter and with repercussions, radicals on both sides of the fence will jump on this opportunity, and ignite an already volatile world.

Historic facts and the our book the Quoran are enough proof against Pope Benedict's quote, and I will not dwell upon it further, all I can say is that I am very disappointed and dread the repercussions.

Pope John Paul II, we miss you more than ever.

stooping to hate speech, the lowest of the low

What the hell is the president of USA & Iraq blabbing about now?

According to him the USA is: "Fighting terrorists in Iraq because they're successors to Fascists, to Nazis, to Communists.."

But Iraq had no terrorists, you got them there..
- Nazi Terrorists subliminiminal

But Islam is a religion of tolerance and Islam did not attack you, few extremists did..
- Islamic Fascists subliminiminal

Why fight successors when you have real communist China and North Korea taunting you..
- Islamic communists nazi fascists subliminiminal

Oh I get it now, this is the new game in town
Tie up the word Islam with everything the public fears and hate, have Rumsfeld and other parrots repeat it, appear to be heroes liberating the world from an old enemy, get the public support to fill up your own pocket and lube it with oil that is not yours while you are at it, brilliant.

Want to bet what is next on their propaganda agenda?
Expect to hear the words "Islamic Supremacy" a lot, if you do, come back and tell me that I was right, it is the next logical step in a well calculated neo-Zionist totalitarian plan by the elite that currently govern the USA.

Be careful what you label people, they might look it up and find it to be a good idea given enough injustice and pressure, if coal can turn to diamond with pressure and heat, humans are not stronger.

Stop feeding your people hate speech, in the process they will hate themselves and you for it. Do the decent thing, give the world peace or go eat another pretzel.

Breeding Hate, don't come asking why again!

This Arab is currently too pissed to express coherently how he feels, for years I have warned the forces of arrogance that their utter idiocy is thinning down the moderates in the Arab world, I warned that America's brute force and their support for the cancerous Zionist entity (aka Israel) will light up an already volatile region, but the blood thirst of both draconian regimes has surpassed any call for shame, disgrace, logic, humanity, common sense or rationale.

To my American readers imagine for one moment North Korea going to war against Taliban and Binladen, and succeeding in what your president failed to accomplish, how would the victims' families of 9/11 feel towards North Korea?

This is exactly how EVERY SINGLE ARAB feels today about Hizballah and Hasan Nasrallah, without exception, no exclusions including this very pissed Arab!

America's support, financing, arming and veto to the blood thirsty Zionist's benefit was the last fig leaf to be taken off and reveal how tiny its regard for human life is.

Today Al Qaeda must be suffering from only one thing: Inability to train & arm the hundreds of thousands that must be willing to join them today if they could.

Suddenly Palestinians are not alone, each murdered child, each screaming mother, each teenager that lost a father, mother or a sister is a future guided missile into the heart of the Zionist entity and whoever supports it.

And the straw that broke the camel's back was the American shameless declaration that whoever fights Israel's occupation is a terrorist! You have just branded and labeled every warm blooded decent human being fighting oppression and occupation as a terrorist! You drew a line around Israel and made every decent human being Israel's enemy and yours with this unjust label.

You have just signed up the world for tens of years of war & destruction against Israel and America, congratulations George W. Bush, hope your arms deals and oil business commissions are worth the innocent lives you have just written off, your grand children and their children will be ashamed of carrying your name.

If John The Ripper today declares war on Israel and the US he will find millions to join his army, as for the smart well spoken morally justified Hasan Nasrallah, you have just elevated him to a prophet rank, dead or alive, he won already, and you have nothing but fear and defeat to look forward to no matter what the outcomes of your current adventures are.

The moderates of the world have to deal with Israel, the US, their own regimes, and now, because of you, have to deal with extremists that you are breeding in Afghanistan, Iraq and everywhere else in the world.

As a self-defined moderate I am against occupation, against war, against injustice wherever it is, I am for humanity, compassion, peace and respect for human life, today I find myself neither this nor that, I am carrying the fire storm of anger within me, and every single person I know feels the same. Congratulations George W. Bush!
1PA

Dear World,
Today I am Lebanese

1PA

Information Storm Age: What do you know?

It is more than ever essential for a human being to know.

Imagine for a minute you can read people's thoughts, their first impression of you, their inner most sadness and worries, their moments of weakness and the greed.. I doubt if you will want this ability long, I would either isolate myself in the confines of a windowless room or take my own life.

Knowing everything is a burden that can only be handled by God.

Now imagine you live totally unaware of the events that directly impact your everyday life, changes in the laws of your country, new prices for the things you use everyday, new medical discoveries for your illness, new diseases on the loose in your town.. These are MUST know things, and your very survival can depend on knowing them.

Knowing the essential bits can seriously impact your life.

So now you are probably thinking to yourself: So what, I need to know some essentials and do not need to know everything, what's the big deal?

Not so fast! Think again, first of all you have no choice whatsoever regarding the volume of news and information dumped onto your head everyday, if you seek moderate (relevant to your life) bits of news, you will still get a news dump. There is no QUANTITY control.

Second, you guessed it right, QUALITY & reliability of news and information.
I switch between the BBC, Aljazeera, CNN and AlArabeya when there is a political event I need to follow.
Only with the 4 of them can I come up with a conclusive personal point of view untainted by external factors, but to get there I have quadrupled the QUANTITY factor, more irrelevant side bits and peaces of news get dumped onto my poor brain!

Forget the TV & Radio, let's get the exact bits of info from the Internet, the cutting edge, the information age, the new millennium .. (ok maybe not this one)

The internet's potential to assimilate and deliver exactly what you are seeking is a challenge taken on by the likes of Google, and their technology is still with flaws, vulnerable to human greed and is still in its infancy, but where I am heading is somewhere else..

How many times did you open a web browser page, found exactly what you are looking for, then turned off your computer?

Me too, ZERO times, there is always that witty side comment, that well placed related link, that flashing in my face ad that I can't resist exploring, that's what makes the Internet a successful medium, and that's exactly what I don't need: Yet another lateral information dump on my head.

The images of blood and devastation is not for everyone, the number of humans dying from diseases, wars or utter stupidity used to be a privilege only for God, now anyone with a radio knows too much.

The amount of injustice in this world is staggering, the tyranny is no longer hidden, the suffering is amplified, our skin is getting thicker towards other people's suffering, otherwise we won't survive the information storm age, we have to be less sympathetic, forget faster and move on with our life, we have to become less human to remain alive.

While writing this I was watching a report on AlArabeya showing beautiful little girls and their mother in Palestine whose house is about to be torn down for the Israeli Wall, her husband died recently out of sorrow and she has no where else to go after they take her home, my heart sank, my anger rose, and my helplessness turned to self contempt, actually forget all the above, I'd rather know and pay the price, it is nothing compare to the real victims in the news, and yes, I will remain a human, a very pissed human!
1PA

Bomb Mecca? What an idiot!

According to this Fox News story in July 2005:

"A Colorado congressman told a radio show host that the U.S. could "take out" Islamic holy sites if Muslim fundamentalist terrorists attacked the country with nuclear weapons."

Now we have said it repeatedly and heard it said to us, that in every basket there can be a rotten apple, and that the views of one person do not represent a nation, applies to us striking Binladen off as much as the US Congress with congressman Tom Tancredo.

The idiocy is two fold:
a) The unchecked answerable to no one retaliation, bully doctrine & attitude that the current US regime seems to have borrowed from its little sister Israel.
b) The total disrespect to what Billions consider wholly and sacred.

When Taliban were shelling out of ignorance historic monuments in their own country the world led by the US screamed to the horror & lack of sensitivity towards culture and world heritage.. And Taliban by all measures are closer to the cave man than this civilized, well educated refined politician in the nation that leads the world (hopefully not by example)

And what would be the answer to such an unimaginable atrocity like bombing Mecca? How do you think billions of sane calm reasonable human beings should react? I shudder at the thought!

This is an old story, and most probably this congressman represents no one in those views, his lack of sense and sensitivity is obvious, also his disregard to his own country's security is clear.

Goes to show you that a person in office with political responsibilities is not necessarily sane, happens here, in the US and everywhere else.
1PA

Middle East Oil, buy it don't smoke it

It was not a surprise when George W. Bush announced the plan to reduce the US dependency on Oil as the main source of energy 75% by 2025. And to be honest it will be to everyone's benefit, the US will cure its oil addiction from "unstable" dealers, the Middle East will finally enjoy a little more stability and less 'friendly intervention' in its affairs, Arab rulers will be forced to come up with creative ways to sustain development and learn some resource allocation and allow more democracy ..

But the US of A should not be the only nation looking after its own people's interests and let's not forget what made this region unstable in the first place, things like US, British and French occupations, plantation of a cancerous Zionist entity in the heart of an Arab Islamic nation, nourishment of tyrants and dictators, selling weapons, war!.. But that's another post anther day!

All this raises the legitimate question of 'what next?' for the oil revenue dependant nations, unless they act quickly and buy into the future, they are more than likely to be left out of the future all together. Arab nations need a mindset change, this natural resource must be seen as the right of the future generations, it is sickening that they have been splurging and squandering from their grandchildren's piggy banks. Unless Gulf rulers quickly introduce accountability and transparency in how current and future oil earnings will be spent , their children will be doing it from cages the Saddam way very soon.

Let's for a minute put aside how much money was wasted and focus on buying a ticket into the future:

Arabs have 2 choices at the moment, none of which involve pumping out oil like there is no tomorrow as the Saudi Oil minister announced right after the George W. Speech.

a) Reduce oil production by 75% to give future generations a fighting chance, still earning the poorest oil country triple what they need to sustain themselves and grow at the current prices.

But prices will double and triple, economies will halt, the world will become unstable if oil prices rise. You know what, so be it, if this unstable region is bothering right wing radical US governments, let them deal with the fallout of their own decisions, if more democracy is needed, Arab leaders should listen, and democratically ask their people if this is what they should do, if free open markets is what they preach, let's see supply and demand when the owners of these resources slow down the trickle of oil the free market way.

Some will say that Gulf countries would not dare do that, the US will intervene by force to guarantee the continuous flow of oil (rape it out of Gulf lands), my answer to that is one word: Iraq.

So when the dust settles, Gulf countries are richer and their future generations have a better fighting chance.

b) Alternatively, oil rich nations could continue pumping oil but with the following changes:

1- No more export of crude oil, why should other countries make more than oil producers in taxes and purification? You want energy? We'll sell cheaper purified products to your consumers directly, its a free economy right?, you tax it? Deal with your own people on the consequences.

2- Major investment by ALL Arab countries into safe nuclear energy as alternative fuel, unopposed by paranoid unstable US governments.

3- Major investments in training & R&D by all Arab countries in the fields of wind power generation, solar energy, hydrogen fuel cells.. If you can't beat them, join them.

All this should have happened anyway, even before the US declaration of independence, but better late than never.

The more you think about it, the more you will discover how oil (or the lack of it) can contribute to the inevitable development of this unstable region.
1PA

Egypt's Margin of Democracy

Hosni Mubarak chose to give the Egyptian people a menu of unknowns in the form of presidential candidates when he restricted the election eligibility to political parties, parties that he personally approves and licenses, parties that he and his National Democratic Party have oppressed and trimmed down for years, and in the process eliminated Egyptian's right to get viable candidates.

Mubarak is and will remain the dominant candidate for the presidency not because Mubarak has been the best thing that happened to Egypt since the river Nile! Mubarak was is and will remain in power because Mubarak chooses so!

I write today about popular distortions found on opposition, government and independent Egyptian media:

Mubarak has been positive while other candidates built their campaign on attacking Mubarak's rule..
Mubarak has access to numbers and true statistics (I hope) while no other Egyptian let alone presidential candidate has ever been given believable statistics. Mubarak is holding the wallet while others are only guessing what's in his pockets, Mubarak has an army of government employees that can and will draw forecasts and plans that will never be made available to others, if you are a presidential candidate all you have to build on are complaints, accordingly it is natural that your slogan will be about change and promises of correcting injustices and mistakes.

Mubarak is to be thanked and congratulated for giving more freedom
As far as I know Egyptians are not born slaves to be "given" freedom by Mubarak or anyone else, it is Mubarak who took away their freedom, so obviously it is Mubarak who can give back some or all freedom, why should anyone be thankful for getting part of their birth right?
I would have been more optimistic if Mubarak's gesture was not tainted by pressure from the US of A, no one can deny it as it has been well documented and can be proven by anyone with access to a home computer!

Mubarak did not need the illegal actions by the few who were buying off voters and is not responsible for their actions.
Not true, obviously if you are the manager of thieves you are responsible for their actions, governments have been toppled or resigned for less! It reflects on your leadership abilities if you are not aware, and it poses serious questions about your honesty when your staff repeatedly forge for years and years, specially if you stand to benefit from those actions!

Mubarak is the obvious choice due to experience!
Nonsense, it took him years to master the skills needed to rule, and he gave No One the same opportunity.

It is always expected to have incidents of forgery as Egypt is new to democracy! Change has to be gradual..
What? People will go crazy if they are given the security of not being prosecuted under emergency laws? They will run naked in the streets if they are faced with 2 or more viable candidates?
It is this exact doctrine that has plagued the Egyptian minds after years of brain washing, settling for less, tolerating and expecting dishonesty are all the results of years of oppressive self serving regimes.

No one has the right to question Mubarak's financial status and the sources of his wealth.
No, Mubarak as the leader is working for the Egyptian people, he should be accountable to all Egyptians with no immunity any way you cut it, western democracy makes him accountable, Islamic rule laws makes him accountable!

Mubarak is a war hero, he is the one who planned the air strike of the 1973 war and he is more qualified to run the country.
Give him a medal and a hefty retirement bonus, throw him a party, or even build him a statue and name a major street after him, but this does not justify his ruling Egypt for 30 years! Egypt is full of war heroes living and dead, planning and overseeing a successful air strike 32 years ago is not a personal trait to qualify a presidential candidate over another in this day and age, being grateful is one thing, 30 years of mismanagement is another!

Mubarak is loved by the majority of Egyptians
Perhaps true for some, but you have to ask verses who? Who has been given the chance under Mubarak's rule to serve the people and gain their love and trust? Mubarak's rule has been actively castrating any rising candidate, aborting early any chance for competition, point and case Amr Mousa the star that was banished into the Arab League.

This blog by definition is about "Change", accordingly I congratulate the population of Egypt on tasting this "Margin of Democracy" it is exciting to think of the future for a change, and as I predicted here, I am totally ungrateful!
1PA

Hosni Mubarak's overdue retirement

Could someone please tell Hosni Mubarak that he is not only embarrassing himself, but he is embarrassing all Egyptians in his elections statements.
When he goes on public record with statements like: Egypt cannot afford to go to war, Egyptians will not find food, drink and services if they go to war ..
This is defeatism to say the least, where is the dignity and pride in being an Egyptian, a country that if managed well can not only feed itself, but can feed the whole Arab world!
Where is the Army that has the lion's share of the Egyptian annual budget?
Mr. Mubarak, Egyptians can and will surprise you.
Another Elections promise is to double the salaries of government employees!!
Is Egypt going to borrow more money to cover this?
Have those employees reached their optimum number and efficiency in productivity? And even if yes, is it wise to overburden the rest of the population ? Can Egypt afford it?
What are the repercussions and how will this reflect on prices?
He will create millions of jobs.. Yeah Right!
He will give away lands.. Whose Land ?
Then what were you doing in the past 24 years? Giving Egyptians telephones that work and new sewer systems? If my grandmother (God rest her soul) was in power she would have achieved more! If Egypt was under foreign occupation it would have seen more progress!!
This is all highly embarrassing, resist the urge to remain in power, be the first Egyptian president to resign, get out alive for a change, stop humiliating yourself and all Egyptians, Please!
1PA

Internet Infections

Diseases you could catch off the Internet; the Internet Seven Sins:

a) Megalomania
Specially infectious in blogger circles, I don't know why but once a normal human being gains the coveted title of "Blogger" he or she start exhibiting signs of sudden depth and wisdom, if you look at the one and two liners that most bloggers jolt describing themselves and their blogs you will know what I am talking about.

b) Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
While some would dispute that this is a Personal Computer (PC) specific disease, I argue that the PC itself and its keyboard and mouse are as boring as the wheels of a car, the Internet is like the gadgets, v8 Twin Turbo engine and convertible roof that makes you want to go for the ride. My wrists and shoulders are now a testament to the dangers of the Internet

c) Antisocial Behavior
Need I say more ?

d) Obsessive Compulsive Behavior (OCD)
Examples of Internet OCD are observed in the urges for email checking, chatting, Forums browsing and posting ..

e) Blabbing
Perfectly normal companies fall into nonsense blabbing once faced with the challenge of creating a website, the white space on the pages become sort of a challenge, creating points and sections of nothing is one of the symptoms and you get a lot of phrases like:
"With the advent of the internet"
"In the age of Technology"
Some extreme cases even forget to include a list of what the company does!! And in hopeless unrecoverable cases they do not include even contact details for their business!

f) Hoarding
Symptoms of Internet hoarding are more apparent in societies new to the Internet, where people are not sure the information resource will remain accessible and available, hence the urge to "save" and "save as" every thing they think useful or interesting, this disease is the founding stone for many storage companies that are flourishing now selling huge internal and external hard disks.

g) Chronical Split personality - Schizophrenia
I am sure you know very well how a timid person can be transformed over the Internet into an aggressive cynical predator, a girl becomes a boy, a boy becomes a dog, a man becomes a child, and an idiot becomes an expert ... You get the point!
1PA

Dear Fellow Puppets

Does any one remember the Boycott Israel Campaigns that set us all on fire not more than a couple years ago? I guess Israeli aggression is over and the Arab lands have been returned so there is no need to boycott.. Right ?

Remember the campaigns against the Racist wall of separation snaking through Palestine? All the demonstrations must have worked for I am not hearing anyone complaining about the wall anymore!

I must have been dreaming about a rising throughout the world against the war against Iraq, and later against the occupation of Iraq.. Are the Americans out of there yet? Aren't the Iraqis ruling their own land and free from Saddam Hussain?

Remember the Intifada? If not, I don't blame you, we must have been having a group dream, aint that weird ?!!

Then recently there was the rising against the abuse of the Quoraan in Guantanamo, people died in anger, were they fooled?

I know for sure what's hot now, its democracy, great, but the question is till when? Who are all those people suddenly brave enough to speak out against their governments, why are many of them insulting and abusive, do we carry so much hate? Where was that hate few months or few years ago?
Who's deciding what we live and die for? Who's jerking the chains?

How fickle is our enthusiasm, how betraying is our memory, if only we could get the peace and quiet the puppets get late at night when the show is over!
1VCPA

Your House Or Mine ??

The Middle East is awakening to the new scent, democracy is "in the air" among other scents... I have blogged my wrist off on the importance of democracy, free speech, dignity and human rights in the Arab world, but there is another side to what's happening, and many do not want any part of it. Here's why:

Imagine there is a beauty queen living right across the street from your house, a dream come true kind of girl that recently became Miss Universe.

Miss Universe is about to make your whole neighborhood famous, you will be giving interviews to International TV channels and newspapers about your memories playing together as kids ..

Now Miss Universe needs to repaint her house to suit her new status, you see, she cannot afford to move to a higher class neighborhood, so it is decided that she will not only paint her house red white and blue, she will paint all the houses in the street with those colors to make the neighborhood suit her "new status", you like her, you like having your house re-painted, you have even been planning to refresh your house paint as soon as you can afford it, you just can't imagine living in a tri-color house, your house, you are also in for a shock when you discover that you don't even have a say about it!

Miss Universe has already deployed painters on every roof in your street merrily tri-coloring the neighborhood! Your next door neighbor started to tri-color his house long before the painters arrived, and the one next to him refused to have his house tri-colored unless he pays for it from his own pocket in full! Another neighbor is taking money to allow the painters in, another neighbor his house was taken over by a thief and will allow the tri-colors if he has a chance to win his house back, as for the rest, they cannot be bothered to even consider that something wrong is happening.. You are beginning to feel like your neighborhood is an asylum and you are the only sane one left!

Again, you want your house painted! You just can't stand someone else force painting your house, and in colors that don't suit your taste! Miss Universe is not painting your house out of generosity, she is doing it for her own interests, and forcing her tri-colors and schedule on every body else, moving out is not an option, what would you do?
1PA

Al-Arabiya Vs. Al-Jazeera

Alarabiya just broke the news of Qatar taking away the citizenship from 6000 of its citizens and expelling them, I did not tune in time to get the full story or the reasons, but I am VERY interested to know if and how and when Aljazeera Tv will handle it.

Aljazeera has been both impressing me and getting on my nerves since its day one, I always liked the spicy hot coverage and considered it an excellent source of alternative news (note that I do not consider its news fully reliable) I regard it as an institution going through puberty and in its teen years it is interesting but professionally ANNOYING.

Back to Qatar, Aljazeera handles Qatar related news and issues with white gloves while other countries are strictly handled gloves off. That makes Aljazeera justifiably appear as biased, and compromises all their claims of being a "pedestal of truth"

Worth noting here, as an Arab, I still tune to Aljazeera before CNN any day for Middle East related breaking news!

One other thing, every time I see Alhurra Channel in my program list I remember the old saying "Yankee Go Home" No one is watching it and it is neither respected nor believed down here, so save your Congress and tax payer money and spend it on Palestinian kids, maybe that would touch someone's heart for a change!

I am still very curious as to why a country would expel 6000 of its citizens, Did Qatar just loose 0.6% of its population ?? I am not sure if something like this has ever happened elsewhere, but will follow Aljazeera closely for details if they ever air it :)
1PA

Sami Yusuf سامي يوسف

Can't tell you how impressed I was when I first watched Sami Yusuf's song "Moalem", a beautiful song about the love and appreciation of prophet Mohamed (PBUH), Sami's warmth of voice, modern look, beautiful music and topic that cannot miss the heart of any Moslem ..

The modern take was much much needed in bringing closer religion amidst the younger generations, we are used to this topic being covered dramatically by ancient actors, boring music, slow talking over-acting did I say boring again? It is! But taking it into the video clip age is an accomplishment worth noting.

Another Islamic Superstar is in the making, he is ready to join Amr Khaled and Moez Masoud and others in the hall of fame of those that have touched the lives of both teenagers and older generations through modernization in presenting Islam, note well: Not modernizing Islam itself, there is a difference!

Back to Sami, a LOT is riding on this guy, that is why I have to be totally frank here, after the "Moalem" song I saw another two, they where pathetic repetitions of his first song, the last of which was about "Mothers".

Sami, unless you intend to be another one song star, you seriously need to re-invent yourself, a religious song needs not be so sad and morbid, people don't like that, you need to get yourself a good writer and composer, repeating the same music over and over is plain boring, you are competing for air time and the attention of audience used to striptease, so take your mission seriously and rise up to the challenge. Oh and you need good marketing too, I think this says it all.

Wishing Sami a long successful career and looking forward to his new productions, a good role model would be Yusuf Islam (Cat Stevens)
I hope this does not offend Sami's fans, just please keep in mind that I am not writing to make friends.
1PA

Storm in a Mug - Moslem Women leading prayers?

A storm is brewing in the Islamic world over Dr. Amina Wadud's leading the Friday prayer in a New York mosque. I heard her speaking and I did not find her offering any explanation (religious or otherwise) as to why she is stirring an unneeded controversy in this TIME and PLACE!

Here is a half-witted statement from the "organizers" shedding light by saying "this event is about Muslim women reclaiming their rightful place in Islam"
What ?? I guess Moslem women's list of demands is nearing the bottom of the list!

My point is:- Moslem women's struggle IS to re-claim what Islam has originally given them, and what deep rooted social traditions have taken from them in some countries.
e.g. Inheritance, right to manage her own money, and run her own business, freedom to marry & divorce whoever and whenever, freedom to refuse her husband's taking on another wife whthout her consent, right to have her husband or brother fully cover all her financial needs from their own money ..
NB. Islam gave women more rights than "western" women enjoyed until only 50 years ago, and in many countries until today.

- I understand why the Friday speech and prayer is led by a man, and if you think it's racist, please point me to where I can find the name of the last woman that held the Pope position, and the name of the church where the sermon is led by a nun. And as far as I know female Rabbis are hard to find!

- I would be more than willing to change my view if anyone can tell me how this woman's leading the Friday prayer will serve Islam better in New York and all over the world.

- All they managed to do is stir unnecessary controversy about a trivial issue, and in the process stamp Moslems with gender discrimination, and giving room for some dumb ass to come out and scream his stupid lungs about how this is against Islam and how that prayer will not be accepted!

Please have mercy on Islam, all of us women and men need to first apply Islam in our daily life, be merciful, humble, forgiving, charitable, loving, working hard .. Then the world will see Islam for what it truly is, a religion of peace and love, some over zealous and badly timed actions like this one are setting us back many years.
One final note: I am not even a religions person, I am just one angry Moslem right now!
OnePissedArab 1PA

The Arab Dream

For non-Arabic readers, these are the lyrics of an Arabic song called the "Arab Dream" which is about a dream for peace, unity, optimism, positive attitude, and hope. I find it very appropriate to post here as it is one of the very few "large group" productions in the Arab world, sung by many artists from all around the Arab world, done in the "We are the World" style, the effort is very befitting the meaning in the song itself, I am very touched every time it plays, as it reminds me of the older generations' dream for unity of the Arab world, and at times when Iraqis and Palestinian children were being bombed by people that have no right to be in their land or skies, it provokes a deeper meaning inside all of us, one of anger, helplessness and disgust.

كلمات أوبيريت الحلم العربي

اجيال ورا اجيال --- ح تعيش على حلمنا
واللي نقوله اليوم --- محسوب على عمرنا

جايز ظلام الليل --- يبعدنا يوم انما
يقدر شعاع النور --- يوصل لأبعد سما
دا حلمنا طول عمرنا --- حضن يضمنا كلنا كلنا

الحلم ماهو مستحيل --- مادام تحقيقه مباح
والليل لو صار طويل --- اكيد من بعده صباح

قول انت بكل مافيك -- إن كان لك والا عليك
حاول جرب وبتوصل --- شرف التجربه يكفيك

جايز ظلام الليل --- يبعدنا يوم انما
يقدر شعاع النور --- يوصل لأبعد سما
دا حلمنا طول عمرنا --- حضن يضمنا كلنا كلنا

عرف زمانك من تكون --- إرضى طموحك اجتهد
افتح لمرآتك عيون --- يبصر بها من جا بعد

إتحدى الكون وإتمرد --- وإتعلم تبقى جريء
مشوار الألف ميل --- خطوة تبدأ بطريق

جايز ظلام الليل --- يبعدنا يوم انما
يقدر شعاع النور --- يوصل لأبعد سما
دا حلمنا طول عمرنا --- حضن يضمنا كلنا كلنا

محتاج العدل للقوة --- علشان تقدر تحميه
ولا عمر بكلمة وشكوى --- حق بيرجع اراضيه

والحب كل ناره شرارة --- وعيون مليانه بشارة
بعيد تكوين العالم --- اطفال بإيدها حجارة


جايز ظلام الليل --- يبعدنا يوم انما
يقدر شعاع النور --- يوصل لأبعد سما
دا حلمنا طول عمرنا --- حضن يضمنا كلنا كلنا

من اي مكان في الارض --- ناطق بلسان الضاد
وبأعلى الصوت والنبض --- بنقول الوحدة ميلاد

اطفالنا بكل مكان --- ضي عيون الاوطان
الحق الحب الخير --- رسالتنا في كل زمان

جايز ظلام الليل --- يبعدنا يوم انما
يقدر شعاع النور --- يوصل لأبعد سما
دا حلمنا طول عمرنا --- حضن يضمنا كلنا كلنا

و معانا غنوا و قولو --- الفن دا طوق و نجاة
من الحزن بنخلق فرحة -- من حرف طريق وحياة

كلمة صدق في أغنية --- تتقال و تعدي في ثانية
جايز من بعد سنين --- تتغير بيها الدنية

جايز ظلام الليل --- يبعدنا يوم انما
يقدر شعاع النور --- يوصل لأبعد سما
دا حلمنا طول عمرنا --- حضن يضمنا كلنا كلنا


خلي الأغاني حقيقة --- وأحسب لوقتك حساب
كل الدروب الغريقة --- يفتح لها الحب باب

و الغنوة في كل حدود --- و وطنها هو القلب
و مادام عايشين هنغني -- و مدام قادرين هنحب


جايز ظلام الليل --- يبعدنا يوم انما
يقدر شعاع النور --- يوصل لأبعد سما
دا حلمنا طول عمرنا --- حضن يضمنا كلنا كلنا

و الحب ماهوش بالكلمة --- بالفعل و بالاحساس
كن ضي و نجمة و بسمة --- و دليل في طريق الناس

حلمنا وفي كل زمان --- وحدة كل الأوطان
كل الخلافات حتزول --- وكفاية انك انسان

جايز ظلام الليل --- يبعدنا يوم انما
يقدر شعاع النور --- يوصل لأبعد سما
دا حلمنا طول عمرنا --- حضن يضمنا كلنا كلنا

فنك وطنك في الغربة --- من منين ما تخطي دليل
غني للناس وللصحبة --- هتلاقي الكون جميل

بلغات العالم حبوا --- واختصره سنين بثواني
قدر العصفور طيران --- وقدرنا نغني أغاني

جايز ظلام الليل --- يبعدنا يوم انما
يقدر شعاع النور --- يوصل لأبعد سما
دا حلمنا طول عمرنا --- حضن يضمنا كلنا كلنا

الشجرة و كانت بذرة --- و القصة وكانت فكرة
ومدام بنحب ونحلم --- راح نوصل سكة بكرة

نتمنى الحلم يكون --- ونغير اي سكون
ما كثير الحق بيسطع --- ويقولوا عليه جنون

جايز ظلام الليل --- يبعدنا يوم انما
يقدر شعاع النور --- يوصل لأبعد سما
دا حلمنا طول عمرنا --- حضن يضمنا كلنا كلنا

1PA

Stop Rubbing - The tip of the volcano

1400 years ago, Prophet Mohamed peace be upon him (PBH) and 317 of his followers went against 950 infidels, the Moslems had only 3 horses while the infidels had around 100, at a time when a horse was the equivalent of today's tank. Outnumbered one to three, the Moslems came out victorious, not by a miracle of God or any supernatural intervention, it was by pure belief in what they were fighting for. Only 17 Moslems died and the infidels fled defeated.

This not a religious or a historical blog, but there are a couple of points to be made here:

Prophet Mohamed PBH CONSULTED his followers on where to best confront the infidels, he had originally chosen a location by the now well known "Badr" water well, one of the prophet's followers asked if this location was by any inspiration from God, when the prophet said no, the follower then asked for the place to be changed beyond the water well so that the infidels would not have a chance to rest and get water before the confrontation, and it was decided as such. Even the prophet is to be challenged about his own personal judgment, Islam DEMANDS that we use our brains and take noting for granted.

At a time when numbers and gear meant the difference between victory and defeat, belief was the deciding factor.
Fast-forward to 2005:

The US is riding the high democracy horse, and arrogantly dictating and demanding, is at the end of the day only superior in terms of gear, they are incessantly rubbing the tip of a dormant volcano, what is confronting them now is just sparks, what lies within the volcano, if not feared and respected will blow in their face, the moral here is : Stop Rubbing ! while it may appear like Bush is succeeding in changing the political landscape, in reality I do not think anyone can quanify the repercussions, it is all cosmetic & artificial change, may look good for a while, but the long term is scary for all involved.
1PA

Bush: No to elections under occupation in ... Lebanon

Bush has been on the case of yet another Arab country, now he is ordering a Syrian military withdrawal from Lebanon.

Today I heard on the CNN the Bush saying "I don't think you can have free elections with the Syrian troops there"

Am I the only one seeing the irony here ??? !

Here is the full story.

Just for the record and on topic:
- I am 101% for the withdrawal, after all they can always come back if Israel gets gun happy again, not that they have been successful in protecting Lebanon or themselves inside Lebanon, but any bump in Israel's way to Beirut is more than welcome.
- Other than the obvious benefits for the Lebanese, who else benefits from this withdrawal?
- Why the sudden US very late interest in welfare of Lebanon ??
More on all this later
1PA

Elections Reform in Egypt, wet cats and puppets

Today Egyptian President dropped the wet cat that was in his lap and announced his request to the People's Assembly (Magles El Shaab) to amend the constitution allowing for other parties to nominate candidates for the presidency elections.

On the surface all is well and this move is seen as commendable and brave by a democratic leader sacrificing powers for the sake of "This stage in our nation's history" as Mubarak put it in his speech. Mubarak will be hailed in tomorrow's papers as the leader that freed the "slaves", built the pyramids, single handedly defeated Israel in the 1973 war, the man of the people, a man that listens to his people, the leader of the whole Arab nation that leads by example, You know the routine..

But still I cannot digest this move for the following reasons:
Lets go less than one week back:
1) Mubarak refuted any plans for constitutional reform before the next elections.
2) A couple of days ago, the ruling party (National Democratic party) after meeting with the opposition parties leaders came out and announced that a) They accept the constitutional amendment after the next elections and b) They "ALL" are unified in their refusing demands for reform coming from outside Egypt

Now is Mubarak fluctuating in his decisions ? Not at all! It has been planned very well, first get them to lose hope, then give the hope back and appear as the "Giver"

Now Mubarak is simply under too much external pressure (the wet cat in his lap) from the United Bush of America to get his act together and fast, and there was no avoiding it. After all if Mubarak is really giving in to the demands of "his people" then he must have just replaced the batteries in his hearing aid. The public have been screaming for reform, and the opposition only grew recent ballz when they felt the external pressure.

So I am not digesting any of it because it looks like another scene in the same redicioulous play that we have all watched 4 times before, Mubarak gets to win this election too, and whoever succeeds George Bush, will be left to deal with it.

Here is your litmus test: IF there is no talk about inserting in the constitution a text limiting the number of times a president can renew, THEN this is your sign that all cannot be well and its just another scene forced by "Today's Nation's necessities". If I were you I would keep my fingers crossed and my hopes down!

Also I have a nagging feeling that the Egyptian's People's Assembly should immediately resign, those puppets are only rubber stamps for whoever is in power, they failed miserably in representing the people that voted for them. If they were unable to induce this constitutional change without being instructed to do it, then they represent no one, and should pack and go, simple and clear.

Another nagging feeling is the (much discussed in this blog) feeling of insult with Mubarak's clear message that this is not done due to internal pressure (see points 1 & 2 above) and with Condy and Bushy demanding reform in Egypt and Saudi Arabia every time a microphone is put in their hands, it is obvious where the pressure on Mubarak is coming from, if you do not do good for your people's sake then you cannot do good, also clear and simple!

Anyway, congratulations to whoever caused this, and to Mubarak in case I am wrong about his intentions and motives.
1PA

Simon Says .. or else!

I find it hilarious and bordering on the obscenely ridiculous
Simon Says Have elections (Saudi Holds Baladeya Elections)
Simon Says Make Good with Israel (Mubarak receives Sharone)
Simon Says Hold your nose
Simon Says Pay up (Gathafi pays)
Simon Says Look Busy (Iraq elects interim government)
Simon Says Stand on one Foot
Simon Says Stop Killing your own people (Sudan)
Simon Says I need a foot rest (Qatar pays for US air base)
Simon Says I need Toilet paper, many offer their hands..
Simon Says No Intifada .. No Intifada it is

Simon has been saying a lot lately, and the "or else" is too obvious, so like programmed robots, our Arab Governments are not even questioning anymore, our leader's noses are buried too deep down there to see, their view is not changing much lately, and they seldom come up for air !
I wish I was a cartoonist to paint this picture !

That was the hilarious part, as for the ridiculous, Simon is ordering basic things, legitimate rights we all crave, yet to all of us the image is so obscene and humiliating, it carries the same helpless feeling as watching your father being slapped on the face!

Want my $0.02, as soon as Simon looses interest or breath and stops "Saying", every thing will revert to "same old .. same old", what will remain will be the sour taste in our collective mouths. Simon will see us as ungrateful, we will see Simon as just another name in our list of oppressors.

For details go to my "Democracy turning to Evil" Post
1PA

Hosni Mubarak interview on Al Arabeya TV translated

- President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, my last question, are you thinking of continuing to rule Egypt? Would you like to remain ruling?

- I want to tell you something about ruling Egypt, ruling Egypt is not a trip, not an easy matter, ruling Egypt is a very difficult matter, you have limited resources, you have a huge population, you have many demands by the people, all this makes me exert a tremendous effort, and I have established relationships with other countries, so they can help in any needed matter, as much as we can, like employing our people and other things to get resources for our people, the ruling of Egypt is not an easy matter, AND GETTING OUT OF IT IS NOT EASY, if it was up to me I wish I can rest, since my day of graduation as a junior officer to this day I have been in non-stop intensive labor, I was surprised to become vice president, when Anwar (Sadat) passed away, and we cannot leave the country, I had to take on the responsibility (presidency), and the responsibility is difficult, very difficult, also the president of Egypt is not a citizen that can go out and have fun in the streets, forget it, I don't know the roads now, yes I get driven every where, but I don't know where .. Sometimes I am surprised by what I see in Cairo, but when I go to the country-side and governorates, I am able to sometimes walk in the streets, but I meet all the people, like when I was in Aswan, I met the citizens there, in a convention, anyone could attend, we talked and I explained to them, and anyone with a question, I answer it frankly, and if the issue is sensitive I would tell them that I can't honestly answer your question, it would hurt us, if I say the truth I would be as if I am showing cards that can be used by any enemy that would strike us with it, the presidency of Egypt is a difficult matter ..

"They" did spread rumors way back, once I was told, don't hire a vice president, it will be as if - a while back someone sent me a letter - it will mean that he (vice president) will be the president of Egypt, like I was Vice President and became the president of Egypt, but it was my circumstances that it happened this way.
They say the president is preparing his son (for presidency), I am not preparing my son, my son is looking after problems, my son is helping me, like Chirac's daughter is helping him (Jack Chirac), it's not a problem, also for one to be the president of Egypt, it is by the will of the people, if the people don't want you, there is nothing you can do, and if the people want you, you will not be able to leave, not easily, I can do like "some" and say I am leaving, there will be an uprising and demonstrations and destruction (of public property) and then I say I will stay, I don't like to commit such "inappropriate" acts, I am serious man in my work, I work from the morning till bed time, every day, every day, people's problems, I hear stuff ..

- Do you have time to see your grand children ?
- "By the way" a little when I am free
The End
1PA essential comment:
The above is a Word for Word translation of president Hosni Mubarak's answer to the last question in an interview on Al Arabeya TV broadcasted on January 16th 2005
I am out of comments!
1VPA

Optimism when all else fails

Happy new year, and may 2005 be everything 2004 failed to be.

The Arab media struggled hard and failed to end 2004 on a positive note, the year has been a disaster on every level, and for every interviewer asked, none could see any light at the end of the tunnel, looks as if the Arab world is still falling with no bottom in sight, accordingly the natural thing for this pissed Arab is to forecast the light and seek the bottom !

I will never forget a friend called Huwaida, sort of an ambassador of human kindness & purity condensed in a tiny package, one day I was sitting alone feeling bad about a grade, she sat next to me and started humming the "Don't worry be happy" song, which was her personal anthem really ! She asked me if it was that bad, I nodded yes, then without asking why I was so blue she asked "Can it get any worse?" I looked up to her and said no, she did not need to talk anymore, her point was made, somehow in our internal black box there exists a ray of light, when all is getting lost, it is guaranteed that hope is being born somewhere, it is our job to seek this hope, it is our responsibility to hang on to it and use it to lift us when we are down.

Do not get me wrong, this Arab is still very very pissed, but that in no way means that we have to live the doom and gloom mood, being pissed is a form of optimism, when you have high expectations that's how you get pissed, so lets see, what do we have to feel good about?

1) Human Nature
Every morning you wake up a fresh new person, whose soul is cleansed and ready to take on a new day, its up to you to make it good or bad, every morning celebrates the rebirth of new ideas, solutions, and new energy.

2) Loved Ones
In the middle of life's turmoil you are guaranteed to have someone who loves you, sticks to you for the good and bad, pats your back when you have the hiccups .. you get the point !

3) The cyclic nature of things
It had been scientifically proven that after every night there is sunrise, every tyrant has an end, every aggressor gets flushed into history's septic tank, you are just there for the ride, so after you have done your best - I mean it, first do your best - sit back and watch things unwind.. Remember the line in Jurassic Park "Nature finds a way"

4) Memory
Whatever is nagging your life today is guaranteed to be a faint memory in few years, we all have this amazing gift called amnesia, factor this into your daily worries, and don't allow any of them to ruin a moment of happiness, for that would be your real loss.
Nothing in our whole existence can compare to a parent's loss of a child, and amazingly, I have seen mothers smiling and even laughing years after the death of their children, they did not forget, but time is the best healer. I don't think any of your problems could even compare to theirs, and lets not forget humanity's ability to forgive too..

5) You are not alone
You are not the only one with problems, and amazingly it makes humans feel better when they realize that someone has it worse!!

I will end it here before I have to rename this Blog to something more cuddly and mushy
Anyway, it is rumored that Bobby McFerrin the artist that sang "Don't worry be happy" committed suicide!
Have a good year.
1PA

Arab Porn conspiracy theory and Video Clip Starlets

While I tend to dismiss most conspiracy theories, mostly because they can deviate you from seeing what is truly happening and turn one into a suspicious paranoid that blames everyone but oneself.. I am in the process of developing my very own conspiracy theory, I am putting it here only for the right to gloat and say "Told you so" if it turns out to be true !!

There has been much chatter on the Arab discussion boards about Israel's plans to launch an Arabic Porn Satellite channel. (You can imagine how much fun it was entering those as search words in a search engine!) And the plot is so elaborate with details such as: It will be non-encoded, it will be broadcasted from an Israeli Satellite that is close in frequency to the Egypt's Nile Sat. There will also be terrestrial broadcast viewable without the need for a receiver and a dish .. In all the online discussions it seems that the story is believed, no one puts it beyond Israel to do something like that, after all if they kill & assassinate in cold blood why wouldn't they.. Actually they have done it before

OK lets follow this through, if you are going to produce Arabic Porn, what is the main ingredient?
Arabic Girls ! Porn is already available in abundance on the Internet and on the Hotbird satellite covering the Middle East, sex video tapes and magazines are not even in demand.

Now how do you convince an Arab girl to commit social suicide, go against religion, and strong family values injected in us Arabs? The theory begins now:
a) You IMPORT non Arab girls, teach them to talk in Arabic, maybe even with a Lebanese accent, (considered most sexy) the Lebanese accent would also cover their non-Arab looks.
b) You keep your ear to the ground, and take on any Arab girl that wants to join you and give her sanctuary along with huge sums of money.
c) You will be a BIG hit if you can draw society role models like actresses and singers.

What if you can prepare for all the above now by injecting girls in the Arab music scene in the form of models, dancers & video clip artists, grow them to become famous, then use them later on in your Porn channel, diabolic plan right ?

Maybe that would explain the flood of Video clip female performers that can barley speak Arabic, speak in a Lebanese accent, can't sing to save their own lives, perform in a very sexually charged manner, copying lapdance and striptease moves, and do all that half naked. They are not going to sell tapes or CD's, and would have to work in prostitution for years and years to cover the production costs of those video clips, they obviously are not rocket scientists and don't have real jobs or education, so where are they coming from ?

Just in case someone's mind is as twisted as mine, and such a channel in being planned, read the following slowly: Don't ! You do not want to wipeout all the moderates in the Arab world, launching such an Israeli porn channel in Arabic will strengthen the religious right wing and mobilize all political spectrums against Israel and all that support Israel. A preemptive strike against Israel will be called for, and it will be well justified. Personally I don't care too much for Israel's well being, I just think we do not need a militant society. A good army is good, an armed society is bad, just making things simple if George Bush happens to be reading this !

As I said, its my very own conspiracy theory, keep it at the back of your mind, if it turn out to be true, come back and read my huge "Told You So"
1PA

Arab Governments TV - Germs on air waves

Pressing a wrong button in the remote control led me to the Yemeni News broadcast, in a day full of news about today's bombing of the US consulate in Jeddah, confrontations and killings in Iraq, and other events in Europe, Palestine and Syria .. Guess what the first 2 stories in that program were about?

- President Ali Abdullah Saleh meeting God knows who & handing him a letter to George W Bush!, accompanied with a silent video showing the 2 men just sitting there looking at each others probably exchanging telepathic messages of boredom..

- The second story was really funny, it's about President Ali receiving a letter from G.W.Bush in reply to Ali's letter of congratulations for George's winning the second term elections !!
Now this is hilarious on many levels:

1- The reply actually was George lecturing Ali about "working together" better this time around! They aired this not because Yemen is a true open democracy disclosing its president's daily activities, but because it is related to Ali's being "in touch" with the big Chief, which gives him a sort of importance I guess..

2 - Assuming Ali Saleh sent the letter of congratulations on November 4th, he is getting a reply on December 5th. ONE month later, this is not only an insult, but a disgrace - Talk about snail mail !

3- No on in the Yemeni government or media is even aware of points one and two above and that is even more pathetic.

4- Some brown-nosing genius minister or TV channel manager obviously has decreed that no matter what stories there are, the first one or two news bits have to be
about the Yemeni President! No matter how trivial the presidential bit or how urgent the news is !

5- This is aired in a satellite broadcasted channel, not local TV.

It's not about the Yemeni TV alone, its about the whole "Government owned" media all over the Arab world. The Egyptian, Saudi, Libyan, Syrian, Sudani .... TVs are no better, they not only produce dog food and sell it to their viewers, they even eat their own dog food live and broadcast it free for the whole world to watch.

The local channels are so out of it, they broadcast the hypocrisy, ass-kissing and direct "be good" messages without any make up or pretenses, they think of it as a
national public service and duty, tying up the relation between the Government and the people, and in the process failing to entertain, educate, inform, raise awareness .. failing to provide any kind of service and succeeding in wasting millions of dollars in useless nonsense that no believes even if they are saying the truth.

They are installing corrupt values and spreading them like germs on air waves.

When did they lose touch with reality? How are they getting away with it? Do they really think they are offering any kind of service? Are they not aware ? Are the ministers of the media and the presidents so out of it they don't even see it as such? Do they care in the first place ?

I know someone reading this is already answering the above questions with: This is only one symptom of a more dangerous disease spreading into most Arab Governments and accordingly their media.

What they think of themselves, what infects them, and even what cures them is not much of an issue, most probably this disease will be cured by amputation, it's the poor people who are fed this crap that I feel bad for, the kind simple ones that do not have a remote control or a satellite dish, and have to suffer this miss-information and un-profassionalism, and pay for it dearly when their children look with disgust and suspicion at the news and products "fabricated locally". They become radicals in their rejection of their society and its hypocrisy, fall victim to brain washing by others who have an agenda and use the media professionally.

The current local Arab media is creating a vacuum, one that will someday implode, if you work for one of those channels or know someone who does, please pass this message to them, tell them have mercy on us and minimize the damage, watch what your people are watching, offer them what they really need, the truth, you are wasting your public's money and hurting them, dead air is much much better.
1PA

Democracy turning to Evil

Although I dream of the day when there is true democracy in every Arab country, I am becoming suspicious of anyone calling for it nowadays! The "US of A" has turned the word democracy into an obscene word the day it used it to justify its ill-advised misdeeds!

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government, except all the others that have been tried"
Sir Winston Churchill

Right, it sure beats dictatorship, and no sane human being would turn her back to the personal rights enjoyed by every US citizen today, especially in the Arab world where the Governments and the police are justifiably feared! But as I always say "There is always a But!". And this But is a big one, it's a mistake for the US - or anyone for that matter - to become pompous (as if they invented gravity) and in the process turning off their audiance.

Then there is the famous "But Israel is a democracy" whenever our poor leaders try to justify their dreams for matching Israel's military or nuclear power, democracy my butt! This "Sole" democracy is practicing state terrorism, assassinations and genocide, not to mention its disregard for international law. If it is really a democracy, then all its actions are sanctioned by the majority of its people, and that makes the majority of voting Israeli citizens terrorists too!

No one is buying that "Trust us we are a democracy" nonsense from Israel or the US. The American vote is still terribly splintered, and what finally sells a candidate is always internal issues, so please do not ask us to buy into any of it, Arabs do not need anyone's luggage of internal issues to be added to their worries.

We observe the US famous VITO being exercised against everyone's will in the United Nations, we have seen how this true democracy advocating country is acting UNILATERALLY, we have seen how this democracy failed to result in accountability when the Iraq WMD lies were unearthed, I am yet to see the "big chief" apologizing for any of the lost lives due to his decision to go to war based on his own or other's lies.

"Whenever you have an efficient government you have a dictatorship"
Harry S Truman

And who said that the American Flavor of democracy is the only alternative for our salvation? There are many models currently being practiced successfully in Europe & Asia, also 1,400 years ago, the Arabs experienced true democracy with the birth of Islam, at a time when the rest of the world was suffering from racism, gender discrimination dictatorships and lawlessness, it was only during the past 100 years or so that women and minorities in the west started to have rights! It remains true Arabs have deviated from implementing what makes them civilized, but it is all still there..

Actually Islamic democracy combines the best of both the spiritual and material worlds, fuses their values together in a fool-proof doctrine, where the human being is empowered to do good to herself and to her society, to challenge a ruler's authority, to have a say and speak out without fear. Nevertheless, I am for an immediate "ready to wear" kind of western democracy until Islamist reconcile with their religion and themselves again.

So to sum it up, we are getting disgusted from the current American version of democracy, and it is working against our own yearn to establish just societies in the Arab World. Democracy should not be used as an excuse if you are truly advocating freedom, when human decency is contradicted with any political doctrine, it will factor into its own downfall.
1PA

Transparency and Accountability - How much does an Arab President or King Make

I read in this Arabic article about the salaries of presidents and kings in - and out - of the Arab world, I was shocked to say the least, not from the numbers (needs verification), but from the direct correlation of how bad a ruler performs & its being directly proportional to the wealth or salaries they hoard!

If George Bush earns $400K a year for being the leader of the strongest nation on earth, and given the high expenses in the US, compared to the relatively much lower costs of living in our dear Arab world, it is fair to say that no Arab leader should be making 1/20th (One twentieth) of what George is making!

It is notable that South Asia has worked out an excellent "Profit Sharing" mechanism, the more profit the country makes, the higher the bonus for its leader, I seriously demand that our parliaments implement this system! Although our most precious Arab leaders will start out paying from their own pockets, but eventually I am more than sure they will wise up and start running their countries as a good business, in that case I am for multiplying their bonuses without limits !

I personally do not think that whatever any ruler pockets, no matter how much it is, can affect the national economy of any Arab country, the problem is not in any of this, the catastrophe is in what follows this "pocketing", to cover it up, and to clear it, a ruler has to look the other way too many times, approve corrupt key people in his government, who in turn help out smaller thieves in getting away with their lute! In what turns into an avalanche of corruption !!!

Now let me give you my very own pearl of wisdom:

Without accountability, you are just asking for corruption!
Without transparency, power corruption will flourish!

1VPA = One VERY Pissed Arab

Poor Arab Rulers (A Devil's Advocate)

"It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong"

Voltaire

It has become very fashionable to put down Arab Rulers: Kings, Presidents, Prices, Sultans ..
And without doubt it is mostly well deserved, they are the symbols of our time, but
Arab Rulers could be unlucky in many ways:

• Their reign happens to be in a period when the whole Arab nation is in its weakest economically, politically and militarily.
• They "inherited" a majority of un-appreciating, all talk and no work, lazy, uneducated, corrupt, over indulging, consumers, unorganized, politically unaware .. Citizens!
• They were unfit and untrained to handle the global political situation that they were thrown into all of a sudden, there was a gap, they courageously stepped in to fill it all with good intentions.
• They are surrounded with hypocritical "Brown Nosing" followers that feed them crap about how great and loved they are, and how they will go down in history as heroes.
• They are manipulated (directly or indirectly) by well seasoned US & Israeli administrations and intelligence, that knows which buttons to push, when to squeeze and how to ease, "when to roll them, when to hold them, when to walk away and when to run" while they have not evolved yet to that level of sophistication, finding themselves always
  reacting and putting out fires instead of planning and executing.
• They inherited armies that are too strong and influential politically not militarily, so they have to walk a fine line in every decision.
• They also "inherited" economically unfeasible countries, consuming more, producing less, in debt (even the oil rich ones) and the prospect of a turn-around can only be long term.
• They are not accustomed to being accountable by their people, they own the media and control the parliaments (if there are any!), and no one second guesses their decisions, accordingly it's not their fault, they are not prophets after all ..
• The Palestine - Iraq issues offer an excellent divergence from internal issues, the majority of the population is too angry with the outside world to notice the smoke of their own brining shoes! So why rock the boat?
• Whenever they are criticized, it is by an opposition that is "pushed" by some other Arab country or the west, or by enemies jealous of their success in leadership.
• Arabs are probably the only remaining nation still producing songs about its leaders, praising their wisdom and importance, wouldn't that get to your head too?
• They grow up in their posts (excluding the kings), and truly do not see any viable replacement to take over after their awaited retirement, they are stuck in this responsibility and truly believe that their country will collapse without their wisdom.

This list of excuses could go on ..
Still, my heart is not bleeding for any of them.
They are responsible for where we are now and the big hole we are diving into.
Until a nation gets "balls" to fight for what it believes in, the hole remains bottomless!

"Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed

no better than we deserve"

George Bernard Shaw

Over and Out
1PA

Inside the mind of the frustrated & desperate

"Mankind censure injustice fearing that they may be the victims of it, and not because they shrink from committing it."

Plato

Imagine for a moment you came home to find your wife (or husband) and children in the street in front of what used to be your house!

Turns out someone has moved in and thrown your family into the street.

Imagine that there is no way in hell you can get your house back, no police can return what is rightfully yours, the place where you grew up as a child, the place that your family has owned for generations and centuries is just gone!

How helpless would you feel seeing your children becoming homeless overnight?

No prospects for education, no childhood to live, no future to look forward to!

You also lost your job! Yes, the people that took your house also took over your work place, hired their relatives and if you are lucky, they will hire you for scraps.

A correction is due here: There Is a Law against what has just happened to you, and a police to oversee that law, but this police is helpless in giving you back your rights ..

And to add insult to injury, the only person that can set things right is a Bully, an unchallenged power, but guess what? The Bully takes the side of the settlers (occupiers).

And as if all this was not enough, the settlers come and go unchecked and armed, threatening your family and preventing your family from going to hospital and building a wall preventing your kids from reaching their schools.

But hey, all is not lost yet, you are only remembered and heard when someone hurts the settlers, they will give you a small part of your land back in exchange for your leaving them alone in "peace".

Its not due to their generosity, guilt , or due to pressure by external powers, its only because they need to settle down, make their life better, attract investment, and reduce the tension they are living in, they are willing to throw you crumbs in exchange for your seizing to become a threat and an inconvenience!

So, do you have any choice in the matter? Would you die to give your children a better chance at the future?

Who is to blame for the "civilians" getting killed in Israel?

It's exactly like if the US marines took along their spouses and kids to Iraq! Who do you blame if their families get hurt in the battle?

They left their homes from all over the world and moved into Palestine, leaving behind houses, jobs, neighbors and citizen benefits, taking along their families in a War Zone, into a land that they did not own, into someone else's home.

I am totally against targeting children and civilians anywhere in the world, but in order to make any judgment you need to study very well the options the Palestinians have, and the mindset of a frustrated, desperate human cornered, alone and empty-handed against one of the most powerful and brutal armies in the world, an Army that HAS committed and still continues to commit documented atrocities against civilians.

My heart sinks with every civilian casualty, but I partially blame those who put those children in the cross fire in the first place, especially if they had a choice!!

I wish the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab countries has enough military power to force Israel to think twice before breaking every law known to humanity.

I wish the United nations had enough teeth to prevent thugs from bullying weaker nations, to stop war and to enforce its own resolutions!

I wish the Israeli government did not target civilians in massacres and did not torture prisoners.

I wish the Jews learn from their own history, and remember how it feels to be discriminated against.

I wish the Palestinians are given more choices, and seriously hope they will be able to forgive someday.

But we live in an imperfect world, and if you judge without all the above in consideration, you would be adding another injustice to the victims, and without Justice there is no peace.

This has been a trip for me Inside the mind of the frustrated & desperate, I will now try to revert to my just being hopeful but still very Pissed!
1PA

Zarqawi fact or fiction

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power.

We have guided missiles and misguided men. "

Martin Luther King Jr.

The US administration cannot draw funds and public support without giving its enemy a name, a face, traits that contradict the American lifestyle, a motive for that enemy (if available) and a clear and present threat in this enemy to all that is "good".

Zarqawi happens to be the this symbol, associated now with the word criminal and terrorist and finally to get more mileage out of him there is now the "Zarqawi Group" too!

I guess I should repeat, I am not for terrorist cowardly kidnapping of civilians, I am only for justified resistance to foreign occupation(s) !!

Back to Zarqawi, no one knew of him let alone see him as a hero, but the US is making it happen, all the better so that if he is ever captured or killed people will rejoice and feel safe(r), or at least feel like a big accomplishment has taken place, here the public is being misguided, and the real motive of the fighters is masked.

It's never as simple as "they fight us because they hate us" or they "hate our way of life", no one goes to war for that, and until the real reason for the presence of those fighters in Iraq is addressed, and the real reasons behind the US's presence in Iraq are uncovered, this farce will continue unchallenged by the American public, who by the way are the only owners of this mess, with their choice of administration, if you think for one moment that it is turning, or going to turn towards becoming an issue in the hands of the Iraqi people, you are missing the whole point of why the US went to Iraq in the first place! It's totally about exercising power and strategic interests, but that will be the topic for another post.

I did not mean for this blog to be totally dedicated to the Iraqi issues, but I felt that Iraq is more urgent than all other matters, I am looking forward also to my coming posts on Development in third world countries, Science and Technology in the Middle East, Arab Governments, Bin Laden, and most importantly Israel and Palestine.
Over and Out
1PA

Civilians Kidnapping

For all the non-Arab readers let me give you yet another Arab perspective:The way I see it whenever news of another kidnapping airs, what's being hijacked is Islam itself.

Islam the beautiful peaceful religion, is abused, misrepresented and scarred with every word those idiots utter, with every banner hanged behind them on a wall as if to give them a justification or an excuse! If they were so courageous, what are they doing capturing civilians?

Their enemy is clearly the US army! And even if they capture soldiers, Islam is very clear about how to treat them, preserving their dignity and life long before the Geneva conventions and Abu Gharib trials.

I am not saying that I am against the resistance, my position is that the US is an occupation force no matter what it choses to call itself, in black and white resistance is justified. In grey scale, use their presence to establish peace and democracy, and if they still refuse to leave kill the very last fighting soldier!

Just stop dragging Islam in your dirty agenda or God knows what it is that really motivates you to be so cruel hearted and film the slaughter of a human being and distribute it to the media.
To all I say this has nothing to do with Islam, has nothing to do with Arab chivalry and should be regarded as just another criminal act, committed by misguided or misguiding individuals no matter what their religion happens to be.

An Introduction to a Pissed Arab

Hello, this spot is dedicated to the ramblings of an Arab, I do not claim to represent any majority (or minority) of opinion, only my own.

"Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city,

it might be better to change the locks"
Doug Larson

Maybe you now know partially what this Arab is pissed about, but lets not forget those that "elect" those politicians, and those who fail to change those politicians, when they remain in power for so long that they start to stink! That now applies both to the the Bush as well as most Arab Governments

So let's recap:

• This Blog is about Politics: No, it about everything that need to change, politics is just a good start!
• This Blogger is an Arab: True
• This Arab is Pissed: Most of the time, at least whenever I think, read or relax!
• Then this Blog must be about advocating Democracy: Real democracy might not be a bad start, but it would be an over-simplification of what ails this world and what angers this Arab!
• Ok so this Blog is about change: Hopefully, on many levels, otherwise we're screwed!
  1PA