"A dictionary is just like a teacher ... except it doesn't talk" by a 7 year old

I was sent this amazing Public Service Announcement from Australia, and had to share it with everyone. It's titled Children see Children do.

For all my PhD buddies out there, this comic is a timeless classic. Enjoy:

http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/~wilkins/physics/Dont-say/

Here's a teaser:

Wow
What a week.
The Bush-Cheney Administration is leaving office with a bang.
First Bush with the glorious victory tour which was derailed by a shoe.
Now Cheney calmly admits he approved the use of torture, and also believes Guantanamo should remain open. Perhaps he wants to also privatize it and manage it with one of his companies for a ridiculous sum...

Read more
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-cheney16-2008dec16,0,5456856.story?track=rss

This story gets better and better (if only this last part was true)
The Yankees have signed the infamous shoe hurler. If he can throw a shoe 75 mph, he can obviously throw a baseball 90+....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/andy-borowitz/yankees-sign-iraqi-hurler_b_150950.html

You know someone had to go out and do it after what happened. While I won't endorse what happened, nor support such behavior, I have to admit, playing the game sure helped ease my tension and relief alot of built up stress and frustration.

Enjoy

http://www.kroma.no/2008/bushgame/

President Bush decided to take some time out in his last few glorious days in office to bask in the successes of his administration. He visited his two bastions of liberty, Iraq and Afganistan. He was honored with thanks and a medal. He also had to duck. Not not accountability for all the wrong he and his administration had done. A reporter in baghdad called him a dog and threw his shoes at him. The first shoe, Mr. Bush deftly ducked. The second Mr Maliki showed us his defensive prowess by blocking with his hand. Enjoy:

First let me clarify, by War on "Terror", I mean the accountability that will be faced by the administration leaving office now. Last week, we saw that Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzalez were facing charges for their abuses in some private for profit prisons in Texas, one of Governor George W. Bush's legacies from running that state. Now we see two positive developments:

1. The abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo were authorized by Donald Rumsfield personally and other senior officials.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081211/pl_nm/us_usa_abuse_1

2. The Supreme Court is evaluating whether the FBI director and attorney general can be sued for abuse to those illegally detained and abused in the post 9/11 era.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081211/POLITICS/812110332/1020

The Supreme Court's decision in that case on the culpability and liability of senior government officials for misconduct and illegal policies is key to holding this administration responsible for all its abuses.

Violating our constitution and the trust of the people of not only the US but of the world should not go unpunished. They should be brought to justice.

It's so hard to speak about tragedies such as the one that recently unfolded in Mumbai. It reinforced the fears we all have of terrorism. What these young men thought they would achieve in massacring innocent people is so removed from logic. Yet when we see the types of portrayals of senseless violence in today's movies and video games, its hard not to be surprised by such tragedies.

Sometimes the pictures speak better than words. One picture particularly stands out from this tragedy. This is a picture of the now orphaned son of the murdered rabbi and his wife. No matter your religion, no matter your nationality, the tragedy that is depicted is one that must never be repeated or tolerated.

As God says in the Quran, " Whosoever kills one person, it is as if they killed all of humanity. and whosoever saves one person, it is as if they saved all of humanity".

"Most Dangerous Woman in the World"
I put that in quotes for a reason.

Thats what John Ashcroft, President Bush and the US government will have us believe is an applicable moniker for Aafia Siddiqui. She was supposedly a name given by Khaled Shaikh Mohammed, the supposed mastermind of 9/11. Her picture was on every evening news when John Ashcroft listed her as one of the 7 most dangerous people. She is currently incarcerated and charged with attempting to kill a US officer.

Is that the end of the story? Did we just capture and put away one of our most vile enemies? Hurrah to the war on terror?

Or is there more to it?

This story has so many question marks, it would be the most amazing suspense thriller. Even after the ending, we would have so many questions.

This MIT educated Phd, social activist, charity organizer, mother.
Missing for 5 years.
Her children missing or dead.

Our government disclaims involvement in her disappearance. But it was announced likewise on the evening news that she had been captured. And Pakistan acknowledged she was captured and handed over to the US. That was 2003.

Another case of illegal rendition?

Her defense claims she was held in solitary confinment for 5 years, no charges, no trial, only torture using her children who she is left to believe were killed. Then she supposedly grabbed the gun of a US officer and shot him with it.

Heck you hold me in solitary confinement based on no charges and no trial for 5 years, and use the threat of harming my children against me, there's no telling what state of mind I will be in. Or how desperate I will be. If in fact she did attack those guards, she would have one heck of a self defense claim under these circumstances.

She may have for all we know associated with some of those terrorists. We don't know. What is also intriguing is if she is such a dangerous person, and is involved in Al-Qaeda and 9/11, why not charge her with all that? Thats the beauty of our system of justice, we prove them guilty then punish them. Not the other way around. Innocent until proven guilty, right? The only charges she faces are related to those who held her, and seemingly those who held her did so against every right we claim as sacred.

I pray that the truth of these matters comes to us. I pray that if she is an innocent victim, that she be freed, and those who violated her and her family be brought to justice. I pray that if she is a criminal, that she be tried and brought to justice.

For more on the story, check out Spiegel:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,593195,00.html

It truly was a sad day for the American justice system. A trial that had ended in a mistrial last year with no chance of any convictions, as some of the jurors had testified, was retried this year and convictions on all counts were achieved. On its face, it may seem like justice was served. But as Bob Ray Sanders of the Daily Telegram describes, the outcome is another chapter in a tragedy that is not ending.

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/columnists/bob_ray_sanders/story/1064204.html

What I found also especially intriguing is the government agencies trying to mute a witness for the defense. The CIA and the Department of State attempted to intervene to prevent a former employee from testifying for the benefit of the defense:

http://crimeblog.dallasnews.com/archives/2008/11/behind-the-scenes-the-cias-pro.html

Publish Post

What a blatant violation of everything our legal system stands for. Not only is the prosecution supposed to provide any exculpatory evidence it has in its possession, it has a duty as an officer of the court to ensure the proceedings are just. When the prosecution has the CIA, the department of state, and the Israeli government behind them, I guess the circumstances change, and the requirements of justice change, and the scales are tipped.

I am confident that this sham of a decision will be overturned. Because I believe in our system of law.

It is truly unfortunate that political motivations and outright racism have put another stain on our history.


(Dec 4, 2008 - I found this wonderful piece from Alternet to supplement the commentary here:
http://www.alternet.org/story/108740)

Haaretz has an insightful article about a "Museum of Tolerance" about to be built in Jerusalem by the Simon Wiesenthal Center on an old Islamic cemetery.
Read more at http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1038842.html

If you go to their website, the "Simon Wiesenthal Center is an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to repairing the world one step at a time.". And if you join them, you "promote human rights".

Unless their definition of repairing the world is ridding it of any evidence of Palestinians, Muslims or Islam, its hard to resolve the conflict between their "message" and building plans.

I think you should contact them and let them know what you think of their plan. I sure did.

Cheney and Gonzalez indicted. Hopefully more to come.

The one thing I look forward to more than anything else with our positive regime change in the US is (hopefully) the accountability that the current administration will have for everything. For war mongering. For profiteering. For lying. For violating the constitution. For depriving people their rights. For suspending Habeas Corpus. For declaring an indefinite, illegal war to justify all these abuses.

A Texas grand jury has taken the first of hopefully many steps by indicting Cheney and former attorney general Gonzalez for abuses at private (for profit) prisons owned and run by Cheney and his buddies. And Gonzalez is on the hook for trying to bury the review of such abuses.

Read more at http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE4AI11B20081119

See the email below from Robert Greenwald regarding Joe Lieberman. I have previously contacted Harry Reid with a stern request to remove Lieberman's committee memberships and chairmanships on behalf of the Democratic party. The democrats now have a clear majority, so there is no reason to tolerate his betrayal.

Dear Friends, Colleagues and Supporters,

Joe Lieberman has launched consistent, deeply partisan attacks on President-elect Barack Obama, questioning his patriotism and fitness to lead. While Lieberman campaigned for John McCain and spoke on his behalf at the Republican National Convention, he spread some of the GOP's nastiest smears. And yet McCain continues to gush over Lieberman, as we saw on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" just this week. As Think Progress reveals in their thorough report, however, Lieberman's partisan politics should be condemned, not applauded.

Lieberman should not be allowed to have subpoena power to investigate the Obama administration as chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. In fact, he should not be allowed to remain chairman of this or any other committee.

Watch the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfJunZu22VU

Lieberman has proven he cannot be trusted to hold a high rank within the Democratic caucus. That is why we launched Lieberman Must Go last summer, a campaign that caught Congress' attention when we delivered a petition with over 43,000 signatures. Now, we ask you to help us escalate the pressure by contacting your Senators and members of the Senate Democratic Steering Committee. Tell them to strip Lieberman of his chairmanship in the Democratic caucus.

We have included a sample script below for you to use and the phone numbers are available at http://liebermanmustgo.com/?utm_source=rgemail. We ask that you be polite when you explain why Lieberman Must Go.

Senator _________, my name is _________. I'm a registered Democrat and a [state] resident. I urge you to vote to strip Joe Lieberman of his committee chairmanship when the Democratic caucus meets to discuss his future. A man who spent the entire election season demeaning Senator Obama's patriotism and his qualifications for office cannot be trusted with oversight authority over the Obama administration. Joe Lieberman is not a Democrat, and he should not enjoy the privileges of being a member of the majority party. Will you vote to strip Lieberman of his committee chairmanship?

Make the call today, then let us know you did and send this e-mail to your friends and colleagues. Let Democratic leaders know Lieberman represents an impediment to real change in Washington, and that is why Lieberman Must Go!

Yours
Robert Greenwald, Leighton Woodhouse, ZP Heller
and the Brave New Films team

Rahm Emanuel apologized by phone to the president of the ADC about his father's comments, previously posted here. See the details at http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/13/arab-american-group-decries-emanuels-fathers-smear/

Wow
I guess there have been Arabs in the White House and we didn't know it.
Rahm Emanuel's dad was very clear about it in the Jerusalem Post
"Obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel," he was quoted as saying. "Why wouldn't he be? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floors of the White House."

Or wait
maybe I am misunderstanding it.
Hmm
Is he saying that Arabs are only worth being floor cleaners?
(Is he also saying that the only non pro-Israel people are Arabs?)

Regardless of how loaded his statement is, one thing is clear:

Racism is racism no matter how you look at it and no matter who says it.

The White House deserves better. Barack deserves better.

Rahm should repudiate his dad's saying, because to be silent about it is to approve it.

If you are one of the 15% (according to the polls) who are undecided still 3 days before the election, Hear what Colin Powell, republican, former secretary of state, had to say in evaluating the candidates:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/27265490#27265490

His point about the demonisation of Muslims through the Obama accusations was so well said. Also, we should thank Campbell Brown of CNN for making the same point:
http://edition.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/13/campbell.brown.obama/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

I am not a fan of those never ending emails that get forwarded to everyone 7 times. But this ones was pretty compelling:

Sometimes the best way to see the flaws in an image is to examine its opposite...


What if the Obamas had paraded five children across the stage, following the debate, including a four month-old infant and an unwed, pregnant teenage daughter?

What if John McCain was a former president of the Harvard Law Review?

What if Barack Obama finished fifth from the bottom of his college graduating class?

What if McCain had only married once, and Obama was a divorcee?

What if Obama had met his second wife in a bar and had a long affair while he was still married?

What if Michelle Obama was the wife who not only became addicted to pain killers but also acquired them illegally through her charitable organization?

What if Cindy McCain graduated from Harvard?

What if Obama had been a member of the Keating Five? (The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and
early 1990s.)

What if Obama couldn't read from a teleprompter?

What if Obama was the one who had military experience that included discipline problems and a record of crashing seven planes?

What if Obama was the one who was known to publicly display a serious anger management problem?

What if Michelle Obama's family had made their money from beer distribution?

You could easily add to this list. If these questions reflected a reality, if the tables were turned, do you really believe the election numbers would be as close as they are?

This is what racism does. It covers up, rationalizes and minimizes qualities in one candidate and emphasizes negative characteristics in another when there is a color difference.

And, think of this - the candidates' educational backgrounds:

Barack Obama:
Columbia University - B.A. Political Science with a Specialization
in International Relations.
Harvard - Juris Doctor (J.D.) Magna Cum Laude

Joseph Biden:
University of Delaware - B.A. in History and B.A. in Political Science.
Syracuse University College of Law - Juris Doctor (J.D.)


John McCain:
United States Naval Academy - Class rank: 894 of 899

Sarah Palin: Hawaii Pacific University - 1 semester
North Idaho College - 2 semesters - general study
University of Idaho - 2 semesters - journalism
Matanuska-Susitna College - 1 semester
University of Idaho - 3 semesters - B.A. in Journalism

Education isn't everything, but this is about the two highest offices in the land as well as our standing in the world.

Look I am really really really sorry
First I went down to the bahamas, and left a storm in my wake.
Then I caused Obama to lose the election.....

Rough week.

Too bad (or too good) its not all true.

Don't forget to vote this Tuesday. Its your chance to make a difference. And if you can't, go do your absentee ballot now. Check with your clerk's office.

More on why not to drink:
1. Drunk tries to hijack Turkish Airliner - Decision making turns to mush. Why? Maybe because:
2. Does drinking alcohol shrink your brain? - Sure does. The article makes an interesting point, drinking has also recently shown to be good for your heart. Good for you and bad for you? Well thats not news. The Quran (revealed 1400 years ago) very clearly states that alcohol has benefits and harm, and the harm outweighs the benefit so don't drink. God makes it clear for us, he put this drink for us as a test. We can partake to enjoy the goodness and the benefits, or we can avoid to not harm and be harmed. And the harm is pretty darn serious.
How about ending it off with a little humor to reinforce the point:
Gmail offers drunk email protection
Support MADD and SADD

Picture is worth 1000 words.

Obama 2008 (GET OUT THERE AND VOTE)

Guys
Get out and vote.
Its your chance to make a difference.

For those who like him, like I do, Imam Zaid Shakir had the following to say on the subject:

STATEMENT FROM IMAM ZAID SHAKIR (SENT TO SHAHED AMANULLAH)

"The coming 2008 presidential election is being viewed by most
observers as one of the most critical in the history of America. Not only does
it occur at a time of war, economic crisis and social transition, it occurs
at one of those critical historical junctures when the movements, trends, and
institutions that will determine the direction of the country and
the world for at least the next half century are being formed. The character
of the leader of this nation will be a critical factor in determining how
those movements, trends, and institutions evolve.

As Muslims, we cannot afford silence or inaction at this critical
time. We must be an integral part of the process of change that will have
such a big impact on our future, both here in this country, and in the wider
world beyond our borders. Voting in this election is therefore not a
right, privilege, or option. It is a duty, a civic duty that we should
value and exercise. We can all play a small part in either being a drop among
the millions of others that will come together to form a mighty river of
sweeping change, or we can sit back, do nothing and complain when
the opportunity to act has passed. Hopefully, you will join me in
choosing the former course."

Imam Zaid Shakir

For those who know or do not know, the post 9/11 era has been unfortunately one frought with unfair targeting of Muslims and their organizations, including charities. While dozens of highly publicized trials and charges have been brought, not a single legitimate terror related conviction has been achieved against the American Muslim community and its organizations. Now in Dallas, the founders of one such charity, Holy Land Foundation, have to go through trial one more time. Holy Land was one of the largest, if not the largest, and focused its efforts primarily on Palestine. Of course, the Israelis and their US supporters will have you think the entire Palestinian population are terrorists, and even charitable aid to them is terrorism, which is of course hogwash.
The HLF trial involved 197 counts, and after 19 days of deliberations, the jurors could not find a guilty verdict on a single one of the real charges. I guess the prosecutors, pressured by the Bush administration and the Israelis, took the approach of throwing everything they could at the wall and nothing stuck. As one of the jurors said it best, "From what I read and what I saw in the facts and what I was presented, the defense didn't even have to stand and say anything because the prosecution failed completely"
The daughter of one of those charged wrote a very enlightening piece on the situation and her perspective, which I think is a must read. Find it at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/noor-elashi/dj-vu-in-dallas-as-the-go_b_128262.html
This chapter in American history, tied of course to the tragedy of 9/11, will go down as an unfortunate replay of the McCarthyist era. When will we learn to put aside our prejudices and focus on the facts and the realities.
As one who operates in the legal field, I have the confidence in our constitution and in our system of justice. Justice and truth will eventually prevail. It may take years and countless unfortunate victims, but history has many such episodes. The reason for the legacy and dominance of the United States is not in the attainment of the largest or most powerful weaponry, it is in its appreciation, protection and fostering of freedom, justice and the human spirit. Let freedom reign. For the ElAshi's and for all.

Reasons to vote Republican.

Obama 08

It was with horror last night as we watched the tragedy unfold in Pakistan yesterday. This shocking act of senseless violence was done during the holy month of Ramadan, when people were sitting in the restaurant breaking their fast. These acts do nothing but perpetuate a continuing cycle of senselessness.
I remember when the Grand Hyatt in Amman was bombed a few years ago. Some friends of ours had been at the very hotel earlier in the day, and had left (Thank God) prior to the bombing. The accused was supposedly a member of the Iraq AlQaeda (you never know what to believe nowadays). If the perpetrator was a Muslim or claimed to be one, he committed a crime against all of humanity and one that took the life of a very special person. Director Mustafa Akkad was one of the victims. While he is more well known for his work on the Halloween movies, he was the man who put Islam in a favorable light to the world through the mainstream media. His films, the Message and Lion of the Dessert, starring Anthony Quinn and others, bore a positive and accurate message about our faith, amidst dozens and dozens of Islamophobic propoganda productions put out by hollywood. He was working on a new movie about Saladin (Salah Al Din Al Ayubi), the liberator of Palestine and noble leader in the crusades. He is quoted to have said prior to his unfortunate demise:
" ...Saladin exactly portrays Islam. Right now, Islam is portrayed as a terrorist religion. Because a few terrorists are Muslims, the whole religion has that image. If there ever was a religious war full of terror, it was the Crusades. But you can't blame Christianity because a few adventurers did this. That's my message."
May God have mercy on the souls of the innocent victims. May God show us the truth about these acts, and hold the perpetrators accountable both in this life and the hereafter. May God prevent further such acts from being committed, and unite our world in peace and harmony.

A prominent member of IDIOTS
Islamophobe
Dimwits
Insistent
On spreading
Truthless
Stereotypes


Mr. Frank Gaffney, was beside himself. In the midst of the Wall Street collapse, he had to find some way to pin it on the Muslims. Of course, if Bin Laden had been employed by or had invested his money with Lehman Brothers, he could have made a connection. But he couldn't make a connection to the collapse. So whats the next best thing to blaming? How about Fear mongering?
Brilliant!
He writes that Islamic Finance, which is the next big thing for wall street, must be stopped and feared. It has similar traits to the underlying symptoms of the collapse, and is supported by those whose goal is to destroy the civilized world. It is what is next after subprime.
And guess what?
The Washington Times had the gall to publish this worthless crap.
I am honestly not making this up. Its true.

As someone who has worked in the Islamic Finance industry, I take this garbage to heart, when I should really take it to the heap.

Islamic Finance is predicated on fundamental rules that are common to the origins of the Jewish and Christian religions. The major difference is that the modern interpretation of whats bad in the Jewish and Christian religions has been distorted to only include usury. Islamic Finance is based on return with risk, charitable lending, and good faith dealing. Unfortunately, our capitalist system is based on oppressive lending, seemingly return with no risk, and opportunism. We see the result of that right now in the market.

Islamic Finance is a breath of fresh air, sort of like the nobel prize winning microfinance phenomenon. Don't ask me. Just do a google search for major media pieces on Islamic Finance. Or email me and I will provide some sources.

Shame on you Mr Gaffney. I will be happy to see you burning in hell. And Shame on you Reverend Moon and the Washington Times. Instead of focusing on solutions in the middle of a gigantic crisis, you spread fear and stereotypes. You call yourself a man of God? Maybe the fire and brimstone kind. The witchhunts were done 400 years ago. Isn't it time to move on?...

I can't get enough of the Onion....

http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/nfl_fines_pacman_jones_for

Hilarious bit from last year about Michigan dropping from the top 25 of Div 1 to Div 3.
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/michigan_drops_to_division
It seems we are doomed to repeat history (both U of M and the Lions for that matter)

Carly Fiorina, the former HP ceo who is a very prominent aide to McCain and was a high profile speaker at the Republican convention, says neither of her candidates are qualified to run a corporation.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/16/fiorina.mccain/index.html
She might as well announce her candidacy ;-)

If you see a BMW coming down the street, watch out.
Attack of the killer BMW's.
I wonder how many BMW's there are in New Delhi anyways?

McCain, McCain, McCain
You really are outdoing yourself.
First you proclaim the economy is strong, a couple of days before one of the biggest if not the biggest corporate economic collapse days in US history.
Then your advisor gives you credit for creating the Blackberry
http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanmartin/0908/HoltzEakin_McCain_helped_create_BlackBerry.html?showall
You even outdid Al Gore's internet claim.
Maybe your advisor was confused, he was talking about some black berries you had planted in the lawn of your 6th house. Especially considering you don't know how to use a computer, and your wife does your email for you.
Thanks for entertaining us!

Folks, last chance. If you are not registered to vote, please do so NOW. If you are registered and like me far away from your district on election day, request an absentee ballot.

Here's a site that makes it simple,
http://www.voteforchange.com/index_obama.php?source=091008emailR
It's obviously sponsored by Obama's campaign.
If you are voting republican, please disregard this message.

You know its really, really tough to applaud people you loathe. Especially a scumbag, two bit, racist criminal such as Ehud Olmert. But for once, he speaketh the truth, and we must appreciate his parting words (since he will no longer be PM soon, and will likely be in prison not so long after).

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1020998.html

Greater Israel is no more. Whoever believes in it is deluding themselves.
He even described Palestinians as rightful residents and in human terms for once:

"But ultimately, after a long and tortured process, I arrived at the conclusion that we must share with those we live with if we don't want to be a binational state. "

Bravo, Bravo. Now lets get down to a real business of finding peace. Enough with the BS govt and representation of Mahmoud Abbas(its like a foreign government negotiating issues for the US with Ron Paul). Its time for the democratically elected leaders of Palestine, Hamas, and Israel to sit down and work out a practical, legitimate and promising long term peace.

Israelis themselves are asking the question ""What the hell are we doing here?"
Took the words right out of our collective mouth.
http://news.yahoo.com/story/afp/mideastconflictoffbeat
When you come, occupy a place, take people's lands and homes, force people into cramped occupation camps and villages, deny them basic human rights, do you really expect to live happily ever after?
The reality is there is room and opportunity for both a Jewish state and a Palestinian state to exist, provided a real, sincere effort to be just, fair, and give people their basic human rights.
Jerusalem should become an independent state of its own, similar to the vatican, so that all may appreciate and practise their faith and history there.

Finally after years and years and years, the sanctions against Libya are dropped. Condoleeza Rice makes a historic visit to Tripoli to visit Qaddafi.
So how does he celebrate this historic occasion? By hitting on the Secretary of State:
"In the end they met at his compound in Tripoli. After the diplomatic niceties were dealt with, Ms. Rice and Colonel Qaddafi met one on one — though with note takers and interpreters, State Department officials said — for what had been billed as a more interesting private exchange than the usual diplomatic meetings.
After all, the Libyan leader had professed his “love” for the American secretary of state. “I support my darling black African woman,” Colonel Qaddafi told the network Al Jazeera last year. “I admire and am very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders.”

He continued: “Yes, Leezza, Leezza, Leezza... I love her very much.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/06/world/africa/06diplo.html?_r=2&ref=world&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

Let them say it
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=184086&title=sarah-palin-gender-card
Hilarious snapshots of the hypocrisy of the Republicans and their cronies.

Want to learn a new language? How about Englsih




The Sponsor is The Asian Institute for Languages.

رمضان مبارك
تقبل الله طاعتكم
Everyone have a blessed Ramadan
May Allah accept your worship

Make the most of this blessed opportunity. Don't wait to be challenged, challenge yourself to be a better person. As the Prophet said, Judge yourself before you are judged.

"Nothing increases the size of a fish like fishing all by yourself." (unknown)

Also, someone once shared a story about someone praising another.
The other said "Shame on you and Shame on me."
The first said "for what"
The other said "You for exaggerating and me for feeling good about it"

"Behold the turtle; he makes progress only when he sticks his neck out" by James Bryant Conant

"The only way to have a friend is to be one." by Ralph Waldo Emerson

From Acclaimed Chaplain, to Accused Enemy Terrorist, to Vindicated but Unemployed to Delegate
I read with interest today that someone I regard as a dear friend, although I have only had the chance to meet him and email him on a number of occasions, is serving as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. James Yee, the West Point Grad, former chaplain to Guantanamo, is one of the delegates from the state of Washington. It's amazing that someone who had to go through his ordeal, from being a valuable asset of the US govt, to being enemy #1 and having his life ripped to shreds and his reputation nuked, to being vindicated, would come back to the political scene which he was such a highlight of not too long ago. God bless him, make him prosper and compensate him for all that has befallen him.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2008136158_danny25m.html

Blind, Drunk, Driving Journalist Makes News
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hLkA5A8ltZ1H52wfKiMXE8jdqnYg
Another example of judgement gone drunk.
Journalists are supposed to report the news, right?
Well Mr reporter here, who just happens to be blind, and his buddy are through a bunch of pints and thinks to himself, hey would I love to drive a car. His buddy loves the idea. They proceed, with his buddy supposedly holding the hand brake and steering wheel. At least they were driving slow, thats why the cops pulled them over. Reminds me of the awesome classic Black Sheep, where Chris Farley and David Spade were pulled over for driving a souped up cop car with the nitrous leaking 7mph on the freeway and pulled on to the center median. Classic.
Lesson be learned, you drink, no keys to the car, no brilliant decisions to be made.

END THE GAZA BLOCKADE
The human catastrophe of Gaza continues unabated. Israel cuts off the overpopulated area it has continually devastated from the outside world, and needed food, medical supplies, and other necessities are not able to get in. Do we hear at all about this? nope. Do we care? I should hope so. Well a group of people who picked up the slack for the rest of us have done something about it. They have travelled by boat from Cyprus to Gaza and have enterred Gaza with the intention of breaking the blockade. Although the aid they are delivering now is nominal (hundreds of hearing aids and balloons) as compared to the crisis and need, it is a step and a powerful one. God Bless them and any who try to help those who are oppressed.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1014462.html
The organization's website follows:
http://freegaza.org/

Also, if you feel underinformed (or misinformed as it may be by the media) about the Palestinian crisis, I would highly recommend you check out the award winning Occupation 101. This wonderful dvd highlights the every day lives and history of the conflict. You can see it at
http://www.occupation101.com/

So What If He Were Muslim?
Ellis Cose of Newsweek spelled it out like most of us have wanted to hear from someone, anyone during this hate fest against Islam and Muslims. SO WHAT IF HE WERE? Does that change anything?
http://www.newsweek.com/id/154909

Are you sick of all the politics as usual?
Are you ready for a change?
Its time for us to head in a new direction.
Join me as we strive to make a difference

(UPDATE: THE SOURCE VIDEO FILE WAS REMOVED. SORRY)

Paid for by the committee of people who are thinking casually of possibly electing some person such as the one who posted this who seems to have too much time on his hands who goes by the name of Omar Haydar for President.


Obama 2008

Marriage is tough. Trust me I know. Tough enough that seemingly two decent reasonable people can ruin each other's lives.
Tough enough that if you add some spice to it, such as inability to control your self (infidelity or anger), you can wreak havoc on it.
Take this first couple:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25839910/
They look like they will be happy a long time! Wedding night brawl. Three days later, honeymoon throwdown. Hey you never know, maybe they will have a long, loving, and very violent marriage. Perhaps they should invent a couples prison, so they can live happily ever after.

Or these folks above. Boy oh boy. And can you believe all these stories are from one weekend?

You know it is a good thing to fight in marriage, so long as you do it peacefully(ie no violence), resolve why you fought, and make up.
As they say "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"
In these peoples cases, lets hope they don't kill each other.

No Reservations Saudi Style
My mom and sisters are hooked to food shows. Even my kids now will beg to watch one of the many shows (especially after they have used up their cartoon quota for the day)...
So I was surprised and pleased to see one about food in Saudi.
No Reservations, which I think comes on the Travel Channel, had some sort of contest, which was won by a very bright and charismatic Saudi lady. So Mr Bourdain headed out and the show is pretty sweet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gokw7TScjRw&feature=related
One of the producers even wrote a very cool piece on the Abaya
http://no-reservations-crew-blog.travelchannel.com/2008/07/under-the-abbaya-female-produc.html

Stop the presses, Stop the presses
Israel clears another genocidal criminal of wrongdoing
He killed 8 Palestinians and one journalist, who he specifically targeted. Took them four years to try him.
Kind of like when they shot Mohammed Al-Dura and his father in plain sight. The two were cowering for cover and they shot them in cold blood. Of course, the Middle East's only democracy, as they laud themselves, immediately bulldozed the site removing all evidence. Then they took their time investigating. Supposedly recreated the scene. And then handed down their BS for anyone with the IQ of a rock to believe, that, actually, the two were shot by Palestinian terrorists intending to incite more violence.
Kind of like when Rachel Corrie, May God have mercy on her soul, was run over by the innocent IDF bulldozer. Trying to protect another Palestinian family from being uprooted from their land (which the revisionist criminals will in the future claim as they have had no one living on it) and bulldozed from their home. As the democratic fact finders clearly stated, it was truly a tragic accident.
May God have mercy on all those killed by these criminals. May God try and punish these criminals both in this life and in the next.

The internet has opened a new frontier of information sharing and communication. We can find someone or some information in mere seconds. We can communicate with billions in mere clicks. We can make or break our reputation in one meager posting.

Years ago, when the internet was in its infancy, and the web was the gopher system, I noticed an interesting phenomenon. Individuals who were very introverted or anti social in real life sometimes took on a whole new identity in the cyber world. I personally like to be a straight shooter, and prefer my cyber identity to match my real persona.

This phenomenon was especially apparent on bbs', forums, and mailing lists. Especially in the online Muslim community, people who didn't exist on campus or in communities, were very prominent online. Cyber shaikhs issuing cyber khutbahs and fatawas. I would always email some of these cyber personalities with .edu domains, "hey I am on campus all the time at all the meetings, lectures and activities, how come I never run into you"
The benign ones simply had a much different cyber personality than real life. People carried themselves online in ways that conflicted so much with their real life personalities. Because they could. because the keyboard and monitor were protective barriers to real social interaction, fears and consequences.

I remember two scenarios that were funny yet illustrated the online alter egos. I was a moderator on a bbs years ago and noticed some unsavory contact between a gentleman and a young lady (and I mean young). I contacted the young lady's brother to notify him of concerns about what was going on. I then received threatening messages from the gentleman. After doing a little bit of investigative work, I emailed him back and said I would be down the street from his house on such and such a day and time and would welcome a face to face discussion(or him at least not hiding behind his keyboard with such threats). Of course he didn't show.
Similarly, a little pest who bid for and never paid for something from me on ebay and then gave me negative feedback (not sure how Ebay let that one go), emailed me months later offering to mutually remove the negative feedback. I said sure, just pay what you owe and we are all set. He responded with some nice words. Again, a little investigative work, and I sent him his address, phone number, the names of his family members, and an invitation to cut the crap. I didn't hear from him again.

Later, the malignant forms of cyber alteregos popped out, email addresses by individuals run by groups or organizations with agends. Fake names and fake emails. Hacked email/moderator accounts.

The beauty of the internet was with a little investigative work, we could find out who was really who. Just track the login ips for the user domains.

Things have become much more complex, but yet the trouble has gotten much worse. The New York Times had a wonderful article about Trolls that highlights the pheonomena.

It must be exciting for people to feel they can do what they want online. Extort, threaten or just harass others.

Just because you can do something, and not be prosecuted for it, doesn't mean you should. The old adage do unto others as you would have others do unto you should be applied in all settings, especially online. Unfortunately nothing can be done about these cyber threats until each and every individual takes it upon themselves to be responsible and accountable.

The house of cards this administration built to force us into invading Iraq continues to fall, and of course we will see more scapegoats. An author writes that an order came from Bush himself to concoct evidence linking AlQaeda to Iraq. Read for yourself
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26030573/

Hey if the Golden Bear isn't gonna play, why not let the Black Bear Play?
A Black Bear from the wild decided to drop in on the Senior US Open.

http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Colorado-Springs2C-Colo-USGA-2008-US-Senior-Open-Championship/photo//080802/483/555eb2285fc84e6bbaf6b3268a2dd3df/;_ylt=AhK6N14nd6l14L.F8HulDeMDW7oF

http://news.yahoo.com/s/uc/20080726/cm_uc_crabox/op_476839;_ylt=AkfuHfqOFwxTvz7_IrrUHKKt8c8F

McCain Makes Historic First Visit to Internet

John McCain goes where he has never gone before.

Guantanamo has been a huge black eye for the US. These shams of trials seem to make us look more and more like a lawless circus. How dare we criticize other country's human rights records, when we avoid giving these people any rights.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080801/ts_nm/guantanamo_hearings_dc_8

The driver for Bin Laden is charged and going to trial. But if he is acquitted, I quote "The Bush administration says it can still hold him as an "unlawful enemy combatant," even if he is acquitted of the charges, until the "end of hostilities" in the war against terrorism declared by U.S. President George W. Bush."

And with our brilliant Attorney General Mukasey, following well in the footsteps of the person who shook the foundation of the AG position in his incompetence and blatant partisanship, John Ashcroft, wanting Congress to declare an indefinite war against such unnamed parties as we see fit to include in our pathetic charade, this circus will never end. Well, thats why we have elections. Lets get out there and vote.

Another example why drinking is such a great idea!

2 drunk ladies want to get fresh air on a plane at 10,000 feet.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10523919

I must confess. I am on facebook. I used to be on myspace, but that was initially for a good reason. See I had to hack into a young lady's myspace account on behalf of her mom because that foolish young lady (all 12 years of wisdom) had taken some unsavory pictures of herself for her friend preceded by boy. So this distraught mom wanted to find out what her daughter had been doing and prevent any future permanent ramnifications for her.
People just don't seem to get it, and of course you can't expect kids to get it. The internet, once you post something to it, is a permanent record. And it will be your legacy. And it very well maybe used against you one day, by a potential employer, by a prospective love interest, or by law enforcement. Kids post the darndest things. They think they are having a regular conversation and say whatever comes to their minds. the good thing about verbal conversations, especially those really pointless ones where we may say the stupidest things, is those tend to get forgotten, and there is no permanent record of them. But the internet has its own memory, one which won't go away any time soon.
Here's a great example, Mr fabulous drives drunk and hits and almost kills someone. A few days later he goes to a party dressed as a jailbird. Mr prosecutor gets his hands on the pictures courtesy of none other than facebook on the internet, and the rest is history.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/07/18/facebook.evidence.ap/index.html

Obama speaks out against Islamophobic Prejudice:
You know, this is actually an insult against Muslim-Americans, something that we don't spend a lot of time talking about. And sometimes I've been derelict in pointing that out. You know, there are wonderful Muslim-Americans all across the country who are doing wonderful things. And for this to be used as sort of an insult, or to raise suspicions about me, I think is unfortunate. And it's not what America's all about.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/15/obamas-larry-king-intervi_n_112930.html

My five and half year old son was watching Mr Rogers, who had a lamp hooked up to a clapper. So he tried to clap and turn on and off the lamp, and turned around and told me baba it doesn't work!

NO MORE CRACK IN FLINT
Flint Police are now cracking down on crack. No not crack cocaine, but butt crack. Our new police chief is making it a top priority to prevent public nuisances. Forget about the drugs, the thefts, the other crimes, the top priority is sagging pants!
(Disclaimer - while I find it distasteful for people to expose their underpants, I believe this focus is too much on a petty issue. Like painting the ornament on a fence next to a dam that has broken)

http://freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080708/NEWS06/307080009

Air France - disinfect planes from Arab Countries.
I rode an Air France Plane from Jeddah Saudi Arabia to Paris, and another plane from Paris to Detroit.
The interesting thing was on the flight from Jeddah, the flight attendant walked through the aisle upon departure spraying some sort of insecticide/disinfectant up and down the aisles.
No such behavior was exhibited on the Paris - Detroit flight.
What does this mean? I don't know. You tell me!

GW and McCain: One and the same
Wit, greed, strategy

See for yourself

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3zp4c

Hey guys if you haven't yet, give your share and become an Obamaniac!

https://donate.barackobama.com/page/contribute/HQvidmatch?match_campaign_id=10&source=20080624_SH_ND

Your contribution gets matched!

"

India's Reliance talking with DreamWorks

By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM, Associated Press Writer Tue Jun 24, 3:34 AM ET

MUMBAI, India - India's Reliance Entertainment and other investors are in talks with Hollywood's DreamWorks SKG to raise as much as US$2 to create a new movie venture, two people familiar with negotiations said Tuesday."

I guess with the currency exchange to the Rupee, two bucks goes a long way

The "Judge sides with Duke: Your football team stinks" story is
located at http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3455278

So its official by virtue of court decision, Duke sucks!

“Experience is the worst teacher; it gives the test before presenting the lesson.”

--Vernon Law

Just setup a facebook group for Jeddah Expats. Hopefully we can get enough people that it becomes a useful resource.
If you are contemplating coming out here, best bet, at least for the first three months, is to have your company/employer make all your arrangements, that way you can take your time in getting settled.

I sent Dunkin Donuts a complaint letter saying I was outraged by their pulling Rachel Ray's ad. They sent me the pathetic response two emails below. I sent the below followup. If you have time and are interested, please contact them as well. Use the same customerservicereply@... address. Don't forward my message, just type your own.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Omar Haydar <>
Date: Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 3:52 PM
Subject: Re: Case# 5060690 - Dunkin' Donuts, Baskin Robbins, Togo's
To: customerservicereply@...


Your response only strengthens my feelings against you unfortunately. Is it each time someone complains about some aspect of your advertising, you throw away all the millions you spend and pull the ads? Very very sad. If someone from the KKK complains that an ad has an african american in it, do you pull the ad? This is the same type of blatant racism. Shame on you!

On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 3:15 PM, <customerservicereply@...> wrote:
Thank you for sharing your comments. We always appreciate hearing from our customers. The intent of the online ad featuring Rachael Ray wearing a paisley silk scarf was to promote iced coffee. Given the surprising and truly unfortunate interpretation of this ad from some of our consumers, we decided to pull the ad and replace it with another as it is no longer serving its intended purpose, which was to simply promote our iced coffee---nothing more, nothing less.

At Dunkin' Donuts, we value all of our customers and remain steadfastly committed to making your experiences with us both memorable and pleasant. Thank you, again, for making us aware of your concerns; it is appreciated

Hilary's pick for the Kentucky Derby - Enjoy this one

http://thepage.time.com/2008/05/03/you-cant-make-this-up/#

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/968729.html

At least he has the balls to say it for what it is! State sponsored terrorism.