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
A Blog about change, on many levels!
December 31, 2004
December 25, 2004
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
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
December 07, 2004
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
- 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
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