Headwind Throughout

The Alchemist

2011-09-07T18:49:00.004+02:00

It has been a while since I read Allegory. When I picked up The Alchemist I tried to leave all notions of grandeur and all prior propaganda aside, I tried to imagine as I am reading the book that I have never heard a word about it prior.

It worked, I couldn't put the book down and it took me four days and a layover in Abu Dhabi to finish the book. I tore through it with the restlessness of a 3 year-old, and reached the conclusion in no time at all.

Despite providing great entertainment, I thought the book took a simple concept of fate as part of the daily culture of the Levant and the Middle East, and placed undue emphasis on simpler parts of the belief system. It was one of the finest allegorical reads in a long time but readers with more "oriental" background or have read the epic stories, legends and folklore of the Middle East will find the book less enchanting and not what it is hyped-up to be. However, I doubt two will ever disagree on how entertaining it is.

Another thing it provided me was a perfect example to explain a certain set of beliefs in "my" culture. When a friend asks me if I believed that what will happen tomorrow for instance is set in stone, and I tell him that I do, many insist on telling me that they can prevent me from my destiny by, say, tying me up. When I tell them that, in that case that means what was "written" was that I will be tied up, certain frustration emerges in the conversation.

To the receiver it seems that I am changing the rules as the game goes on, however what they don't seem to understand is that the variable in the equation is that I don't know what is set in stone and in my belief structure, no one is ever able to predict the future. That changes a certain dynamic in the approach to fate that makes whether or not you believe in your destiny a very insignificant part.

The Alchemist makes the matter of destiny and personal legend a known rather than a variable, which requires in Near Eastern concepts a magical figure to allow it to transpire. Namely the Old King. Part of the work in understanding your destiny that is set in stone, is to now know what to expect, so the motivation to work for your dream is always there.

The other part is to pass the "written" -or as Coelho insists the "maktub"- and look back with belief. When my father passed away, the younger me, well coached by the deceased himself in understanding that everything happens for a reason and that his passing is nothing if not part of a series of events that will lead me to my dreams. The 13 year-old me shed a few tears the first day and spent the next few days contemplating everything my old man tried to teach me and instill in me, and then promised myself to make a the best of the situation.

Next time someone asks me about my beliefs I have added another book to the collection I can refer people to.

Then comes the parts of the book that deal with the Elixir of Life, The Philosopher's Stone and other magical things and the various orientalist descriptions of the desert and the Arabs, which show the level of description and attention that the author enjoyed, it made me not want to drop it and in certain cases, I didn't.

Unless I find a large gap in my to-read list, I doubt I will pick-up a Coelho in the near future, but if his other books are half as smooth as this one, I might buy the whole set.

Most visited page of my site

2011-08-31T03:20:00.003+02:00

I am proud to announce the most visited page on my website is: (drumroll please...)

Things To Do Before I die. The page with the least personal content and the most search hits prevailed over the rest of the site, which if anything is motivation to write better and write more.

Hypersonic Flight Successful

2011-08-27T01:19:00.005+02:00

There was a point in time not so long ago when supersonic flight was thought to be decades into the future, as a pilot and an aviation enthusiast I thought my life would not witness commercial travel at speed higher than 95% of the speed of sound or in aviation parlance .95 mach. Especially since the demise of the beautiful Concorde and the cancellation of the Sonic Cruiser.

Both sides of the Atlantic seemed to have dropped out of the race for what once was -arguably- the most prestigious record to showcase the technological achievements and aerodynamic knowledge of the time.

I was pleasantly surprised to hear of an August 11th launch of a DARPA project that allowed an unmanned vehicle to accelerate to speeds exceeding mach 20 and sustain flight for at those speeds for around 3 minutes. Surely it is part of Prompt Global Strike, which is the American idea to be able to strike anywhere in the world with conventional non-ICBM weapons "within

an hour or two"

Why would I be excited about such news? It goes without saying that breakthroughs in military technology radiate to civilian aviation albeit a few decades later, all the inventions from the jet engines to the composites of the B787 and from the transponder to the HUD started their life in the military. I expect that Boeing engineers and maybe even Airbus will learn from Hypersonic experiments and revisit a supersonic commercial aircraft only this time have it as wide spread as the B747 which was designed as a cargo plane in an era where all future travel was thought to be heading towards supersonic travel.

Simply put, I want to fly the next Concorde ;)

The Company

2011-08-24T16:27:00.001+02:00

Royal Jordanian's identity and company culture has gone through a lot in its 48 years, the place it ended up in is neither the best of places, nor the worst. There seems to be a company culture of helplessness, and of effective impotence in a region where airlines seem to be going through the boom of a lifetime, our airline seems to be barely holding on.

The latest announcement by the company to have lost $55.5 million in the first half of this year didn't seem to help. The morale hit rock bottom, the employees felt that there was undeniable corruption going on and it kept going unchecked until it ate up all of the resources of the company. The consequent statements of the CEO didn't seem to help, the pilots -yours truly included- as a block felt the squeeze, with income falling anywhere from $800 to $2000 per month in a time when inflation is going through the roof.

I could say the same about different employees in different departments but to be fair I won't because I have less contact with them and so I will let them speak for themselves. The fact is there is a growing percentage of people in the company who are stopped thinking of this company as their own and started looking at the picture from another angle.

The Jordanian Government owns 26% of the flag carrier and the Social Security Corporation of Jordan owns 10% while the Armed Forces own 3% of this, our Airline. The public interest owns 40% of this airline and comprises the first, third and fifth largest shareholders and the public holding of the company is more than double of the second largest shareholder, Mint Trading Middle East which is one of the trading arms of the current PM of Lebanon and the hyper-successful businessman Najib Mikati.

The employee stopped believing that it is our company, more than 70%of shares are in the hands of ten individuals and entities, among them only the provident fund at 1.9% means anything to the employees.

There is pressure on the people higher up the chain to turn a profit, the current CEO is rumored to only understand cutting cost, in hopes of creating a leaner operation and therefore raising the amount of revenue that he can turn into profit. In and of itself the strategy seems sound, but the consequences need follow up to understand the effect not only on profit but also on revenue.

I have flown the same airplanes that customers fly and seen the face of our airline, paler faces and leaner service is becoming the norm, and while cutting costs on the front line of service persists, there is talk of cars as gifts for directors and managers. If the CEO is aware of the falling standard of service he isn't showing it, and if he isn't he probably should try doing more than standing at the check-in counters of New York and Chicago destined flights.

Boeing Versus Airbus

2011-08-19T16:07:00.000+02:00

I picked up a book in the gift shop of The Leela Mumbai, a hotel famous (maybe infamous) for accommodating airline crew and its proximity to the airport doesn't seem to help. The gift shop was designed around that fact, there were many books about airlines and flying, many miniature airplanes, and travel magazines that seemed to exclude Mumbai.

Everything in that place seemed to spell aircrew, so for once I let the shop decide the purchase. I bought a book called "Airbus Versus Boeing." I bought it and decided to call it my next reading material. The book deals with the business side of the competition and the complex characters and leaders in both firms, it deals with the international support that both these entities have and details his arguments pretty well. The author clearly has a wish to see Boeing win the race but has enough facts in front of him to be able to cover the story unbiased.

I agree with Publishers Weekly in the statement that:

The thousands who work in the airplane and airline industries may enjoy the details; the rest of us—even frequent fliers—might not be as interested.

I think the author did a good job talking about the facts outside the cockpit, but were it matters most to me is in the cockpit and pilot-related talk. The comparison of the Airbus and Boeing philosophies. Those items were discussed by Slate and Salon. Since I currently fly an Airbus aircraft from the FBW family, I have a certain bias towards its flying.

Personally, I enjoy looking at Boeing Jets, the 747 is without doubt the most recognizable commercial aircraft that was ever built and the newest version, the 747-8 is arguably the most beautiful aircraft ever built. The Airbus answer to it, the A380, is an unsightly behemoth and I have always showed a certain loathing for it.

It still does not mean that I will ever have any objection to fly one of the two.

What I do like is competition, the greatest masterpieces of aviation were created in moments of great pressure.

The 747 was created in an era when the people envisaged that all future travel will be supersonic, and so they created an aircraft that can be used for cargo in subsonic settings. They were wrong but made something amazing out of it.

The A300, the first in the A3x0 was in direct competition and acted as a replacement of the L-1011 and the DC-10, used techniques such as the cancellation of the flight engineer station and fuel consumption that is 30% less

than that of the L-1011 to penetrate a market almost exclusive to american companies. However, ETOPS came later and then killed the trijets.

The A320 was created in an attempt to compete with the very popular 737 and therefore had to include so many advancements and technological breakthroughs to be a formidable opponent, it lead to the Airbus "philosophy" and the real launch of the Airbus brand.

The 787, the aircraft that came to signify the next war between Airbus and Boeing, is not in direct competition with the A380 in terms of seats obviously but in terms of business strategy, Boeing is thinking of a smaller airplane with less flights between hubs and more traveling directly between city pairs. This led Boeing to look at fuel savings, composite materials and no-bleed architecture, it also encouraged Boeing to look at the cabin conditions for the first time in more than 30 years. More humidity, lower cabin altitude and more spacious windows are the primary improvements.

The more I think I about it, the more I like the competition and I am hoping that more companies join the war of large commercial aircraft.

My two cents were worth a bit more!

2011-08-17T02:05:00.002+02:00

A week ago I was considering shutting this blog once and for all, mainly because I lacked the time and the energy, but before I took it down, I wanted to have one last look at it. I read this post from May 2008 which ended ominously:

People are almost fed-up, and if there isn't any immediate improvement, people will go to extremes. That includes a revival of an Islamic party, protests and public or mass strikes.

Please people wake up!!!

I was 23 when I wrote that and the only explanation to this perception was what I noticed on the streets daily. I like reading into people and while sometimes it is disillusioning, at others it can lead to very real perceptions.

I was not -or at least I like to think I wasn't- much more wise 3 years ago, but I had to explain to myself why I realized people would start protesting if the status quo remained. If for nothing else but my own sanity. The year 2008 was the effective end of the economic boom, the highest inflation I noticed on the streets that was not matched by any real growth.

The people, I always conclude, can accept a degradation in social rights and turn a blind eye if they wore busy building a future, they will forget a few freedoms -sic- in the interest of some economic growth. There will be a belief of "Safety and Security Requirements" if there was something that we needed to be safe and secure.

Baltasar Gracian once said: "Never contend with a man who has nothing to lose." That was what I anticipated in Jordan, I never would have guessed that the last straw would have been from Egypt or Tunisia but I knew the straws were piling up.

I hate to say it but people woke up, people took to the streets and thankfully decided on one common denominator, HM The King. I always agreed that his presence is a stabilizing factor but never would have guessed that people were constitutionally aware.

The past few years allowed me to meet with a number of individuals, but none more surprising than our elected officials. I asked a number of parliamentarians both in private and in public to tell me what they thought of our alleged constitutional monarchy, and all the MPs I have met insisted that the Prime Minister was to be chosen by a Royal Decree, a large percentage were of the opinion that Royal Decree are legally overpowering, and they could allow themselves to reject the composition of the cabinet but not the person chosen to lead the government.

It also was shocking to know how many MPs were running to be a "services" member, meaning they were intending to be on good terms with any government that comes to vote, for the sole purpose of providing services to their constituents and gain another term. They refuse to be in "the opposition."

I want to deal with the proposed amendments in a later post, if for no other reason than to write down for posterity what I believe, and to be able to come back and visit.

Jordanian Pilots' Union

2011-08-12T18:23:00.004+02:00

It made my day, the governmental approval for the creation of "Jordanian Pilots Union." My dear colleagues worked tirelessly in the past weeks and months to create the union and their efforts came into fruition yesterday.

http://alturl.com/mogj4

I have always maintained that a professional union for pilots is similar to that of the Jordanian Bar or the Jordan Medical Association or the Jordan Engineers Association. However, pilots have tried before to set up a union and failed. So what changed?

To me it seemed that everything lined up at this moment to allow this event to transpire and to allow this collective to achieve what was previously unattainable. The protests that started on the 24th of March and its consequences allowed the government the privilege of hearing what the collectives are saying. The government could not afford to continue in the undemocratic pursuit of simply ignoring the just demands of the people. Jordanians post-march 24th were wiling to fight and the government wasn't.

It was a common belief that a Pilot Union will be a disservice to the only employer of pilots, Alia, later Royal Jordanian, and therefore a disservice to the country. In the past decade Royal Jordanian was privatized and the monopoly on pilots expired, and the special protection that the successive governments used to afford to RJ became a matter of the past and RJ was left to fend for itself. There are more than 10 different entities that employ more than 10 pilots.

The issue of numbers is an important one, Jordanian pilots are estimated to number more than a thousand in the most conservative estimates, which gives a sense of entitlement that having a total of 200 doesn't.

Lastly, previous attempts at a union were met with a simple question, "what do you want? Did you go to the Head Of Department (Flight Ops) with your demands?" Previous HODs had direct access to His Late Majesty, intelligence services, the CEO and could easily meet the demands while the most recent administration of Flight Ops was not only disconnected from higher centers of power but also from the pilots themselves as more and more pilots are non-RJ and more demands of RJ pilots are unmet.

Congratulations to my fellow pilots, I hope we use this right and privilege better than other unions and associations do and stay away from dealing with issues that are irrelevant to our careers. We do have the obligation to maintain an air of professionalism with our choices and our actions an

Life update!

2010-04-04T21:58:00.003+02:00

For those of you who follow my blog, all 3 of you, I'm honestly announcing I'm back, there comes a point in everyone's life where you are just overwhelmed with your responsibilities, this point I believe has come and passed.

I was multi-tasking to an extent that bothered even me, a self-declared master of multi-tasking, I was juggling the following responsibilities:

Getting engaged: While the notion itself is something I have aspired to for years, and having the girl of my dreams say "yes" seemed like something out of a fairytale, and while it seems it should be a no-brainer, it wasn't. I actively and consciously choose not to go to details, save to say that marriages in this part of the world is a complex ordeal that includes families and conditions, tact and diplomacy, and unhealthy dose of tradition and customs. That's just to get the families to meet and agree on our marriage.

I am happy to say that as of March 5th 2010, the love of my life and I are officially engaged.
Getting into RJ: A prerequisite of number 1 -for any sane person- is to be on a career path and the only viable career path for my ambitious mind is becoming a Royal Jordanian pilot.

As of January 24th 2010, I am a pilot trainee for Royal Jordanian.
Funding my Ambitions: unlike my friends out in the west, getting married means getting out of your parents home, getting your own apartment, furnishing it and paying for your wedding and honeymoon. Needless to say that it will be a costly affair, and a source of funding is required. Traditionally this requires family "input" but in my case it seems that it's a hybrid affair. I am laughing at my attempt not to divulge too much.
Staying true to myself: I have always realized that being on a course to achieve lifelong dreams might side-track someone from honestly and truly living on a plan. Living a life that's worth looking back on fondly, and realizing dreams can be create a conflict at times.

Linking to my site

2010-01-10T02:32:00.002+02:00

Since my effort of putting "Radi Radi" on my blog seemed to boost my search visibility, and since I am changing my facebook page and many other pages of mine now link to my website and since the sub-domain of this blog at blog.radiradi.info seems more popular than my main site at www.radiradi.info, I thought it wouldn't harm to link from here to there and wait for the google bot to skim through my site.

Btw, bing sucks, if you don't know what I mean search for "Radi Radi" and see what you get. You will not get this page or this page, instead you will get this page. Which is just stupid, because if I wanted to search for something else I wouldn't type it twice. Right?

The internet without multimedia

2010-01-08T02:57:00.002+02:00

My laptop is busted, and I could fix it, but I won't. Instead I am trying to live with the internet, only without sound. It seemed quite simple at first.

Then it hit me straight in the face. My start page is Yahoo, and while I don't like it very much, I keep it, and then look for the positive of the experience. Yahoo news' small headlines that appear on the home page are the first thing that hit me in the face when I log on and recently, I am pissed, it appears cyber citizens of the world unanimously agreed that even online we won't read the news anymore and we will all start watching it.

Nobody invited me to that meeting. I fear the day when people will stop reading is close, really close. I fear that the arts of writing, reading, comprehension and correspondance are dying because of our addictiveness to new media.

"Radi Radi"

2009-05-19T19:30:00.003+02:00

I have always had a love-hate relationship with my name, some found it amusing and presumed there has to be a must-hear story behind it, some found it distracting and decided to stick to calling me by my last name. It was easy to start hating it!

It was as easy to love my name, it's unique in more ways than one, and makes for an easy icebreaker when meeting someone new, and also a way to show a sense of humour through self-deprecation.

There was a point in time when typing "Radi" in a google or yahoo! search would lead you to radi.150m.com, radiradi.info or one version or another of my sites. I always had number 1 on that search reserved to me.

Now, I have to use "Radi Radi" with emphasis on the quotes in google.jo to get me as number 1! and it will lead you to my Facebook page, my blog... number 9

Same search in google.com (the real google as I am starting to think of it) will get my facebook page at number 2 but my blog, is nowhere to be seen!

Thanks google, now I have to ask my friends to link to this page to get my site back on top!

Stuck in an option!?

2009-05-17T17:08:00.000+02:00

There are times in my life when I see an option added to a service that I just can believe in, and then I tend to detour a few months later and try to get out of it, but some are harder to get out of than others.

My cell phone provider offered me a package that allows me to talk to 5 numbers as much as I want for 1 JOD (~1.40 USD) weekly. That sounds just fine, and I jumped at it and have been using it for countless weeks, until I realized my dilemma.

To benefit from this offer at a maximum, I have a few people in my life that whenever they call me, I will click cancel on my phone to give them a busy signal and then almost immediately call them back.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that the people I talk to differ from one week to the next, while I might be close to someone and talk to them constantly this week, things change and I end up not needing to talk to them for a couple of week.

I can't change the 5 numbers now because they all know the feature, and expect it from me whenever they call me, and if I did I would have to pay a premium to call them if they weren't on the list. I could also face them with the truth that they were downgraded on my friends list and deal with the awkwardness that will inevitably ensue.

Technology sucks big time!

My resignation to His Majesty

2008-05-18T02:33:00.006+02:00

I have insisted over the years that Jordan has had more than its fair share of attacks and slandering, and that people just didn't understand progressiveness when they saw it. I was always quick to take the task of defending the vision.

I did this out of loyalty to the crown and the Hashemite family, that will never change, but I refuse to defend policies I don't believe in, therefore I quit and plee with His Majesty to take another look at the erosion of the social programs and civil and political rights, with the rise of poverty, unemployment, racism and classism.

in 2001 I was proud to claim that freedom house gave us a rising score and that soon enough we would not only be the most advanced country in the Arab world in freedoms, we will catch up with Israel. Our scores in 2001 were:

Political Rights Score: 4
Civil Liberties Score: 4
Status: Partly Free

After moving an shaking for 6 years the levels never hit the 2001 level again downgrading to 6 and rising back in 2007 to:

Political Rights Score: 5
Civil Liberties Score: 4
Status: Partly Free

Press Freedom has failed again too and while we were in the Partly Free category, this 6 year period downgraded us to Not Free, and rightly so, the rights of the people have been eroding for sometime, but the right of the press was squashed in new legislation that even holds me accountable. Well, I hope I do get held accountable, at least one part of our government will be functioning then.

Kuwait and Lebanon rank higher than us and so does Indonesia, so next time you hire an Indonesian maid, do tell her that she came here to work and not for freedom of opinion, and make sure you make her understand that newspapers are meaningless here.

In times of great strife and difficulty, it is our freedoms that should be defended when all else is lost, I hope someone does read it. People around the world have to understand that we are an educated people and therefore will give intellectually sound excuses for our government, but for only so long. Intellect fails when the stomach growls!

I have failed to see once and again how decision are made in Jordan, I saw three zones to be dedicated to towers, but the prominent tower projects are in areas that can't handle it.

I have seen Her Majesty on Oprah and on Youtube and I thought surely women's rights have improved at least, the UN Gender-related Development index says that we actually failed to improve with the world and our ranking fell 7 steps in one cycle.

14.2% live under the national poverty line, making Jordan a whole country that needs to be dealt with and not just "poverty areas". 850 thousand people live in poverty in Jordan. The situation isn't improving. It has definitely gotten worse.

Undernourishment is something no one speaks about, people have a general saying in Jordan, no one starves to death, well, BREAKING NEWS:

The rate of Jordanians suffering from undernourishment rose from 4% to 7% in 10 years, and the last report was in 2003, I am presuming that with current food prices and the inflation that has brought Jordan to a freeze, 10% is the current number.

Well, at least we can do something about it, we can elect a parliament to improve the situation, right? well, WRONG, we rank 113 out of 167 in terms of democracy, and to prove it, ever wondered who picks the Mayor of Amman? Yes, Jordan is an Authoritarian regime.

How about the programs of e-government and electronic transparency and all that we were told about for a few years since 1999, well, we rank 53 out of 70. Not one thing in the government can be achieved online. Even by failed States Index, we are in the warning zone!

The days when the military was the assuring force in Jordan are long gone, we spend 8.60% of our GDP on the military, and people don't want to spend more, we also know that most of the military think the salaries aren't sufficient which is yielding a very unstable factor in Jordan and and an armed one at that. The days when a military job meant a sustainable career are over and don't expect the people who benefit most of it to be happy. We have 17.4 people considered active troops per 1,000 citizens, and to maintain them a big chunk of our taxes.

Why maintain such a sizeable army? I have no idea!

Other indicators that fell in Jordan: Accountability, Voice, Political Stability, Absence of Violence, Government Effectiveness, Regulatory Quality and Rule of Law.

Why such a bleak picture? well, mainly because it is based on facts, and second I believe we are going to have a whole lot of internal trouble if anything new comes up. People are almost fed-up, and if there isn't any immediate improvement, people will go to extremes. That includes a revival of an Islamic party, protests and public or mass strikes.

Please people wake up!!!

Jordan led the way

2008-05-03T01:25:00.002+02:00

Al Arabiya News did a program a few minutes ago, suggesting that Sudan might be the solution to the price of grains, Jordan has been planting in (the?) Sudan for a few seasons now, but I don't want the people to forget what got us there in the first place.

The United States has been the breadbasket of the world world for the past 50 years at least and one season changed it all. The frost and deterioration of the weather plus the switch to corn (because of bush's ingenious bio-fuel initiative) almost destroyed the harvest of wheat, so lets not create another basket for us to put all our eggs in.

Sudan might be a smart idea, yet I want people (especially Americans and to a lesser extent Europeans) to understand that 271 Kilograms of corn can feed an average African kid for a year, while it can produce 17 Liters of bio-fuel.

The only way for an effective solution to the price of grains is for local subsidies for farmers and progressive plans that will allow the costs of farming to be diluted between farmers. Something like the good old days of socialism.

On another note, if the whole farmlands of the United States were farmed corn instead of wheat, the price of wheat would at least quadruple and would only suffice for 10% of the Americans' needs for fuel! So please stop buying ethanol and stuff like that, and think hydrogen, hybrid, electric or anything else for that matter.

Arrrrrrgggggggg!!!!

2008-05-01T00:17:00.003+02:00

That's all I can say about tonight's match, I won't talk about the referee, or about the chances or even about drogba, all I'll say in all the class I can muster at this moment is "You'll Never Walk Alone"

Thanks Benitez for an exciting season and there is always next year.

Arrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggggg!!!

Islam might not mean terrorism

2008-04-23T19:38:00.003+02:00

I did a post a while back,

Really, just ask Google, in google sets, it was terrifying to note that if you enter three words like "Islam, Muslim, Mohammed, Religion" it will give you a set with the next word being Terrorist as part of a set.

I mean come on, "Bus, Car,Automobile" will give you "Train, Boat, Airplane" which sounds reasonable. But the above mentioned example is horrendous, fix it google, lest you turnout as jyllandes posten

I have to admit goggle sets fixed it, and that was something I didn't expect.
Thanks, I guess. It might do them a favour.

Big boys and their expensive toys -part 2

2008-03-25T21:17:00.004+02:00

Who hadn't wished to have a cloak of invisibility when reading or watching Harry Potter, some of us even fiddled with the ring around their fingers in hopes of imitating the hobbits of the Lord of the Rings.

It is not in the least bit surprising that these ideas are actually being implemented, although on lower scales than you would expect and for reasons far less noble and far more militant than the kids inside of us would like.

The kids of Britain and the United States have in fact thought about this, and they think that it is probable that they will have their own harry potter cloak soon. It is funny to note that they are actually arguing that basically "Mine is better than yours."

Check here, here, here and here to understand more

I personally wish for cap of invisibility like in kafroun.

Boys and their toys

2008-03-01T05:43:00.006+02:00

I hope you understand that some parts of this are tounge-in-cheek commentary, that tries to focus on topics of importance to life.

It is my current belief that many of the people in the spotlight today are just big boys playing with big toys, I believe that they stem from psychological issues, such as over-compensation for tiny penile endowment, for troublesome withdrawal from toys or for simple need to get laid.

I do start off this series with an example of someone else who noticed, I am not alone in this, I do believe that this idea is out there, but hey, try me, then judge me.

If "I can guide a missile by satellite," then I do believe that it would be the ultimate toy!

I do ask that a more detailed and thorough check of male candidates takes place, it has to include the kinds of toys they were deprived of as young boys and to also include a check of whether or not he is a current collector of such toys in larger or more advanced versions.

If kid wanted to play cowboys and Indians, but always ended up with the Indians because he didn't have a colt, then maybe it's not wise to make him a president, "we must not fail to comprehend it's grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved, so is the very structure of our society... we must guard against the acquisition of unwanted toys whether sought or unsought by the kids-need-toys complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced toys exists." even Eisenhower agrees.

Maybe if we gave him the guns and sniper rifles in 2001, we could have saved lives, who knows! If anyone notices unprecedented growth in Crawford, Texas trees, then maybe it's because we know how to make fertilizer.

A state is born!

2008-02-17T21:03:00.002+02:00

It was a rather notable experiment of international politics and international law today, the declaration of independence of Kosovo.

On March 28, 2004, columnist Georgie Anne Geyer quoted Richard Holbrooke as saying " 'The recognition of an independent Kosovo and eventual membership in the European Union would be the best way to bring permanent peace and stability to the Balkans.' The leadership in Belgrade 'should finally come to terms with the new reality and choose either Kosovo or the E.U.but if Serbia chooses Kosovo over the E.U., it will end up with neither."

That's like tellign a kid, you could choose to get get a candy or not, but if you choose to get a candy, I won't pay for it and i'll tell the shopkeeper not to give it to you!

Some countries will recognize it, let's start with the obvious list, USA, UK, France, Italy, Germany and most probably not Spain.

Well, read about that here.

I also predict that Muslim countries will unanimously recognize it, it's simple enough really, they don't think Albania is enough for Albanians, they think we should have another 100 Muslim countries, based solely on ethnicities and racist ideals.

I call today on The President of the United Stated and all his allies to acknowledge the movement towards seperation by Dearborn, Michigan. They are arabs and looking forward to forming their country. I guess!

But this indepenedence isn't like The Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace, that Barlow drafted, it is effective and it will give the Kosovars a state. They will be prtoected and Russia will just have to deal with it, maybe by supporting Georgian seperatists.

I really do remember when I knew every country on the map! I also remmember one little thing about the USSR

ISRAEL RECOGNIZED EARLY BY RUSSIANS; Moscow Was Third to Greet New Nation -- Attitude Changed During 1949

So let's just piss them off and recognize Kosovo. Although my browser doesn't and keep throwing that squigly like below the word as I am typing "Kosovo". Well, Firefox, take a hint!!

Why go Independent

2008-02-15T20:04:00.001+02:00

I was reading a counterpunch article, and though I've never linked to them before, they are really insightful, check it here!

to quote a few words

So, Kosovo will have no say on taxation, on foreign and security policy, on customs, on law enforcement. The only thing independent about "independent" Kosovo is that it will be independent of Serbia. In fact, there is not the slightest pretense that duly elected Kosovo authorities will have any say about anything other than perhaps refuse collection, though, doubtless even here, the authorities will have to follow E.U. guidelines or pay a penalty.

and he leads to it of course, which is truly shocking, that Imperialism is still present to this day and age!

Finally

2008-02-01T06:23:00.000+02:00

As many of you would have noticed, the url bar has something different to say, I am now the proud owner of http://headwindblows.info, I have also found out how you can very simply keep the same blog just migrate it to a custom domain.

I bought this domain for $2.99 or something absurd like that, I am not going to bore you with how much www.radi-family.com cost, or the prices of hosting aajobs.com, because that was years ago and this is now. Thanks godaddy.

I also got myself a little present, I changed internet providers, I switched to TE DATA and got myself a static IP address for the addictive game of bootleggers. Now I am suffering because of the break in the marine cables.

Lets give this blog another try!

Random acts of kindness

2007-12-02T12:32:00.004+02:00

I pride myself of doing random acts of kindness, picking up litter, allowing people to overtake me or cross me while driving or even when walking, but not right now, I was proud that I left enough space in the airport parking for another car when I parked, but that didn't end well.

I had to use both spots to park, but I felt bad for taking two spots so I decided that I should only take one and therefore I parked accordingly. Unfortunately, i was boxed in by an inconsiderate driver who parked very close behind me, it took me an hour of negotiating with my car to try and get it out, and I couldn't.

Finally, the driver of that car decided to go home and let me leave as well.

Islam might mean Terrorism

2007-12-01T14:59:00.001+02:00

Really, just ask Google, in google sets, it was terrifying to note that if you enter three words like "Islam, Muslim, Mohammed, Religion" it will give you a set with the next word being Terrorist as part of a set.

I mean come on, "Bus, Car,Automobile" will give you "Train, Boat, Airplane" which sounds reasonable. But the above mentioned example is horrendous, fix it google, lest you turnout as jyllandes posten

Lemme just say this.

2007-11-20T15:40:00.000+02:00

I get annoyed when people try to adapt Islam to the current system of governance or economics. When people say Islam is a Democracy, I get pissed.

Islam is in my opinion a huge leap towards perfect government, it is by far the most difficult to apply, because it requires people to cooperate in everything from paying taxes and splitting up their money after death, to choices that people guard as too personal.

But it is not at all democratic. If all you choose to think about is who rules, then it is semi-democratic, but if you look at the overall principal, which is the people choosing the laws, making them and then revoking them, then Islam does not allow this.

Let us first look at the word "Democracy," the word "demos" is the first part of the word "demo-cracy", the second being "cratos," which means "power," that is "power of the people." In practice the latter was achieved by having each citizen represent ONLY himself. There were no representatives, senators, etc. The "trick" of representatives was contrived later by the Romans to marginalize the rabble, that is the "demos."

Islam does not want the people to choose for themselves, it has a set of laws already set up and doesn't recognize the role of people other than that of implementation. θεοκρατία (theokratia) is what is Islam is, roughly meaning theocracy, which is the rule of God, not to be confused with the rhetoric of oppressive theocracy.

Tory democracy is a political philosophy advocating preservation of established institutions and traditional principles combined with political democracy and a social and economic program designed to benefit the common man. This is closer to Islam.

Too much technology?

2007-11-14T20:53:00.000+02:00

I am aware that I may sound like Justin Timberlake, in his horribly-worded-but-amazingly-addictive-sounding song "She wants it." I am afraid of the lack of low-tech in our life. I always believed technology can and does make our lives easier and more manageable. I have numerous friends I contact primarily through recent technology. But I am currently withdrawing. Because I could care less.

I am an early Internet user, I started with the advent of the Internet in the middle east, It was in the UAE, that was back in 1995, I have been with it, through the banner exchanges and the hit counters, the first cookies and MSIE 1.0 till youtube and Web 2.0, I was one of the first 500 users in the UAE and I am not bragging. I was 10 and I was spoiled, I remember when an engineer came to install "the Internet" from a floppy to my computer which had a state-of-the-art builtin 36,600 bits per second modem, I remember that he was (the technician) Indian with two or three fingers missing from his left hand. I was amazed by his proffesionalism and his non-condescending attitude, he showed me a couple of sites where i can download games but he also showed me how to d/c, write an email, then dial-up and send it. I even remember the pricing system.

I paid 100 AED (almost US$ 30) for the first 10 hours, and 10 AED for each hour after. I even had my own website at the age of 10, it was hosted by geocities in the "Enchanted Forest" section. I learned html, PHP, perl and many other languages and ways to improve my site, I also ventured in some profitable and some not-so-profitable businesses, I even might have committed electronic fraud, and may or may not have registered aajobs.com with a stolen credit card, my uncle hosted the site, and ran it for a long while afterwards, but that was in 1996, I was only 11.

So you can see that I am not a technophobe, in fact I might even be a technophile, but I am starting to regret it. Money permitting, I always bought the latest gadgets, and the best applications and the most advanced systems, but recently I feel burnt-out. Technology became a very fast and very demanding world.

A month ago, I had to open and read through a manual, I never did that, not for computers or gadgets, not for cellphones or cameras, but I had to do it for our washing machine, then I knew that sometime in the near or far future someone will tell me a techy acronym and I wont know what it is and I will fall behind. It is a scary thought given my past, but it is inevitable.

I can't get it off me

2007-10-08T03:40:00.001+02:00

The way Jordan is sinking into Globalization, I have been trying to put of this post till later, till I have a solid argument, but today I took a trip to the so-called "people markets", I had enough time to go to different markets and I was appalled.

I am not going to write about the piles of rubbish and lack of sanitation, nor am I going to talk about the obvious lack of supervision, the government turns a blind eye and for different reasons I will too, for now!

I am going to talk however about a different phenomenon, when I looked at the people I could definitely sense the desperation, a civil-servant was pushing through the mini-crowd of old ladies and other men, to grab a tomato that appeared not too green. It had a hint of red, and he had to have it, I guess the "2allaya" was important to his kids who waited in the double-parked government car.

It reminded me of a conversation I had with a shop-keeper in the beginning of Ramadan, he clearly told me that he owns a farm, so he will start producing two tiers of produce, (excuse the redundancy but I am a bit aggravated) one will be for his shop, while the second -obviously lower- will be for the popular markets.

Now I am not naive, I heard tissue factory managers and antique dealers tell me the same stuff, but I want to draw attention to something, the alternative here was not placing them side by side, "it would scare people away if I did that", the alternative was "throwing it out, or maybe give it to some herdsman"

This is what is happening, animal stock are starving, no of course I am kidding although you could see where I came with that conclusion, the people are eating vegetable that used to be considered animal grade.

The prices are going down but for years the government thought the best way was to be punitive with such acts, no they are condoning it in the name of feeding the poor, while poor people have dignity and standards, they go right out of the window when you have proud fasting kids waiting to be fed.

I am not going to go into details about the horrible state of meat and chicken but I am sure you can draw conclusions from paralleling. I miss the days when price control and government salary made sure each hard working Jordanian had the ability to feed his children meat more than once a month.

I fear we are becoming like Egypt in the movies of the 80s and 90s

peace, out

Alternative music

2007-10-06T03:28:00.000+02:00

I enjoy new Jordanian talent, especially if their music is a bit alternative and a bit fresh, I like hearing stuff like "samar o samira, o 3adnan o leena, o sandy bell, o Sebastian, o spunk, o flona, hadol aflam kartooooon" against a backdrop of dramatic music.

It was hilarious, exhilarating and rejuvenating, trust me, just listen to his songs here, I mean seriously he is going to be big if he ever gets a real label behind him. In the mean wish him luck

Yazan Al Rousan is my topic of the day

I Got Shivers

2007-10-04T15:12:00.000+02:00

... when I read this article about his late majesty, his bravery shone through, he lived in an atmosphere that was with no doubt nerve-wrecking, and he was 22, just as old as I am today, instead of learning of the world, as any young man would like to, he had to manipulate it for the benefit of Jordan.

..but in London there was increasing talk of a "villa at Lausanne" as a suitable reward for Hussein. For Jordan, a melancholy excuse for a nation, is unable to support its people without subsidy, unable to protect its government without outside help. If it continued to exist, it would only be because everyone, at the summit or elsewhere, decided that its eradication would be worse.

Imagine a 22-year-old reading that his stay, his kingdom and the future of the region was to be weighed against the "villa at Lausanne" option. Imagine having your country called "a melancholy excuse for a nation." I am sure Jordan is now known as the last stand of moderation in the Middle East, and that's its eradication would be much worse, almost detrimental to the region.

One thing that didn't change much over the years is that Jordan is "unable to support its people without subsidy." Hopefully in the next few years, with the Petroleum prices freed, we will have for once financial independence, a pre-requisite for a meaningful political independence.

I Feel Old

2007-10-02T14:06:00.000+02:00

I really do, the other day I went to a computer store and asked for an external hard-drive, I was shocked to discover the numbers they spoke off. (the picture shows the 8.0", 5.25", 3.5" from left to right)

See, 15 years ago, I was what was called a computer geek, I wrote my own programs that harassed the computer user, I remember having old computers that you needed to boot-up from 5.25" floppy, and the laughing as my brothers tried to compare the cassette to it. Then having upgraded to the first MS Windows system, we had a computer with an internal hard drive that was huge. It was astronomical, in comparison of course, "double density" floppies had a capacity of 360KB and the more modern "quad density" had a capacity of 720 KB. I remember a six 3.5" floppy which had windows 6.22, which I installed on a laptop with a hard drive of 25 MB, almost seventeen 3.5" or 35 of the 5.25"variety.

The computer store clerk could tell I was in disbelief, I was remembering my uncle saying "The Human brain is measured in terms of Terabytes,"

I had to ask my uncle "and that is?"

"1024 Gigabytes which are 1024 Megabytes each," he said. "but dont worry it wont take up a whole room, it would be as big as a book but that might be 25 or 30 years in the future."

No one accused my uncle of being a visionary, Doctors today say that the human brain is in the Exabyte range, at least, and probably in the Zettabyte. The drive I saw was external but check this out here. The size is almost the same as the size of the 1.44MB 3.5" floppy drive shown at the right of the picture above. Size equal capacity 700,000 times greater.

I didn't know that we were there already, but I was shocked. I didn't buy it but I bought a Western Digital 500GB, it is a life-saver and so cheap.

Childrens Do Learn

2007-09-30T22:13:00.000+02:00

On a continuation of a topic I spoke about a couple of weeks ago, Mr. President went against me and insisted that plurals sound better with an "s".

Check it out here, again he opted to use a grammatically incorrect sentence when speaking of children scores. When I was googling the topic, I got this page which tries hard to correct me, Mr. President: I am sorry but you have to insist the google
keep up to speed with your hip lingo: "Is our children learning?" should be accepted by grammar checkers because it has entered the daily language. You wish.

Blogging from an E61i

2007-09-28T19:52:00.000+02:00

Lucky for me the flavour of the day here at books@cafe -or whatever it is called since I feel ancient with all the changes that happen around Amman- is hazelnut. See I am now three days in using this phone and I am addicted to it. On the spot blogging is to be expected from now on, wireless connection permitting ofcourse.

It was also an opportunity to see a sign I seldom see in Ramadan. "Breakfast from: 7:00 am till 2:00 pm."

Horrific Video

2007-09-26T11:59:00.000+02:00

I was horrified when I saw this video,

It is actually a video of someone being totally careless and deliberately disruptive, worst of all -حاميها حراميها- those are the people who are paid and entrusted to provide security in Iraq, they are running around shooting at people. Aegis are the people who made this video, they are currently immune from prosecution.

Then, two days before he left Iraq for good, L. Paul Bremer III, the Coalition Provisional Authority administrator, signed a blanket order immunizing all Americans, because, as one of his former top aides told me, “we wanted to make sure our military, civilians and contractors were protected from Iraqi law.”

This is according to this article, because Iraq the land of the Hammurabi code, Mesopotamia, is so horrific in it's laws that killers and mercenaries need protection from. People focus on the blackwater while there are tens of other companies doing the exact same everyday and no one ever got convicted or even indicted.

democracy

2007-09-24T12:33:00.000+02:00

This is a quote that really makes you think

Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right.
H. L. Mencken
US editor (1880 - 1956)

It is true, when you watch the American stories about then potential party candidates and what others are saying about them and the dirt that is being dug up, you can't help but wonder, is any one of these fit to rule.

I am going to go out on a limb here, I think by 2010 or 2011, there will be PM in Jordan that is actually elected from within the parliament, but the problem will be that the choice will be so ill-suited that we will feel at once like the Americans.

Ramadan Prices

2007-09-22T23:51:00.000+02:00

I wasn't shocked when I realized that it happened, prices are going to climb every Ramadan, the government and His Majesty are trying to provide an outlet for the destitute and the impoverished, the effort is sincere but the self-gratification is inevitable.

In layman's terms: tell the people we created a market for the poor, and you tell the people that all other markets are for the rich, merchants will think "I will raise the prices since there is a place for people who don't like it." I agree with Fahed Al-Fanek on this.

Check it out here and here

Obviously the government is not resurrecting the Ministry of Supply, but everyone who reads this blog knows I am no capitalist, but I do agree that people should not speculate when there are statistics, however, a 65% decrease in the cost of fruits and vegetables where taken directly from middle-men, intermediaries.

I think the governments role should be somewhere else, releasing support of any kind, to any industry, let the market take it's place and then, like we saw in the banks, telecommunication, insurance and other sectors go back to the regulation role.

Why such a change of heart from me? Not really, the next step should be tax exemptions for collectives and co-ops which will pave the way for a more socialistic endeavour, more on that later.

Irony

2007-09-20T13:43:00.000+02:00

Antione Ghanem died last night, an MP from the March 14 assembly, which includes these people. I wanted to stray off-topic but I had to mention these people to support my point.

Feb 2005: Ex-PM Rafik Hariri

June 2005: Anti-Syria journalist Samir Kassir

June 2005: Ex-Communist leader George Hawi

Dec 2005: Anti-Syria MP Gebran Tueni

Nov 2006: Industry Minister Pierre Gemayel

June 2007: Anti-Syria MP Walid Eido

Sep 2007: Anti-Syria MP Antoine Ghanim

I was watching LBC and they had an ad made of people welcoming kinships and family at the Airport. They ran it beautifully, it was leading to a proclamation that stunned me:

"The Safest Country in the World"

I live in Jordan and while we do have a fear of terrorism in the wake of our 9-11, which happened on the 9th of November almost two years ago, I can guarantee that Jordan is still safer that Lebanon. I can also tell of the Irony of watching a member of parliament not yet 48 hours in the country from his fearful stay outside Lebanon (in Abu Dhabi), foolowed by such a daring advertisement for lebanon.

Salon again

2007-09-18T16:38:00.000+02:00

I ran into a Freedom Airlines pilot a week ago at Kennedy airport. We were standing in line together, catching a flight to Boston. He was a captain (four stripes), but looked about 17 years old. I was trying to figure out which company he flew for, but couldn't make sense of the star-spangled logo on his I.D. badge. So I asked him.

"I fly for Freedom," he responded.

I wasn't sure if he was answering my question or making a political statement. I wanted to put my arm on his shoulder. "We all do, son. We all do."

I am still laughing as I write this, this is an excerpt from one of my favourite columns, it is by Patrick Smith of Salon.com, check out this weeks episode from a career pilot.

Missionary

2007-09-16T16:35:00.000+02:00

No, I am not going to start a series about sexual positions, nor am I even going close, I am talking about a missionary effort of another sort. See I believe in freedom of belief and religion, but I do not believe in being harassed by the Good News Magazine in their efforts to spread Christianity in the middle east, I believe all unsolicited mail to be harassment and illegal.

However, I must say that what they do write in their booklets -of which I am a frequent recipient- sometimes sounds appealing to my Muslim roots, I guess all religious people are conservative in the same way. To me, the belief system is based on predicting the future, which I know that no one can do. I am waiting for "What's Ahead for America and Britian?" and "What does the bible say about Tithing?"

It is going to be amusing seeing clergymen defending sizable donations to the churches.

My favourite dogs

2007-09-14T14:08:00.000+02:00

I always wanted to own this dog, I personally can't think of another dog that has this much grace, I would have got one a while back when we were living in the farm, but my family insisted on a guard dog, and it isn't. This is the Siberian Husky.

His well furred body, erect ears and brush tail suggest his Northern heritage. His characteristic gait is smooth and seemingly effortless. He performs his original function in harness most capably, carrying a light load at a moderate speed over great distances. His body proportions and form reflect this basic balance of power, speed and endurance. The males of the Siberian Husky breed are masculine but never coarse; the females are feminine but without weakness of structure. In proper condition, with muscle firm and well developed, the Siberian Husky does not carry excess weight. (Basically think of this dog as an endurance sleigh dog), his temperament of the Siberian Husky is friendly and gentle, but also alert and outgoing. He does not display the possessive qualities of the guard dog, nor is he overly suspicious of strangers or aggressive with other dogs. Some measure of reserve and dignity may be expected in the mature dog. His intelligence, tractability, and eager disposition make him an agreeable companion and willing worker. According to akc.org

I also think that its relatives of Nordic and in general northern species are also beautiful. These are the the Norwegian Elkbound, and the Alaskan Malamute.

Bonus, stock options and others.

2007-09-12T22:55:00.000+02:00

When someone the other day attacked my normal support for more socialistic ownership of production, I was shocked, not by the fact that he did, but because I know that this person is not an owner of anything.

I always knew it is easier to convince the have-nots than the haves about social programs and public welfare, I didn't expect that people have been so brainwashed recently that they believe that mere capitalism is what makes people happy. It is more surprising since capitalists don't believe it anymore.

Big Corporations offer people bonuses for a job well done, to implement the following ethos in the worker "What's good for the company is good for you." That's also why executives always get stock options, to give them a reason not to bail out on the company, their wallets are attached to it.

Corporations realized that they need to survive and grow more than they need to stick to capitalistic tendencies. Ownership to the workers makes more money to the invested capital, which is exactly what socialism is.

Aircrafts, Specie, and other annoyances

2007-09-10T22:23:00.000+02:00

I get annoyed when I find a site called aircrafts.com, or when people say "I'm back to Headquarter." I personally understand the former better, I can understand the need for people to go that extra mile and add an "S"

"Sleep with the fishes," comes to mind.

Go here for plurals. This is ironically a German site but it works.

being inconvenient pays

2007-09-08T14:36:00.000+02:00

We all know that Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth" is amazing, but I just learned that it grossed $49 million and that it is the fourth-highest-grossing documentary film to date in the United States, after Fahrenheit 9/11, March of the Penguins and Sicko. I only watched Fahrenheit 9/11 and Al Gore's film.

He received two academy awards for it, but that's not what I want to talk about. I encourage everyone to go see it, even if you are a green person who spent the last three decades saving wildlife and studying the environment.

The movie is entertaining, it is filled with accurate and scientific facts, it made me think, alot.

Pope goes green, you should too!

2007-09-06T14:33:00.000+02:00

If the pope took notice and drew a rally of half a million people in Italy, then we should all do stuff to stop our effect on nature, on the environment, I personally think of the environment every time I turn on a light, turn the ignition of a car or start a fire for a BBQ.

I think inefficiencies and waste are the areas were we can save the most energy, especially in Jordan, were we can't buy green energy, but think of offsetting technologies too.

Education

2007-09-04T16:48:00.002+02:00

It is depressing, to note that in a ranking of education, literacy, the top 75 countries in the world have only one Arab country, ironically enough it has probably the poorest, most unfortunate conditions for education. Palestine.

Second is obviously Jordan, as I said, numerous times I said before and I will say it again, Humans are our only resource, and they should be above and beyond any other country in the world. This is sad, since GDP per Capita for a country like Qatar is 6 times that of Jordan, 33049 compared to 5542, Yet they have comparable rates of literacy.

2% of Jordanians live on less than $2 per day, that is what I pay in Internet and land line fees, What is Qatar's excuse?

Beautiful work of art

2007-09-02T17:55:00.000+02:00

As a fan of "The Godfather" and Mario Puzo, I was ecstatic when I saw this piece of manual intelligence. It is good!

It is made up of the whole script of the movie, I would have posted it if it wasn't very taxing to my blog and if it wasn't illegal. but here is a link.

enjoy!

Nice Draw

2007-08-30T22:15:00.001+02:00

We could have had it worse, but we could have had it much better, but Liverpool with Besiktas, Porto and Marseille is not too bad, we can easily make if by nothing other than our home wins, beacuse THIS IS ANFIELD!

Free flight sim!

2007-08-28T21:52:00.000+02:00

Flight simulator in google earth! That was my expression when I hear it but then I had to try it out, it does control nicely although the controls are counter-intuitive and therefore I blew up a few aircrafts trying.

I couldn't find info about it on the official site of google earth, but download version 4.2 and then try it out (ctrl-alt-a)

peace, out

Understanding Power

2007-08-26T22:22:00.000+02:00

I am really getting to understand why the New York Times called him "arguably the most important intellectual alive," he really has that thing about him, he keeps up with current events and knows how to link past, present and future, when you read what he writes, especially when it is a collection of speeches and talks, which are by definition easy to understand and entertaining if you are interested in the topic, I would dare say that I don't agree with everything he says, but then again I would have to have a second look before I claim something.

I bought this book, it does not seize to amaze me, I know many of the facts in the book but when he analyzes them, I literally stop and think, and I hope he reads this some day, till then, I would like to annoy any fans of his by saying this, I met him in York University, Canada and I actually conversed with him.

I will however write here anything that I want to disagree with this great mind, also, I now want a dozen more of his books.

God's Warriors

2007-08-22T09:04:00.000+02:00

I am not a person to be quickly hail a program or an investigative report, even if done by Christian Amanpour, but last night's God's Warriors promised a straight forward, fair and balanced journalism, tonight it will talk about Islamic God Warriors which if anything tells you that it shall be a fun-packed adventure.

I love it when people break the religion taboo and talk about it openly, but when she brought the segment about Jewish fanatics she explained AIPAC and their funding, which is a good step, to tell us that charities in the US are helping in building settlements that, even under US foreign policy, are illegal.

I wonder if I tried to register a charity in the US which supports the legal right of resisting occupation, would it go through as peacefully. I guess that is a challenge to lawyers right there.

Now that's not fair

2007-08-20T21:58:00.000+02:00

I know some have seen the Chelsea match, Liverpool definitely deserves the two points that Styles awarded Chelsea with that bizarre penalty, he admits it was wrong but we don't get the points. What's the point!

I hate it when it happens because our first home match was difficult enough to have with Chelsea, but to rob us from a home win against chelsea is just too much, it was Torres' first goal with with us.

Anyways, I feel good about the coming season, because it seems we have all the roles filled with the right people and a few to spare.

You'll never walk alone

IAF pulls out, good riddance

2007-08-02T11:23:00.001+02:00

I seriously believe that the previous municipal elections in Jordan were fair and honest, I looked at the process and I personally believe that it is extremely hard if not impossible to have dual registration or to manipulate the results, each candidate had an option to have a representative present in voting halls and the IAF did take that option.

Islamic Action Front has always accused the government of fraud in the elections while most of the other parties who had losing candidates maintained that the elections were fair, IAF, I believe, fell into the same trap most relegious movements fall inot, they believe that all of the people attending prayers in their mosques and who were helped to be registered by them, will eventually vote for them. Nothing is farther from the truth.

I admire many of the sheiks in mosques who go ahead and run for seats, they contribute alot to the welfare of the society, and provide seriously, whether in terms of morals and ideals or in term of social networking and social justice and honesty.

However, people are not going to automatically poll for such candidates in elections, some people prefer technocrats (as I do) while others simply have tribal loyalties, many others vote for the person who they think will be able to do personal favors for them, regardless of whether or not it will be beneficial to the district and country as a whole.

They lost fair and square, the sooner they will accept it, the sooner they can work to solve it for the parliamentary elections. Where I voted, there were two engineers running from the same clan, I ended up casting a vote for the one whom I thought was in it for the right reasons.

If the IAF would choose prominent members of clans who are well educated and can be considered technocrats, then it is easier for them to win sympathies of clans and people who look for the contentment of the country in services. However, if they continue to choose serious member of the Islamic movement who are educated in theocracy and theology then they will never reach the position of responsibility outside their own organizations.

P.S. I said they will claim fraud and cheat in this election almost a week ago, they did, no surprise.

You cause it, you pay for it

2007-07-30T19:50:00.000+02:00

When I first saw an apartment I liked it was priced at 120 thousand Jordanian Dinars, today I saw the same apartment sold for 320 thousand JD, which reminded of an incident a few summers ago when I went to buy Tomatoes, they were priced at 10p/Kg today the same store sells them for 50p/Kg. You could teach me about inflation all you want but the time frame I am talking about is not what you think it is, unless, of course, you do reside in Amman.

The time frame is two years and we are not located in 2003 Brazil, (although in certain sectors we beat the 77% rate as mentioned earlier) I remember reading somewhere that from 1964 through 1994, the accumulated inflation rate in Brazil fetched 1,000,000,000,000,000 % (that´s one quatrillion percent) !! This fantastic figure is not an estimate; it was calculated by Joelmir Beting, a well respected Brazilian journalist, based on the official inflation numbers.

As I said, we aren't Brazil, we are Jordan were the inflation rate is controlled through control of prices of commodities and especially necessities. Water, electricity, fuel and cement were until recently all controlled, all but cement still are.

This saved the government the effort of trying to control what i call the inverted up loop. Once they let the cement price go free, so, naturally due to inflation and commercially due to LaFarge's monopoly of the region's cement, the prices went nuts as they did worldwide, the prices increased steadily with demand.

Which brings me to my the real point, the demand increased because of the influx of Iraqis moving in to the country, the estimate in about a half a million Iraqis which means an average of 100,000 apartments, this is what is called unnatural growth. If prices of apartments and shops and land went up, followed by the price of fuel, which runs everything in this country, then we can guesstimate that if the Iraqis left the countries the demand will decrease and prices of apartments will go down. The government chose another route, to build subsidized housing for the lowest income in Jordan, this subsidy I believe should be paid by Iraq, whether in terms of oil or otherwise.

I therefore, agree that the Iraqis caused inflation and they should either pay for it or leave, two ways to deflate it. I think that our infrastructure is being stretched thin by this influx, and we should address it head on.

No Taxation without representation

2007-07-28T09:27:00.000+02:00

I believe in this motto as a general guide for any tax system, Because we, as Ammanites, pay an increasingly unrealistic tax-rate for services rendered and not, we should be active in the upcoming elections, although I have certain comments about the state of the greater Amman Municipality or in other words the "amaneh".

It seems unrealistic that we pay the "amaneh" for pavement but we do them our selves, that we have the highest pothole per meter ratio, while the amaneh has the highest income of any goverment agency. That we still don't have an efficient numbering system in Amman, although the system is in place, the municipality has not done anything to make it viable. Only recently have the buildings on main streets received decent visible numbering. They could enforce a test on all taxi drivers to memorize the street names, or at least on courier companies. I would accept any positive step in Amman.

The other thing is that half of the council of the "amaneh" is elected while the other is appointed which makes little room for the demands of people, I would accept as a first step the Mayor, to be appointed while the whole council elected.

They pull me back in

2007-07-26T10:48:00.000+02:00

"Just when I thought I was out--they pull me back in!" That's my feeling about Palestinian politics, I could spend obscene amount of time trying to avoid reading about it, but if a spend a minute reading any title I get confused on why exactly do I want to avoid it.

Palestinian politics is getting more and more complicated every day, the people are suffering yet more, their threshold is continuously being tested and unfortunately no one is present to give them the results of those tests.

Hamas won the election and I wrote in 30-1-2006 that Hamas winning is not necessarily good for the Palestinians, if anything it is bad, time proved I am right in a sense, but it was expected, only a minority of serious observers of Palestinian politics thought that Hamas had the power to tell the people of the world that they are looking for peace through blowing up people.

International opinion is against Hamas is almost unified, they believe that Israel is to recognised and that a unity government that recognizes all the previous accords and agreements is to be placed. This is like telling Hamas: "You won, you get to participate in the same kind of government you were ushered in to throw out, and you get to loose all the rational that brought you in, if you agree, you are done, no one will elect you again, if you don't then we will starve your people."

Hamas has a lot to be blamed for, the Coup d'État in Gaza and the starvation of the Palestinians are among the most visible while there are more vague ones, I would honestly call it a destabilization of the elections in the region, look at Egypt and elsewhere, the effects will cause people to be afraid to vote for Islamic candidates. I can almost guarantee that the next elections in Jordan, the municipal elections, are going to called unfair and undemocratic with calls at forgery and similar claims. My guess is Islamic Action Front (IAF), no one will vote for them because people fear another Hamas in Jordan.

Yet Another Inch and Momuntem Builds

2007-07-06T18:06:00.000+02:00

When I started my diet, I didn't think my weightloss target was realistic, but when I looked at my brother Rami, who maintained a very healthy body, I was always struck by envy, I don't want to be as big as him, but I want to have as little fat as he does in his body, today my waist is 42" and therefore I feel closer to my target.

I don't feel bothered by my new eating habits, if anything, I feel refreshed, and the continous shrink in my size doesn't hurt, although I now believe that I lost alot of fat, I would still like to see it on the scale.

Thank God for Science

2007-07-04T16:37:00.000+02:00

I really am grateful that I live in this time, yet I despise having to live in it, I wish I lived in a simpler time but I don't know what I would do without science, I mean i read books that are published, transported and delivered in such a maze of technology and hyperactivity that I could spend an hour talking about the stages a book goes through technology. I am addcited to books, so I am therefore addicted to technology.

I am grateful that a book talking about the science of the human body is become a bestseller even if it is written speaking to a 12-year-old. I am talking about "You: On A Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management"

I am also talking about alot of advancements that not only popularized knowledge and made it more available, it also made it more accessible. I hate the fact that know-it-alls these days follow the saying "Jack of all trades, master of none" because of the dedication required of mastering one.

Mars as big as the moon?

2007-07-02T23:57:00.000+02:00

How can people be so gullible? I have received numerous e-mails talking about august 27th at 12:30 PM as a chance to see mars close enough to be as big to the naked eye as the moon and that this will only happen again in 2778 or something to that extent.

If that did happen it will probably pull the gravity of earth out of balance and probably derail the the earth off its orbit around the sun and maybe even cause it to burn up or freeze over when changing the proximity of earth to the sun.

I wasn't shocked that NASA put up this page and the good news for me is the events they talk about in the in 2003, I witnessed them in Canada back then.

Enjoy Jordan

2007-06-26T23:54:00.000+02:00

I'm being sincere, I'm not playing a pun about the weather and I am not trying to convince you to leave Jordan, I really mean it. I went to Dana Nature Reserve last weekend and although the weather was aggravating and the sun roasting, it was a beautiful experience. We went on a four hour trail starting at 8 am from Dana village to Feynan Eco-Lodge.

I am going to Ajloun reserve next month and I strongly recommend the reserves to anyone who enjoys a bit of nature, adventure or both.

I will post some pictures soon, come back later

101 things to do before you die - 2

2007-06-24T21:44:00.000+02:00

Be an Extra in a Film:

If your character had a name, what was it? no
What was the title of the film you were in? Betrayal! (documentary, i was in the Mordechai Vanunu one)
Did you have a speaking part? I guess, but the sound did not show up on film
Where did you see the film? still didn't see it. I will see it in august when Omyr brings it
If yes, write some of your lines? We want peace
How long did filming take? 2 mins
What was your total screen time? a few seconds
How did you get to be in the film? I looked middle-eastern enough, and the crew was looking around campus for that.
Which famous people did you meet on set? no one

Another Inch gone

2007-06-20T15:02:00.000+02:00

This inch was much faster although I have changed nothing in my regimen, I think my body is getting sick of my continuous calorie watch and so decided to get there faster to help me out :)

It is fine by me and my waist is now at 43", I'm feeling rather excited.

Shrinking Waist

2007-06-06T16:55:00.000+02:00

Finally I'm convinced I lost some fat, I weigh myself far too many times to believe that I lost weight. I am convinced now, because my waist is a size 44" and no longer a 45" which took alot of actual weightloss, and most importantly sticking to the 8 glasses of water a day.

I am feeling positive that I'm on the slow right track to losing fat.

Raje3 yet3amar

2007-06-04T02:12:00.000+02:00

When I was a kid, we went to visit Lebanon, I was about 6 years old, which places it just a few months after the end of the civil war, civil strife had just ended and there was hope that could be felt. I remember one song particularly well, it spoke of rebuilding Lebanon and the days of joys to come, here is a version I found. That song struck well with me, when it spoke of the return of the Lebanese, as brethren and as equals who will join hand-in-hand to rekindle the joys of old Lebanon.

To be honest, I felt a sense of shame when I visited Lebanon then, I was ashamed that Lebanese and Palestinian factions where able to fight for years on end, to induce a death toll of 100,000 people amongst each other and more importantly that Palestinians have once again caused havoc in a host, sovereign country. I remember thinking it would take years to repair all those buildings, and a great amount of money, but that was before we heard of what Hariri was capable of doing.

I miss the feeling of comradeship I noticed then in Lebanon, after the Taif Agreement, Lebanese people my father spoke to were talking about "La ghaleb wala maghloob," which meant that now one won the civil war, but instead, they were equal as Lebanese. They all felt like they fought each other to the best of their capabilities, and that now they were willing to together to build a future for their children.

I wish that today it was this simple, but then again, it probably never was.

Oprah, the phenomena

2007-06-02T01:32:00.000+02:00

If I was Oprah Winfrey, I would think a million times before I go anywhere, do anything and I would probably say nothing, but I am not and probably that's the reason I may never become her. It is said that the Oprah book club is an instant 1 million book sale and an instant climb to top position on sales lists.

Oprah recently had NIGHT BY ELIE WIESEL as a pick, it is a great story about a holocaust survivor, I have said and will continue to say, that there is damning evidence for the holocaust and that the horrendous number of lives that died in it should not be denied, I also maintain that there is -in any subject- open room for research. It does not mean, however that the story is over. Oprah -with her billion dollar name and her approach and credibility that politicians would kill for- is lending her name to a cause that is to say the least controversial.

She has accepted an invitation to visit Israel, and knowing the Israelis, I have many fears, Americans, I believe are misguided, when it comes to the Middle East, and to have Oprah endorse one side, would further distort such understanding, not to mention that it would lend support to occupiers, war crimes' perpetrators.

I hope she thought this through.

This is my 100th post

2007-05-30T17:07:00.000+02:00

Recently -since febrauary- I have maintained a post every two days, on even days, even if posting about mundane things, it still means a whole lot to me to have reached the 1ooth post, and so I will dedicate this just for that, and for saying that I have nothing else to talk about.

My blog seems to not grow in audience, even thought I try to plug it in everywhere, I am enjoying more because of that fact, I can't seem to care what people will comment, because hardly anyone does, and one day I know I will look at this post and say "Those were the days, my friend"

I will try to include -in every post from 101st upwards- a picture, and hopefully it will bring up this site.

New style -again

2007-05-28T11:55:00.000+02:00

As Many of you have noticed, the website has been tampered with, and the old cool and hip design was removed. Darn, it doesn't look right any more.

The thing is, i did it, and I like it, and I don't care about the level of coolness that the blog has, really I don't.

I added my picture in a PA-44, which is a piper seminole, and added the same line, and headline. New Additions:

1- Cogito, Ergo Sum: I think, therefore I am , which is part of Descartes Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum (Latin: "I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am") is a philosophical statement used by René Descartes, which became a foundational element of Western philosophy. "Cogito ergo sum" is a translation of Descartes' original French statement: "Je pense, donc je suis", which occurs in his Discourse on Method (1637).

2-"In omnibus requiem quaesivi, et nusquam inveni nisi in angulo cum libro" (I have searched for peace everywhere, but have not found it anywhere except for in a corner with a book). a quote by Thomas à Kempis

3-GeoVisite counter and tracker, which is fun to see, although most of my recent hits are from Jordan.

4-I also removed some spam comments, added the moderate comments feature, because it seems neccesary.

Support Local Brands

2007-05-26T12:13:00.000+02:00

I am now changing my mind about certain beliefs, I looked far and near and realized that globalization, though helpful in some areas, is largely to blame for everything.

It is in Jordan that restaurants are opening up by the dozen, and the services are getting better, if you look for European style cuisine, it is available, mainly thanks to foreign restaurant chains coming here. This pushed the restaurant industry to step up and face the challenges.

Recently, I tried both Tropicana and Minute Maid, which are properties of PepsiCo. and Coca-Cola respectively. I enjoyed the juices they offer, but not as much as I enjoy local juice companies. For some reason, local juice companies -who buy concentrates from abroad- seem to be doing a great job.

Since I have been on a diet for a long time now and losing reasonable weight, I realized that not only do I not need beverages that contain CO2 in them, I HATE them. There were times when Burger King and McDonald's were not allowed in Arab countries, because of connections to Israel, times change. Today there are a plethora of branches of many companies, with connections to Israels in the Arab World. Try Chili House and Chili Ways, and if you don't seem to like them, then try something else, but try Jordanian first.

I therefore took a drastic decision, not buy multinational products and help the local competition. I know that I am not a fan of Starbucks anymore, it makes sense that I should when available, support a local brand, and I found one that is superior in value and taste, although not variety.

This picture was actually on their site and the friends at archive.org still have a copy, if Israel awarded the Chairman of Starbucks, I am not buying from there. Simple, Right?

http://web.archive.org/web/20010502093522/www.starbucks.com/aboutus/recognition.asp?cookie_test=1

Economically, I find it viable to Jordan that I buy my coffee from flavours, or any other Jordanian variety, I personally enjoy it, and am a regular customer, they know my drink and prepare the minute I walk in.

I also enjoy going to places where the giving is part of their revenue, not some minute percentage, but actually a fixed part that is of significance, and I must say I am not surprised by amount of such places available.

If you are into nature, try Wild Jordan, it is amazingly good, and supports the RSCN, which is as good cause as any.

But if you feel that you need a more entrenched cause, try the places at

AlQaser Hotel Howard Johnson. I think this may impress you, also remember their courtyard is a very nice place to sit and relax.

Remember to support as many local enterprises in your community, because they will help the money flow to remain in the country.

You'll Never Walk Alone

2007-05-24T01:02:00.000+02:00

We just lost 2-1 to A C Milan, but Morientes once said, the best team lost, Inzaghi isn't a hero, he just happened to be in the way for one, and the Liverpool defense screwed up.

When you walk through a storm, hold your head up high
And don't be afraid of the dark.
At the end of the Storm there's a golden sky
And the sweet, silver song of a lark.

Walk on through the wind, walk on through the rain,
Though your dreams be tossed and blown.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone.
You'll never walk alone.
Walk on, walk on with hope in your heart,
And you'll never walk alone.
You'll ne-ever walk alone.

That's it, not a bad season, but the preimership is our target for next year, RAFA, please listen, we want the premiership. All the best to the wonderful squad and the crew behind them.

Kathem Al Saher

2007-05-22T01:38:00.000+02:00

They called him "the Caesar of Arab Singing" and many other names which corresponded to his status, he did many great Songs and has his name on many other outcries for the children of Iraq. That was great.

The Dixie Chicks took a position and they stood up for it, regardless of whether I agree with them or not, I respect them because they tried to use their fame and celebrity status to do what they thought is good.

Kathem on the other hand outright lied: "The War is over" he sung in 2003, the war started on my b-day, but for the life of me I couldn't find where it said the war was over. Kathem, who says his father is a Sunni and his mother is a Shiite and thus dismissing the claim that he has anything to be sectarian about, joined Soprano Sarah Brightman and told me a lie that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand.

Until that point I loved him, I bought his every record, memorized every song, but then he made a masterpiece of music, which I hated, not because it wasn't good, I just said it was a masterpiece, but because he gave me and I suppose many others, false hope of a very near shinning future.

I want to someday look back at this post and say: "Well, he was only a few years off" I really want to. Still listen to this if you know Arabic.
It was a song written with no intentions.

P.S. I have not bought an album of his since.

Rumours - 2

2007-05-20T16:18:00.000+02:00

I have heard rumors, I don't claim any of these to be true or actually credible, but I want my minuscule readership to hear what people try to sell to me. This is a series, I will post to it more often than other series I started, mainly because people talk alot.

- I heard that there is a ministerial shake-up, the Prime Minister is changing, Sharif Shaker is rumored, a big change of plans for the elections waiting to happen

IF this is true, it is not unexpected, I heard a speaker at the World Economic Forum say that "a certain Arab country which I will not name ... has minsters change every 8 months ... give them a chance"

I can't remember who he was but it was right before the Schwab final lines. I guess the gentleman was referring to Jordan, he was right, each Prime Minster has a specific agenda, when it is done, he leaves. I guess. I am not sure.

Parliamentary elections in the region are scary, Hamas in the P.A., the Musilm Brotherhood in Egypt and many other examples make it something to be watched for.

Rumours - 1

2007-05-18T02:07:00.000+02:00

I have heard rumors, I don't claim any of these to be true or actually credible, but I want my minuscule readership to hear what people try to sell to me. This will be a series, I will post to it more often than other series I started, mainly because people talk alot.

- I heard that there are cities being built in Zarqa, Jordan and in other areas for the Palestinians in Refugee camps in Lebanon. Other Palestinians in the gulf and whatnot will be offered citizenship and most will be given generous compensations. Other likely candidates for the way of transfer are Palestinians living outside the Apartheid wall but inside the Green line.

IF this is true, it will cause the same effect that the Palestinians living in Kuwait who came over, it caused inflation and strained the public services for years, the same happened when the Iraqis who fled Iraq came over. I used to be able to afford to buy a decent apartment, but not anymore.

My every-8-day update, My scale is busted but I am guessing, I lost another 2 pounds.

The most non-self-centered thing that troubles me, is the rights that will be taken away from them. They have inalienable rights and they should be respected, I hope for the sake of the region that it is not true.

Waist Managment?

2007-05-16T14:45:00.000+02:00

As you might have read here that I will be following a waist management strategy, which include not having your scale as your ultimate reference in checking how well you do on a diet, so I will not talk about my weight anymore unless I pass an important landmark.

My waist is 45" inches measured at the belly button. That's it, I said it!!

Wow, that's alot!! I'm hoping for a 36, but my immediate goal is anything less than 40 which is were the trouble starts.

Edward Said Chair

2007-05-14T12:33:00.000+02:00

I would like to congratulate Columbia University, they did a remarkable feat and won a great battle, they did not surrender their fate to people who call "foul" or "antisemitism" on every corner. Columbia University established an Edward Said Chair in Middle East Studies, it was 2002 and it was great. Forcing the pro-Israeli media to take note, campus watch said:

"Columbia is already known for the lack of balance in Middle East studies. The list of donors to the Edward Said chair only confirms the problem.

Particularly worrisome is the presence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) among the donors."

They didn't explain why a country and a university where so abhorrently labeled and attacked. Edward said was a great scholar and his books reached great fame and acclaim, nothing in his written (or spoken) history, can be scholarly refuted, he has actually rejuvenated how middle-east study should occur. His work "Orientalism" is considered the landmark study in this field.

It is ridiculous at this day and age that so many websites are attacking donors to study programs, and attacking universities for respecting the wishes of non-disclosure by patrons of academia.

Columbia didn't at first disclose the names of donors but later did:
Yusef Abu Khadra
Abdel Muhsen Al-Qattan
Ramzi A. Dalloul
Richard and Barbara Debs
Richard B. Fisher
Gordon Gray, Jr.
Daoud Hanania
Rita E. Hauser
Walid H. Kattan
Said T. Khory Munib R. Masri
Morgan Capital & Energy
Olayan Charitable Trust
Hasib Sabbagh
Kamal A. Shair
Abdul Shakashir
Abdul Majeed Shoman
Jean Stein
United Arab Emirates

After the list was disclosed "The list of donors to the Edward Said chair only confirms the problem." campus watch and other pro-Israeli groups said. From what I know, most of the people above are business people and philanthropists. Nothing is wrong if they want to sponsor certain areas of study.
The UAE was attacked but Dick Chenney didn't seem to mind visiting them yesterday, also the compairision is not valid but this donation and Harvard's, this was done by the government, not by the late ruler Sheikh Zayed, which is quite different.

Everyone wants the premeirship

2007-05-12T11:24:00.000+02:00

Liverpool is the club with the most premiership wins, but since Manchester United is set to win this year and reach 16 titles, just two behind Liverpool's record of 18, Liverpool should wake up and smell the heat.

Liverpool hasn't won a league since 1990, I was 5 then and I don't remmember it, but for more than selfish reasons they should start winning soon. Any follower this season can tell you we have a problem, we lost 9 away games this season, no one has lost more away games in the top half of the table, while we won 14 home games, which is a feat not beat by any except Man. U. We only lost 1 home match which is even better than Man U.

Man u managed to get 89 points while Liverpool got 68, we barely remained in third place, 21 points we were short of first place. That means we would have had to win 7 more games, we lost a total of 14.

Sometimes I feel that the premiership is more important than the Champions league. Remember when we won the champions league in Istanbul (against AC Milan) and ended up fifth, I wouldn't ever want to see the fifth rank again.

Last year we got third but we were 1 point away from Man U and 9 points from Chelsea, this year it is much worse, but on the good news, our final for the champions league (agianst AC Milan) is soon and we have a good chance to keep our name held high.

There are 12 ways to say sh

2007-05-10T11:27:00.000+02:00

I was shocked that English is a hard language to pronounce, I thought it made sense with all it rules, but it turns out it doesn't.

ancient, sure, session, sheep, mansion, ocean, unctuous, chef, station, conscious, anxious and tissue all have an "sh" sound in them and it is ridiculous to think that "sh" can be spelled twelve different ways. ci, su, ssi, sh, si, ce, tu, ch, ti, sci, xi and ss respectively.

It is also ridiculous that vain, vein and vane are all pronounced the same way. That why I am having a hard time reading and pronouncing French, they have rules. I am used to finding the exceptions. I started hating the exceptions in the English language.

My every-8-day update, no loss of weight but it's okay since I ate alot of Junk.

Flying is the same

2007-05-08T23:19:00.000+02:00

I flew in the night time today, night-flying is the same as day flying when you consider that you are flying VFR (Visual Flight Rules), meaning you navigate your aircraft based on ground references, not based on navigation equipment, night time makes more sense to me. I can see the lighting and the roads, I can also see aircrafts around us much more easily due to a little handy invention named lights. In the day time, you can hardly expect to spot the aircraft if it a couple of miles away, but instead your will keep scanning and then luckily you will spot it.

I love night flying better than day.

Learning French

2007-05-06T16:26:00.000+02:00

I have been contemplating learning a third language, I always fantasized about it, I choose French for more reasons than one, French is almost the third most spoken language in Jordan, it is the official language in 41 countries and French as a foreign language is the second most frequently taught language in the world, after English. It is the native tongue of over 87 million people and has an additional 68 million non-native speakers.

It made sense, but also it is a matter of convenience because many people I know speak it at a level or another therefore I can find someone to go to. This is not to mention that many books I would love to read are in fact written in the French language and are not translated.

France is a center of culture and many Arabic politicians, thinkers, authors and artists reside there, they have published in French what won't be easily accessible in other languages. Also to learn more about the European progressive and socialist movements you have to start somewhere and france is as good a place as any.

It is a fun language as I realized the last time I was in France in 2003, I chatted with a female taxi-driver with what little words I could muster, I could understand she has family Montreal and I could explain what I wanted to see and where I wanted to go. I realized that it won't be an enormous feat to go from bilingual to multilingual.

I already bought a book about the topic and I am learning some phrases to try and use soon, we will see how that goes.

Donations to the suffering

2007-05-04T21:54:00.000+02:00

A lot of people I know and talked to about the current situation in the occupied territories have always seemed ready to help, usually monetarily to ease down the suffering, the theme that seems all the people have agreed on is that the money won't reach to the people.

Trust me, I know what that means, my father for years had a sizable portion of his paycheck cutoff to support the PLO, and many people like him did the same, eventually the PLO and it's leaders are rich and have millions of dollars worth of assets known to the public, while the Palestinian public is living under extremely impoverished condiions.

77% of people in Gaza are in poverty, 23% are in deep poverty, the can't even reach the poverty line after aid, the was 22% DECREASE in income for Palestinians in the occupied territories. To remedy it, everyone who can help is encouraged to, I researched a few programs and realized the safest bet is the Welfare Association's special appeals. Give them a visit and check it out

Jordan of Hussein Part 2

2007-05-02T19:15:00.000+02:00

So why do I write about him right now? Eight years after he left us? He was missed by Jordanians and neighbors more than ever recently. This article, while a belated eulogy for him, it is not a belittlement of his son's accomplishments, but the situation in the region does need someone of a more "known face". That kind of familiarity was what helped Jordan take a firm position against US interference in Iraq in 1991 and still managed to maintain the United States empowerment of the Jordanian economy.

The President, Senators, Congressmen and people in almost all of the levels of the government had found the excuse for him, knowing he will never choose anything that will harm his country. Such familiarity would not have made Jordan a target for terrorists, and like he did in many previous occasions, he would have acted like an arbitrator, causing the situation in Iraq to defuse.

That was mainly because he knew how to deal with terrorists on negotiation tables, Yasser Arafat, the deceased leader of Palestinian guerilla group PLO was a longtime enemy of Hussein, and tried to topple his regime in 1970, but come late 1980s he was transformed into a Palestinian leader, an ally of Jordan, to die as President of Palestine earlier this year.

This is just what everyone expected of him, and he knew how to navigate all the seas to get to the shore of safety. All that being said, Hussein did have a few set backs in his history he could have lived without, and while the habit of not talking ill of the dead is practiced seriously in Jordan, it goes without saying that no one is perfect.

Hussein was taking his time in learning the lesson that the Arab world was not to be relied on for the well being of Jordan. After the 1967 war, he was called a traitor and a man who favored the west over his brethren in Palestine. He had just entered a war on behalf of the Arab world as Nasser was asking them to push Jordan, the country with the longest borders with Israel, push it into a war against Israel.

That did not gain Jordan any compassion in the west, but he was guaranteed by the Arab leaders, that no matter what happens, Jordan will be adequately compensated by petrol-rich countries. Lack of air cover by the Egyptian air-force caused for the war to be a tragic loss, Hussein lost the West Bank and Egypt lost Sinai. He was not compensated for his shattered army, his impoverished country or the influx of population caused by mass displacement of people from West Bank.

He again relied on them in the late 1980's after they promised to better the situation for refugees and went on to borrow billions of dollars, but he had to take it out of Jordan's pocket and devalue the Jordanian dinar. A third time happened just after the 1991 gulf war, with resentment for gulf countries for causing a situation in his country. He did not rely on them and did not support the allied mission led by the US, they decided that they will no longer keep the Jordanian laborers, a very valuable source of currency to Jordan. They also kicked them out of their homes, to Jordan and its already troubled social resources, and to our day some people still are waiting for their compensation in Jordan.

Hussein never admitted that he was a pragmatic ruler, looking for the interest of Jordan first, before any morals or ethics; it just happened that, more often than not, Jordan's benefit was in the moral way.

Whether you see more positive than me, or just don't agree that he was that righteous, no two people can argue that he was a true leader and a very good survivor. This Kid-made-King, Soldier, Peacemaker, Aviator, Educator and above all a true humanity-lover is one of the most remarkable leaders of the second half of the twentieth century.

On the weightloss, another 2 pounds lost this past week

Jordan of Hussein Part 1

2007-04-30T16:31:00.000+02:00

This was something I wrote a few years back, I will shamelessly plug it in here:

As a young Jordanian living in Toronto, Canada, the most multicultural city in the world, the question of background was comfortably dropped. My response was almost always: "Jordan, you know, the country of King Hussein". That second part always seemed necessary for identifying the country, it also provoked –more often than I anticipated- a knowing smile. As if trying to convey the message that the late king was more popular in, and respected by, more people in the world than any other character of this era.

Before you think this writing is written to the glorification of Hussein of Jordan, well, just wait till I get to his downs, but first, think about the attendees of his funeral, an event that went down in the history books next to the funerals of Charles de Gaulle and Tito. That was owed to not only the number of delegations present, but also to the fact of their political diversity.

Only Hussein's funeral could have managed to bring the US President Bill Clinton and Colonel Qadaffi's son together, President Hafez Al Asad of Syria and Hamas militant group representatives were set side by side with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with three Israeli delegations, Jordan was a recent peace ally and a very welcoming ground to Israeli business and politics.

To situate dignitaries from the US Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George Bush with Tony Blair of the UK and other symbols of western democracy together with leaders of radical Arab and Muslim states was unheard of. That was just what he was famous for, even after he lost his battle with cancer.

That was one of the few battle he lost in his lifetime, always able to get the best out of every situation. He was always labeled as a pragmatic leader and yet still had the respect of being able to do so very prudently. He did create a state out of barren Jordan and did put it on the map.

While in 1950, water, sanitation, and electricity were available to only 10% of Jordanians, today these reach 99% of the population. In 1960 only 33% of Jordanians were literate, in 2003, this number climbed to 91.3%. In 1961, the average Jordanian received a daily intake of 2198 calories, and by 1992, this figure had increased by 37.5% to reach 3022 calories. UNICEF statistics show that between 1981 and 1991, Jordan achieved the world's fastest annual rate of decline in infant mortality—from 70 deaths per 1000 births in 1981 to 37 per 1000 in 1991, a fall of over 47%. King Hussein always believed that Jordan's people are its biggest asset, and he continued to encourage all—including the less fortunate, the disabled and the orphaned—to achieve more for themselves and their country.

That still doesn't get me to the point of interest; I wanted to show that a man like that was nothing but raw leader. He knew the right step to take every time and so caused Jordan to be the model state in the region. With the highest civil liberties "ceiling" amongst its neighbors, the highest literacy rate in the Arab world and the longest standing form of government in the region. He was responsible for 47 years of that.

The hottest chick

2007-04-28T16:49:00.000+02:00

Have you watched Honey and felt like you love Hip-Hop, or related for the first time with spoiled and annoying popular crowd in Never Been Kissed, maybe you even went to watch Sin City in the cinema knowing full well that you hat Frank Miller or maybe even all Comics.

I know I was turned into a geek, when I watching a little show called Dark Angel, it is all because of this young woman who turns 26 today. Happy Birthday. She has us all burning because she won't do a nude scene in any movie, still she is AskMen.com’s Most Desirable Woman of 2006, just to show that men appreciate hot modest chicks, who occasionally kick ass, and are not afraid to show their scantly-clad figures.

Terrorism

2007-04-26T20:23:00.000+02:00

One good definition of Terrorism is the indiscriminate targeting of civilians to achieve political ends, whether it is conducted by states, individuals or groups, it is still terrorism. Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami agreed with it, I agree with it and I believe it is clear enough.

No state or group should be allowed to use terrorism in any other sense, if it is targeting men (or women) in uniform, then it is not terrorism, if it targeting militias or fighting factions then it is not terrorism.

From Wikipedia:
Edward Peck, former U.S. Chief of Mission in Iraq and ambassador to Mauritania:

In 1985, when I was the Deputy Director of the Reagan White House Task Force on Terrorism, they asked us — this is a Cabinet Task Force on Terrorism; I was the Deputy Director of the working group — they asked us to come up with a definition of terrorism that could be used throughout the government. We produced about six, and each and every case, they were rejected, because careful reading would indicate that our own country had been involved in some of those activities. […] After the task force concluded its work, Congress got into it, and you can google into U.S. Code Title 18, Section 2331, and read the U.S. definition of terrorism. And one of them in here says — one of the terms, “international terrorism,” means “activities that,” I quote, “appear to be intended to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination or kidnapping.” […] Yes, well, certainly, you can think of a number of countries that have been involved in such activities. Ours is one of them. Israel is another. And so, the terrorist, of course, is in the eye of the beholder.

The British Terrorism Act 2000 defines terrorism so as to include not only violent offences against persons and physical damage to property, but also acts "designed seriously to interfere with or seriously to disrupt an electronic system".This latter consideration would include shutting down a website whose views one dislikes. However this, and any of the other acts covered by the definition would also need to be (a) designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public or a section of the public, AND (b)be done for the purpose of advancing a political, religious or ideological cause.[the latter three terms are not defined in the Act]

So basically under the British definition some psycho can blow up a bus full of children, just for the fun of it and he wouldn't be a terrorist, but if someone hacks into a site that has a bad word about his religion (which I agree is wrong but come on) he would be terrorist.

Short legal definition proposed by A. P. Schmid to United Nations Crime Branch (1992):

Act of Terrorism = Peacetime Equivalent of War Crime

This last definition seems to me to be the best I could find, and therefore should be satisfactory until my brain finds something wrong with it.

Terrorism or Lawful Warfare

2007-04-24T15:12:00.000+02:00

I have been contemplating a thought about "terrorists" and "freedom fighters", I read slightly up on the topic and still could not get to a definition that satisfied me and the accurately categorises what is present in our region.

I might go on a limb here but I will be working towards a personal definition using what data I can collect and to have the definitions legal under the Geneva conventions and the many international accords I saw about this, I will also look at the modern US definitions of "unlawful combatants" and try to point out where they are flawed in my opinion.

My every-8-day update, I lost two pounds this week, but it was because of certain unhealthy foods and because I didn't keep a close eye, yet, I still lost what is thought by many dietitians to be the safe amount for continued weight loss.

Andy Rooney

2007-04-22T17:39:00.000+02:00

A man of 88 years, he is hilarious, he makes me watch 60 minutes till the very end to see what he is going to be talking about next, he started with 60 minutes when he was 60 and he makes me laugh almost every week.

I don't think he should retire because of his old age, I am a pilot and I understand that 60 is almost a magical number, but in journalism and commentary, it is common sense to keep the people with
the most experience, even if they do sound like you grandfather.

Jordan goes nuclear

2007-04-20T16:06:00.000+02:00

Just search Google for "water impoverished" and the first entry will be about Jordan, we are one of the ten most water impoverished countries in the world. It seems about right, at least to me. When I searched for cancer rates in Jordan, I found out that our rates are lower than the west, and are comparable to non-Jewish populations of Israel, with the Jewish population being slightly higher.

Many people claim that Jordan has one of the highest cancer rates in the world, it is simply not true, although lung cancer is higher because of higher smoking rates and less emission standards. Still we have the highest Life expectancy at birth in the Arab world. I am, however, not excited. Jordan plans on acquiring nuclear power for peaceful uses.

The most important uses will be, water and electric power generation. We need it for both, since 95% of our power needs are imported. The Uranium reserves in Jordan are high and the expertise in the field locally are acceptable.

I however can't seem to understand why I am troubled by this Idea, although I have spoken for it in the past and all the way until last year. It is definitely going to decrease our dependence on foreign oil and our Carbon emissions.

Jordan will not be told to open up like Iran, we started with the blessings of the US and the IAEA, we will never face any threats because of it, and we can probably sell electricity to Iraq and continue on our age old tradition of exporting expertise.

The money spent isn't what bothers me either, our budget is sucked up by demand on foreign oil and the ever increasing prices, while our we could potentially export Uranium in the future. Still I can't seem to put my finger on it, I am bugged by the idea.

I was probably hoping for windmill farms and solar fields for generation of electricity, yet still I am contended that we can't afford such a costly venture. My major source of concern is the following:

1-Chernobyl-like accidents: we all know that Jordan has impeccable adherence to standards in it's big ventures. Royal Jordanian boasts a 28 year fatality-injury free record. Still one mistake in our nuclear power plant will cause consequences we can't afford.

2-Testing and control: Since this seems to be a government-run project, I don't see it being as controlled and inspected as the private-run ones we are comparing to abroad when we discuss this. This can obviously lead us to no.1 above

3-Decommissioning a nuclear power station at the end of its useful life is very difficult and expensive.

4-Most importantly, in the Middle East, any war time attack of a facility like this will would produce a huge amount of radioactive contamination. It will be tempting to the terrorists who already roam aimlessly in our region.

A world without America

2007-04-18T12:16:00.000+02:00

I googled "A world without America" and I might say it is not what I expected, I thought the leftists, the libertarians, and the political minds of the world would probably get the first hit. I mean, it did seem that way to me.

I found this video which seemed to imply that the Russians would win WWII and therefore "liberate Paris", that polio would not have a cure or a vaccine by 1969 and that Israel would not find support in staying in the Middle East and that by 1979 it would be wiped out and refugees will be sent to the seas. Saddam would be a tyrant, still holding Kuwait and holding nuclear weapons. It also claimed that the world would be poorer, less advanced and less educated.

It seems that their claims are irrefutable at first-site. Russia did win World War II and their Armies where about to catch Nazi Hitler. But the UK would have intervened and with their and the French's Empire, (remmember De Gaulle was based in Algiers from 1942) would have not sit idly.

Polio like any illness is bound to have found vaccine, just like Insulin was discovered in Canada, and just like the first organ transplant was done in South Africa. Israel was almost founded by the Balfour declaration which was drafted by Arthur Balfour, who was the Foreign Minister at the time and his Grandchildren still are Earls of Balfour. The Soviet Union recognized Israel just as soon as it was Declared a state, and would probably have rather have it as a satellite or ally because it was very skillfully managed. It's all political. I support your friends' enemies and you support my friends' enemies.

Saddam was a military man who rose in the ranks of the Baath again supported by Britian, where it not for the French fear of King Faisal and the British support of Baath, Saddam would not have been able to continue, also, the US supported Saddam in his war against Iran and therefore if the US was not there the world might have to deal with an Islamic empire, or wait, maybe the Shahanshah wouldn't have been ousted by Khomeini. It is too hard to tell because the CIA was involved in many programs.

Money is produced as a direct result of human effort, which would still be here without the US, and since a big chunk is concentrated in the US, the world would probably be richer since the money would be spread over many people.

Conscription in Jordan

2007-04-16T21:50:00.000+02:00

I know that the government sent up legislation to the parliament and rumour has it that it will be passed unamended allowing the military to set their own terms.

I am ticked off at the government's decision of reinstating the subscription in the military and for more than personal reasons:

1- They intend to allow the military to conscript young men with no age limit and no TIME limit (back to the 2 year limit, which is just awful)
2- People will be paid little or close-to-no money to serve, which can put a huge strain on the struggling middle class of Jordan who expect their children to help with the income.
3-The allocation of resources for such a program will put another burden on the shoulder of tax-payers, while it is hardly needed.
4- There is no provision in the law that allows conscientious objectors to have an exception. I refuse to be forced to learn how to handle weaponry and to be forced to fire them.
5- This is almost like using slave labouring, I am a pilot and unless they can offer me a job in my field of choice, I will not succumb.

I do understand that the government plans to train them in vocational courses, but that hardly has to be mandatory, many will tell you that government supplied education in the schools is far below acceptable standards and I do not think they will be providing me the top training available which I have sacrified a whole lot to earn.

I think every Jordanian in a time of peace has the choice to not learn weaponry, to work for minimum at least wage and especially in government establishments, and to choose a work field. Basic human freedoms are being breached here.

Universal Declaration of Human Rights states clearly

Article 23.

(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, ...

I would love to see the military officials in Jordan explain this, since they seem to be focusing on projecting it as no longer conscription but as "work training and assistance", albeit forced training and assistance.

On a different note, I am very happy to announce that I lost 14 pounds in the last eight days, which is some sort of record, at least for me, with this current rate, I will loose my target of 64 pounds in no time (which I highly doubt).

Lunar phases and eclipses

2007-04-14T17:56:00.000+02:00

For some unclear reason I felt that I knew what I was talking about when it came to the galaxy, but that day I was shocked to realise that not only I knew absolutely nothing when it came to the moon, I realised that I had got it all wrong back in school where I was a model student.

Allow me here to blame the teacher who made me think that the moon looks different depending where you look at it from, I know it doesn't make sense, but in the back of my mind I always thought it true.

The image above is for a moon in "middle totality", which happened on a total eclipse of the moon, which happened on the evening of 2004 October 27-28. This is probably what I was thinking about, Lunar eclipses which can be seen only on specific areas of the earth.

However, I thought it also meant that moon was lit differently according to where you are, it turns out I was wrong. Ah, well, at least now, I know better.

Weight Loss and me

2007-04-12T13:58:00.000+02:00

I read something wrote in 1999 at salon, it is the most hilarious, satirical -I hope- piece of writing I read in a while, and its has some -although twisted- truth to it, it also made me think of why exactly am I trying to lose weight.

I am trying to lose the weight because I have a pair of jeans that won't fit me, I am trying to lose weight because I want to be able to walk without my right knee bugging me, and I trying to lose weight because I want to able to play sports against my kids and beat them. All the reasons most people have but one more. I am trying to lose the weight because I want to beat the odds, this is one thing from my father that I don't want to copy. He died at 49 of a brain stroke, he had high cholesterol and high blood pressure. Everyone who tells me I remind them of my father or that I look like him makes me so happy. I also fear of leading an unhealthy life. 49 is just too young, I plan to retire at 50 and then do all the things I love.

I am very good at motivating myself and I hope that I will be able to keep going at my plans and maybe one day I will be able to quit smoking, but for now, I quit quitting. One task at a time.

Free Medical Care for all

2007-04-10T15:40:00.000+02:00

I believe at one point here in Jordan the government started an initiative to give free health care to all children under the age of 5, and that every year the age will be increased, resulting in a generation growing up with free health-care. That was a very commendable initiative and idea, but obviously as with many of the social programs, it went down the drain.

Currently, around 25 per cent of Jordan's 5 million population are insured with the Health Ministry, another 5 per cent are considered impoverished and are treated free of charge, 32 per cent are covered by the Royal Medical Services of the Jordan Armed Forces, and another 12 per cent are covered by private sector insurance plans, leaving around 25 per cent of the population without medical insurance coverage.

Now for Jordan the transition is easy to free health care for all. My suggestion is, collective collaboration, the 62% who are insured by the government either as civil servants or as military personnel are obviously a burden to the system, not to mention the impoverished. Therefore it would seem prudent that the government would try to cut down the cost. Obviously the government agrees that privatization is a good step, but it can't sell the idea of privatizing public hospitals to the public. The solution seems to be this:

Create a governing board for for each of the hospitals with the intention and will of making it a government owned company in the process of financial and managerial independence from the ministry of health. Basically, let the hospital compete with each other, in the process, the quality of health care shall improve dramatically.

Thereafter, we should calculate the average cost of insuring the 62% of the people and allow the private insurance companies to bid at insuring those citizens with equal or better health care. This way, the bureaucracy of the government is avoided and the lean capitalistic machine is set in motion.

In a country like Jordan this is easily applicable, the hospitals will provide better care to reel in the patients and the insurance companies will try to outbid each other therefore lowering the cost to the government. Both sectors in Jordan are developed enough to take such as drastic step, but it will provide us with much required benefits.

The reduced cost will gradually allow the government to increase coverage to all the children in the country and the insurance companies will obviously turn to the private medical establishments to provide better coverage for their clients.

A rough estimate of comparable examples in other parts of the world shows that coverage will increase to almost 75% which all that is needed in the first step. The next step will happen gradually as the medical industry will flourish under such steps therefore allowing them to give to lower rates rates as their entries will increase with their current overhead staying within current limits. The increased business will drive the employment wheel and will provide countless jobs.

This is my example of socialism integration with capitalism, social benefits provided by the people's taxes and the ever fierce competition of insurance companies. Naturally, this will require fiercer anti-trust laws in Jordan.

P.S. This writer is currently covered under insurance managed by a private establishment, he is not satisfied with the service.

Weight Loss

2007-04-08T23:55:00.000+02:00

I reached an all-time high on the scale the other day, now I won't tell you what I saw on it, but I want to follow a new approach to this whole thing, and I will add a note about its effectiveness every 8 days, I will be following the advices of Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen, I will read their book and follow it through as much as I can, given the limitations of Jordan.

I also have a target goal to reach, lets just say it's 64 pounds away, which takes alot of determination.

The motivation came quite unexpectedly, an acquaintance of mine overheard me saying I was (my all-time low), he said "Yeah, I think I saw you then, didn't you go to that Palestinian Bar-Mitzvah."
I laughed so hard because I can take a joke, but I realized, I needed to control myself sooner rather than later.

Wish me luck

A380 is ugly

2007-04-06T21:33:00.000+02:00

I am sorry, but as a pilot, nothing impresses me about the A380, its only asset is the double-decker cabin and its only improvement is the curved dihedral, but other than that it does nothing for me. All the other touted improvements are

I care about how an airplane looks, I care about aesthetics, and many pilots -not just Boeing fans- will agree that the A380 is lacking in that. The aircraft doesn't have a graceful face, yes, I meant that. Look at a 747 classic or the beautiful stretches, or even the uglier variant the 747SP looks cool combined to this fat mammoth. Let everyone know that from this moment, I declare the A380 ugly, and not the adorable ugly like ugly Betty, but the horrendous ugly.

I am a fan of Boeing and therefore I am biased but an A319 in easyJet livery is just as much eye candy to me as the Air Asia 737 seen here. (shameless plug-in of a Malaysia trip photo). Although I like the engine look better.

But the A380 is annoyingly an eyesore, the cockpit, is placed in a cumbersome manner, it looks like its not on either story which gave the aircraft a forehead. The aircraft looks short in length, compare it to the 340-600 in the background. I absolutely hate it, it is the first wide-bodied aircraft that fails to have elegance, yet I would love to fly it.

When the B747 was introduced it cut the costs of travel by about 50% or at least cut the cost on the carriers, which was the hay-days of airlines, it introduced a new class of travelers and has outsold every comparative model and still does, there are 120 orders on it and will add to the 1380 already built to reach 1500. It held the record for the largest aircraft for 35 years, let's see if A380 can actually sell enough to break-even, not to mention outsell Boeing again.

In 2006, Boeing was the world’s largest civil aircraft company in terms of orders, overtaking Airbus for the first time since 2000. Last year, 398 aircrafts were delivered by Boeing. Good luck, Airbus, you will need it with the introduction of the 787 and the new 747-800.

Couldn't watch, glad to have won

2007-04-04T02:29:00.000+02:00

I didn't watch the Liverpool against PSV game but I did keep track of it online and I am glad we are almost guaranteed to reach the semi-finals. I think we might make it to the finals, but if we win that will make me too happy. Not because it is no. 6 or because it's something to brag about when we have no chance of winning the Premiership, but because the new American owner can realize he tapped into a gold mine.

Maybe then Liverpool will win the next Premiership with the right funding and the right facilities that they most definitely deserve. See the Premiership will prove that Liverpool never was a has-been but was only resting to allow the other to catch up and then go for another winning streak.

Basically what I am saying is, not only do we deserve it and are the most favoured for it, our time has come and our trophy cabinet is waiting.

Propaganda in Jordan

2007-04-02T00:58:00.000+02:00

I am proud that I am a socialist, I believe in welfare systems, I believe in the good of the many, I believe in government-help, but most of all I believe that hard work should reward. I am not saying "Viva USSR", I believe in freedom and in political plurality and the multi-party system.

I believe the Human rights should include the right for free post-secondary education by merit, and the right to Universal Health care. I will elaborate later on the latter part, not only because it's a strong belief of mine but because it's essential in any society willing to take citizens seriously.

However my post today is about a TV ad I saw on Jordanian Television, it was put forward by the Ministry of Political Development, any visitor to the site can see the continued wariness of the ministry in tackling sensitive issues, they are constantly trying to project an image of a length of democracy while trying to avoid the history of the country.

The advertisement -which I don't recall word-for-word- went along those lines:

"Do you know that the first parliamentary government in Jordan was formed in 1956 by Suleiman Naboulsi"

While I do agree with the factually of the ad per se, but I don't agree that this is the kind of political development we should aim for. To the best of my ability I tried to translate a quote found in the Arabic part of the same ministry's site.

"In the year 1956 the first partisan-plurality parliamentary election was held, and the first parliamentary cabinet was formed, but this democratic experiment did not last long and stumbled for various internal and external reasons"

This ministry is clearly employing "propaganda" in order to market political development and to uphold a false image of continued democratic parliamentary governments. I should emphasize some things here, Naboulsi Government was the country's first attempt in democracy and probably the last true parliamentary government, it almost led to a coup against His Late Majesty King Hussein and it was lead by Naboulsi and Abu Nawar the King's Aide-de-Camp.

A definition I like

"Propaganda is often deliberately misleading, using logical fallacies, which, while sometimes convincing, are not necessarily valid."

This ministry is trying to tell us that Jordan has a long history of democracy, but fails to tell us that it also suffered the most because of these "experiments" in democracy, Naboulsi was an opportunist and a communist who used the support of communism and of the late President Nasser of Egypt and his connection in the Quwatly regime in Syria to try and overthrow the Monarchy in Jordan.

Wise up, people, there are better exapmles to throw at the Jordanian public

101 things to do before you die - 1

2007-03-30T16:26:00.000+02:00

I have purchased a book named "101 things to do before you die" and I strongly believe that at least 90 of those are worth doing, some of them do not agree with my relegious or social beliefs, some others are actually going to be impossible but we will deal with that when we get there.
Therefore I am introducing a new category, 101 Things To Do

I will write about each one of the tasks as I do it, or when I can find the appropriate information about doing it, the book has some question about each one that I will try to answer

First completed to-do item reported:
Go on a Demonstration

Date of Demonstration: 15/2/2003
Was there a march? Yes, from: Ryerson University to: Younge and Bloor intersection
How many people took part? approximately 80,000 people at least 2,000 were rallied by us at Ryerson
Did you have a Placard? Yes
What did it say? Not in our name.
Did you see yourself on the news: No, but I saw many of my friends on the News, I recall seeing Mohammed Abou-Sweid on TV leading with a megaphone, saying, "War, huh, Yeah, What is it good for"
Was it peaceful? Yes
Did the demonstration do any good? Yes, Canada did not go to war on Iraq which started out on my birthday
Did you have a badge? Yes, "Drop fees not Bombs"

New style

2007-03-28T22:47:00.000+02:00

I have realized that the labels or categories I am using are far too numerous and do not relate to my blog so a little reorganization is in order, there are now a few categories to put a post in:

Books
Business
Cars
Entertainment
Environment and Nature
Freedom
Online
Personal
-Career
-Liverpool FC
Politics
-Middle East
Random Thoughts

This system seems fragile still but may be worth my effort, I mean, I have 21 posts in Random Thoughts and 16 under Personal. I will continue to improve it when a trend emerges.

I also have a published copy for this blog on http://headwindblows.wordpress.com/ when I realized that I am too google dependant and that wordpress has its own merits.

I also have an intention to blog on odd days in another blog which has to relate to a project I am doing. More on that later on

King Leonidas

2007-03-26T17:31:00.000+02:00

King Leonidas is the most amazing character I have seen in a movie since Don Corleone (as in Vito) was first seen by me. This character has enough grace in his talk, walk and look to put Achilles (of Troy) to shame.

I am talking about the movie 300, it is by far one of the best movies ever. If you haven't seen it, what are you waiting for? Think groundbreaking graphics and special visual effects and unique sounds and storytelling that will put Gladiator, Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Carribean all to shame.

My favorite quote was: "His helmet was stifling, his shield was heavy", it would have been a shame to see that happen. You can call me Leonidas from now on.

I don't drink on days that end with "y"

2007-03-24T21:11:00.000+02:00

For all the nay-sayers out there, I have been true to my word, many of you remember my high school days and when me and that friend used to be nick-named "ta3ati". No more, I say, not with my career being so in direct conflict with that, despite the reputation we have earned. ;)

Most importantly, there are many factors which I will choose not to disclose.

Transtitioning

2007-03-22T20:47:00.000+02:00

This is the first post I will write with the new wysiwyg editor provided courtesy of Blogger, I stuck to old blogger editor although I was early on moving to Blogger beta, I didn't want to change the old feel I had when writing blogs, but since I have started adding pictures, the effort seemed tiring and repetitive.

I like using many fonts in writing and I think it's empowering to have a choice. Thanks Blogger, your efforts are appreciated. I'm thinking of changing the banner at the top of my blog to include this picture and possibly some other symbolic items.

The most beautiful birds

2007-03-20T12:17:00.000+02:00

With no doubt in my mind, Eagles and Hawks are the most beautiful birds to observe, the finer aspects of gliding, soaring and flying is what keeps me interested. In the Azraq wetland reserve I observed a Falcon in "hover" which is very different from a hummingbird hover.

Hawks, which I believe include Falcons, were an amazing site, they spread their wings in strong headwinds and had enough lift to remain in place, they also changed the angle of their wings to compensate for a decrease or an increase in wind speed, just as pilots add flaps and other high-lift devices to compensate for the decrease in airspeed and therefore the decrease in airflow. Falcons can have power dive reaching speeds up to 320 Kilometers per hour, which is the reason you see falcons shooting past you when you are in a descending aircraft.

Eagles however are an entirely different matter, the are extremely immense in size
for example the Haring Ibon or Philippine Eagle is the largest Eagle in the world with length of more than a meter and wing chord of more than 65 cms. The talon itself is more the 5.5 cms. You can only imagine why it is called, Monkey-eating Eagle, the scientific name is Pithecophaga jefferyi.

The most beautiful (subjective) and heaviest (objective) Eagle is the Harpy Eagle, it is without doubt an amazing siting if anyone is lucky enough to see one.

check it out here

That thing on the left tarsus -picture right- is the ring I talked about in the last post.

The most beautiful bird however has to be a Macaw, which is a parrot or more specifically the Scarlet Macaw, which some call the red Macaw.

I'm only expressing personal opinions here, don't bombard me with emails telling me that I missed a bird here or there.

Azraq

2007-03-18T22:55:00.000+02:00

We had a couple of days of relaxation and enjoyment, it was very interesting, on the way to Azraq we passed by Qasir Al Kharanah or Kharanah Palace, which is a magnificent feat of early architecture, and to let people know, it is worth seeing:

Qusair Amra or Amra Palace, has the smaller scale version of the same purpose of such stopover stations but with much more inner art. Something definitely worth seeing

We stayed in this lodge where it was surprisingly accommodating and comfortable, it was both clean and well managed,

It used to be a British field hospital in the 1940s and still maintains the feel and look. The Air Force base is so close we actually got to see two F-5s taking off and then flying in what looked to me as loose formation.

The place lacks nothing in modernity with A/Cs and hot water, its more like a retreat than an expedition, but for the more urban dwellers it must feel like a total waste with no TV, but I was perfectly enjoying it.

When we arrived there and after taking our time we went to the Azraq castle, , now this is a castle born out of a Stronghold game, you could almost feel the ground trembling with passage of soldiers and horsemen.

We also went to the Azraq wetland reserve and rejoiced with bird watching and the more professional naturist amongst us got to participate in ringing migrating birds,

Even little Madian learned a lesson and got to release a few birds

Then for the more dry part of the trip,

at Shoumari reserve we got to see the Arabian Oryx and Ostriches and some Ibex in the wild, and then we also saw peacocks, deer and some assorted animals.

A great and fun trip and recommended for everyone, it has a bit to suit every taste also visit www.rscn.org.jo

Soon, I will be 22

2007-03-16T08:12:00.000+02:00

While it is depressing to many to age, especially when losing your childish charms, and being judged more fiercely and critically. I think growing not only forces you to shape up and smart up, it also fuels you to keep count of achievements and disappointments, on a year-to-year bases.

I will be heading to Azraq now and will return to Amman late tomorrow, I will hopefully have some updates and pictures.