Let the kids build a better world

Under the Siwaian Sun ....

In a desperate attempt to escape the city and just have peace and a space, be disconnected for a while and breath clean air, I back bagged, borrowed a sleeping bag, and called the leader of a group I never heard of before so he would confirm that our trip to Swia oasis will still be on inspite of the bad weather that will overcome the city during this weekend. I had my other two friends with me, we had no idea what we are up to, who we are going with, we all decided its about time for an escape and just stood infront of the mini bus waiting for more people we have never met before to accompany us in a 12 hours journey in the desert.

I entered my 3rd decade few years ago however I never felt like I do belong to the 30 something box yet, most of my other friends are either single very busy people who gave up on such crazy ideas of having an adventure even if its just for a weekend, or just married couples with children who would love nothing as much as spending their weekend in bed with their kids. And since I didn’t belong to either of the two groups, I decided I have to find new people and mingle and start being more socially active specially while my best friends either live abroad or just about to leave soon.

But me – not socially intelligent at all – had to make a hell of an effort and open up a little bit and put my judgmental cynical attitude on the shelf and go with the flow. Right infront of the bus I met them for the first time, 8 other people from the age of 19 to 24. I looked to Salma my friend and she smiled, she got it from my look and I felt like the rest of them just looking at us and thinking, uh weirdoes! In your early 20s you never expect to be acting or looking like me in your 30s, I myself used to have a vision of me being a mum with at least one kid when hitting my 30s, but infront of them was a pony tailed short single girl carrying her pillow and looking fiercely at them, guess thinking what the hell was I thinking, this trip sucks already I will never be able to mingle, I have a 21 years old brother and we rarely say hi when it happen and we accidentally cross each other path.

I found Salma nodding calmly and telling me not to worry it's gonna be okay, I will still have fun. Then I looked at the bus, a very small bus so I looked back at her and guess she laughed at how terrified I looked and the panic attack ahead of her. We entered the bus, they looked cheerful yet still questioning and then their leader who is also 20 sth started introducing himself and asked the rest to introduce themselves to the others. Now I really panicked, dammit I'm not gonna give my age away. But fortunately it went smooth and we gave our names and a very short brief about what we do in life. Then we took off to the desert and some started having small chats while other preferred their Ipod company, me and Salma stayed awake chatting for a while and after 6 hours we decided we better try to sleep as we still have more 6 hours ahead of us.

We reached Siwa in the morning and the fresh air carried within it a rural smell that was so virgin and hasn't been affected by any kind of pollution. We head to our camp and since the tents weren’t ready for us yet, we the girls invaded the only hut in there while the boys guess went to the hot spring. I just slept for very few hours to wake up to the voice of the boys playing football near our hut, checked the bathroom, at least we had one, then our guide said its time to start our tour as there are a number of hot springs to visit and its about time. Still not talking to anybody but my two friends, and every now and then checking the only young girl with us, Rehab a 20 years old photographer who is so energetic, guess she didn’t bother to rest at all and while I was napping she took off alone to somewhere near our camp to take photos. She was loud, cheerful, challenging and up to anything and everything. When we reached the hot spring some went swimming while the others including me instead of sitting doing nothing decided to follow Rehab the photographer in her adventure as she decided to discover the area on her own so we decided to accompany her. Guess at the very beginning it wasn’t a very wise decision as I found myself in the middle of a meadow with long dry hay, we just followed her and away from the cuts everywhere in our hands and legs - the boys were wearing shorts! - I was enjoying it in a weird way, maybe as I never imagined this before, then we reached the sea and away from the mud and cuts I was so happy and seem that it showed so the others started talking to me and the ice melt on its own.

I smiled seeing them not fearing approaching and having a conversation and just like that we all started talking and on our way back to the hot spring I knew their names. Our next destination was to a place in the middle of the sea full of huts and ducks, I sat by the shore for a while enjoying the breeze then I joined the rest of them and started taking pictures of the place, again we had few talks and waited for sunset then took off to have dinner in a Siwaian restaurant. By then we were all tired but having a great time and I came to know all of their names and a hint about them, we laughed about food, tried to learn the language, tasted each other plates and tried their tea which was so sweet and very nice. Later we took off back to the camp in an attempt to get some sleep so we can be ready for another long day but once we reached there some decided to get into the hot spring again as it was freezing and the hot water was so tempting while the rest gathered around eachother nearby a fire under the full moon, in no time we decided we don’t want to sleep though the tents were ready and we didn't mind the cold weather so we started a game, we were all laughing, goofing and picking on eachother and for the first time in a long time I was young again. Their spirit and freshness was so contagious that I was just so eager to get back on time, I looked at them and remembered that once upon a time I was just the same, and I even started suggesting games to play, we talked about movies and favorite quotes and master scenes.

The next morning we woke up for breakfast and sure Siwaian tea that I guess we were addicted to by then. They all decided that we have like an hour before our desert excursion so our leader decided we go hike in a nearby mountain. My two friends weren’t excited to hike as much as I was and on the way there they abandoned me with the group to return back to the camp and read. I found myself with the group alone and hiking for the first time in my life but what the heck I kept going though I didn’t talk much. The boys were so kind they all acted nice and they always kept an eye on me and Rehab the photographer who was going wild climbing eagerly with her camera (Dawlat) and taking pictures. I was clumsy so two of them accompanied me and tried to protect and guide me all the way up the hills. And by the time we reached the peak, the view was amazing, we gathered for a group photo and laughed about having no idea on who to follow to get back down, I found them so kind giving me a hand and trying routes before asking me to follow them and I was touched by their kindness and helpful gestures.

Back to the camp we were divided into two 4x4 cars with expert desert drivers and we had our excursions in the smooth waves of very soft sand everywhere around us, we were racing and laughing loudly and stopped to check few hot springs in the desert before going sand boarding and watching sunset. The boys were so excited and started betting on who will master the sand boarding this time and have more rounds. Me and Salma weren’t enthusiastic to share so we backed off while our other friend Chitra just hit the sand. One of the guys came to me saying I cant travel for 12 hours to come to the desert and not try this, so again since I was absorbing their spirit I said what the heck hand me a board am on fire. That wasn’t even in my wildest dreams as I didn’t even know about such kind of sport and away from all the fun one might think it could be, yet still it’s the most freeing feeling ever. I who hated the beach because of the sand didn’t mind having sand in my eyes and ears, I was literally buried in sand and I loved it. We loved the contest among the guys and Rehab as she the tiny little girl managed to beat them all and had all her rounds and maybe more. Two of the boys dedicated their time to go grab her every time she falls, while another one was standing taking pictures of the rest and managed by the end of the day and right before sunset to convince Salma to at least have one round and she did.

Again a really fun day ended with laughs and we saw sun set and went back to the camp for dinner, we gathered around the tables on the floor and ate together on candle lights and again had the Siwaian tea, then we started playing games and getting to know more about everyone indirectly through their favorite things in life. I was attacked by all living blood sucking crawling and flying creatures but I stood still till the end of the night playing and laughing with them and I just felt like we all knew eachother before and that weird feeling I felt at the very beginning just disappeared. I didn’t see in their eyes the weird look that was there at the very beginning; on the contrary we all talked about our weirdest moments, shared views and guessed one another character and number of siblings, till we were all so exhausted so we decided to get some rest before sun rise. The third day was our last day, we were supposed to have a tour in the village and check few monuments so after having our last breakfast together and trying the Siwaian "Afket" which I have no idea what exactly the ingredients but it had onions in it, yet we all loved eating it. We again grabbed our sleeping bags, said goodbye to our host and checked Cleopatra's bath and Amoun temple, then went shopping in the village for olives, dates, and souvenirs, had tea with pancakes and went to Gabal el mouta before hitting the road back to Cairo.

Our way back to the city wasn’t like how we started, now we all know eachother and the trip back was more fun though we all shared one feeling, we didn’t want this to end. We started playing the game of first impressions and I was delighted to know that though I gave a firm belief at the very beginning of being a serious not fun person to know but they agreed on me being an easy going person. I never thought that I would really enjoy such a trip, to me it was like an adventure, sleeping in a hut in the desert, sand boarding and enjoying the company of total strangers and being comfy around them. I was young in spirit for an entire weekend and I loved it, I loved their cheerful spirit and hoped nothing will ever ruin it for them. Adam our easy going active leader. Moumen the very kind pure helpful guy ever. Chip and Dale or as they kept referring to eachother Da Vinci Etisalat and Azhari Mobinil, fun guys very energetic and competing all the time. Bakir the calm dreamy guy who reminded me of myself 10 yrs ago maybe because I studied English literature like him. Mahdy the funny light spirited guy who picks on everyone in a nice fun manner. Sherif the calm and loyal Disney movies addicted fan, Chitra the social fun with the coolest giggle ever. The hyper active, very talented Rehab and her inseparable Dawlat. Abd El Rahaman or Mr. ego our very proud 4x4 driver. Hemeda the siwaian smiley guy and our guide, kind, cheerful and always helpful. And sure Saloumi the always ready, prepared and always cold even with 3 heavy layers of socks on.

We stopped in the middle of the way to have a quick bite then back to Cairo we said goodbye and promised to stay in touch. Next day I got a group email invitation to a new place outside Cairo for the next weekend, I cheerful replied yes am on. Now that it turned out that what I feared most and thought I am not capable of is the only way for me to revive the lost me, I guess I am going from now on to adopt this spirit of positives I found in them and be the fun older sister they agreed on me being.

I am hiking next week, wanna join?

How to begin life from where everybody else is ending it

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences, and how life isn't measured in minutes, but in moments. And how your life is defined by its opportunities... even the ones you miss. You never know what's comin' for you no matter which road you chose or how different you were created, or even how you started or going to end.

Yet in every ones life journey and along the way you bump into people who make a dent on your life. Some people get struck by lightning yet stood up and resumed. Some are born to sit by a river and viewed life from a totally different prespective. Some have an ear for music yet never dared to play an insturment. Some are artists who werent given the opportunity but they always knew about their talents. Some swim the English Channel and never gave up on reaching their dreams. Some know buttons and care for nothing but it. Some know Shakespeare and expressed themselves through others. Some are mothers as passionate, self giving and love unconditionally. And some people can dance and breath through it.

T.S Eliot was quoted saying "everytime we meet we are total strangers", now one might travel, meet new people, experience life differently, taste it differently, get struck by a lightening, hit by a car, lose a lover, go through different life cycles till you decide on resting or slowing your paces and something finding finds peace in getting back to where it all began believing its going to be the same, believing you can, yet as the movie illustrated it ... It's a funny thing about comin' home. Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same. You'll realize what's changed is you. and its never the same.

For what it's worth: it's never too late or, in my case, too early to be whoever you want to be. There's no time limit, stop whenever you want. You can change or stay the same, there are no rules to this thing. We can make the best or the worst of it. I hope you make the best of it. And I hope you see things that startle you. I hope you feel things you never felt before. I hope you meet people with a different point of view. I hope you live a life you're proud of. If you find that you're not, I hope you have the strength to start all over again. So everyday if you are blessed by being alive, start your life all over again, you have today but you have no clue about tomorrow, so capture what you have got.

we're meant to lose the people we love. How else would we know how important they are to us? no you can just go on living knowing the fact that you got to let go and care for what you have right now and cherish every single moment with those you love the most as the day will come when you will regret most not letting them know how much you loved them just because you had no idea you loved them that much.

You can be as mad as a mad dog at the way things went. You could swear, curse the fates, but when it comes to the end, you have to let go. We all got to let go, let go of dreams that are not meant to be, let go of a life thats not for us, let go of clinging to what we cant rely on, let go of pain and suffer and move on. Cursing your luck and the self pity will lead to the same end, so no matter how angry one can be with life, we will all end up letting go of it.

I would listen to the house breathin'. All those people sleepin'. I felt... safe. Always dreamed of independency, living on my own till I find someone to share life with, now when one experienced losing those whom he took for granted, whom he considered as an emotional burden, when they are gone, when they stop breathing, when one loses this warmth of their breath around him, I guess by then sleeping safely wont be guaranteed anymore.

Extracts from the funniest black comedy blog ever

I really enjoyed reading her posts, Ghada abd el 3al book now is among the best seller...she the funniest ever Egyptian girl who managed to present our problems in the most sarcastic funny manner ever.
Ghada tackles the usual common female problems of our time rather than sexual harassment and women suppression. She when discussing marriage, divorce, singlehood is just helping in finding us a path through which we will connect and not feel so bad about ourselves.
Ghada managed by going with the saying "haam ybaki wee haamm yda7ak" to excel in
drawing a smile on our faces when reading her blog in times of despair so we can all share a laugh over what some might consider misery.

http://wanna-b-a-bride.blogspot.com/

يا أخي البنات مقصفوين الرقبة دول خلاص إستقووا و افتروا

إفتروا إيه ..قول توحشوا ..البنت من دول بقى يندب في عينها رصاصة

رايحة الشغل ..جاية من النادي ..رايحة الدرس ..راجعة من السينما

لا بقوا يتثبتوا ولا يتظبطوا و كله كوم و اللي حبست الواد اللي كان بيعاكسها دي كوم ..فين بنات زمان ..ولا واحدة كانت بتفتح بقها
و قد كان ..قررنا نحن الإخوة الرجال المقهورون إننا صحيح رجالة ..بس من زمان ماوقفناش وقفة رجالة ..ضد سيطرة المرأة على كل مجريات الحياة..ضد زحف جحافل النساء و شراذم الفتيات على كل المهن و المواقع ..ضد مشيهم في الشارع ..ضد ركوبهم الميكروباصات ..ضد إعتراضهم لما حد يمد إيده كده والا كده ..ملعونييييين في كللللللل كتاااااااااب ..ما هم اللي بيجيبوه لنفسهم ..اللي ماشية لوحدها ..عشان نفسها تتعاكس..و اللي ماشية مع أبوها والا أخوها و إيش عرف الناس مين ده إن شاء الله ..و اللي راكبه عربية لوحدها ..مش عارفه إن الموضوع ده بيثير الغرائز و اللي راكبه مع واحد جنبها ..مش عارفة إن شرف البنت زي سلك الفرامل ؟..اللي لابسه قصير ..أستغفر الله العظيم ..و اللي لابسه طويل ..إلهي تولعوا بجاز ..ما احنا بنفضل نفكر يا ترى اللبس الطويل ده مخبيه تحته إيه؟ ..اللي خارجة في العيد الصغير دون أي إعتبار لإن الناس لسه خارجة من صيام ..و اللي خارجة في العيد الكبير و الناس نفسها مفتوحة ع اللحمة ..و كله كوم و اللي خارجة في عيد العمال دي كوم .. ما احنا معذورين لما نظن فيها الظنون لأن كل الناس عارفة إن عيد العمال ده هو عيد "المكن" ..ولا سابوا شغلانة إلا و اشتغلوها ..ولا سابوا دراسة إلا ودرسوها ....خايليننا في الرايحة و الجاية ..ماتكنوا في حتة و تريحونا بقى ..و تقعدوا في بيوتكم و تسيبونا ناكل

Desperate times call for desperate measures

I think its a cry all over the world. Being a woman, a female is now a synonymous in various communities in the entire world to suppression, oppression, being considered a minority and having all your rights violated.

When it comes to sexual assault rates, Africa is said to be the highest of all, a matter that pushed women to consider new protection terms the world never heard of before. Now victims can rest sure that even when attacked, this rapist will instantly get what he deserves, and thats why Rape-aXe is invented for.

http://www.antirape.co.za/intro.htm

With the sexual harassment cases piling up in Egypt nowadays, I guess soon enough women will reach new terms of protection, it doesn’t have to be as violent as that of the South African women, but since we pledged for our rights and still can't guarantee being safe when walking in our streets, then I guess no one to blame us when looking for new terms of safety measures that will at least stand out as a clear proof that we too can hit back.

My favorite funny creative print ads ... enjoy

Kolo ella dahhhh... omal eih

Excerpt: 'The Caged Virgin' by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

"The Caged Virgin", is said to be a number of essays written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. I didnt get it yet & didnt read it, but in my search as I am too questioning my religion more than doubting God's existence, I came to find few paragraphs online of which when reading I had a sort of mixed feelings that I cant identify yet. However, I will be looking for her book "Infidel", as I do agree with Ayaan in many of her presented thoughts specially those about women and Islamophobia yet not all what she presented in the few I read appealed to me, and I am not an Islamic expert to conclude with a satisfying response to that now.
For me its kindda different as I managed to a certain extent to separate religion from Arab Eastern culture, traditions, beliefs and customs. I too still wondering and questioning alot of matters in Islam, I "with all respect to prophet Mohammed" who is a humanbeing messenger dont care much & dont consider "Hadith" to be a base or reference to get back to when being challenged.
Quran so far is my reference to a religion I inherited and didnt choose, convinced with to a certain extent but in the phase of questioning many of its rules, there is nothing wrong with that, why use others brains while you are granted one?!
On the other hand , in here not all what Ayaan said is pasted, just few paragraphs from The Caged Virgin excerpt. I dont agree with few of what she mentioned and didnt care much for the parts in which she was calling for Western intellects to help (not included). To me, her asking for "Western help" is nothing but a proof that her main problem with the religion (that she maybe disregarded) is the cultural Eastern ideology imposed on Islam, rather than Islam itself. Still I do agree with many and I kindda highlighted her words for that, yet dont agree with much and can easily state why. Religions in general conquer humans by emotionally manipulating them then intellectuallychallenging them. Fear is common, how can you worship without fear, we fear eachother, the Western intellects she is calling for help fear Muslims blind violence. Fear is to exist for a reason, you fear God you follow his rules, you fear your parents, you behave, you fear society you surrend, its always fear that might push towards something... you fear you are wrong, you question, they fear you might be right so they fight you...and so on.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali wrote....
My parents brought me up to be a Muslim -- a good Muslim. Islam dominated the lives of our family and relations down to the smallest detail. It was our ideology, our political conviction, our moral standard, our law, and our identity. We were first and foremost Muslim and only then Somali. Muslims, as we were taught the meaning of the name, are people who submit themselves to Allah's will, which is found in the Koran and the Hadith, a collection of sayings ascribed to the Prophet Muhammad. I was taught that Islam sets us apart from the rest of the world, the world of non-Muslims. We Muslims are chosen by God. They, the others, the kaffirs, the unbelievers, are antisocial, impure, barbaric, not circumcised, immoral, unscrupulous, and above all, obscene; they have no respect for women; their girls and women are whores; many of the men are homosexual; men and women have sex without being married. The unfaithful are cursed, and God will punish them most atrociously in the hereafter. There are also Christians and Jews who raise their children in the belief that they are God's chosen people, but among Muslims the feeling that God has granted them special salvation goes further.

About twelve years ago, at age twenty-two, I arrived in Western Europe, on the run from an arranged marriage. I soon learned that God and His truth had been humanized here. For Muslims life on earth is merely a transitory stage before the hereafter; but here people are also allowed to invest in their lives as mortals. What is more, hell seems no longer to exist, and God is a god of love rather than a cruel ruler who metes out punishments. I began to take a more critical look at my faith and discovered three important elements of Islam that had not particularly struck me before.
The first of these is that a Muslim's relationship with his God is one of fear. A Muslim's conception of God is absolute. Our God demands total submission. He rewards you if you follow His rules meticulously. He punishes you cruelly if you break His rules, both on earth, with illness and natural disasters, and in the hereafter, with hellfire.

The second element is that Islam knows only one moral source: the Prophet Muhammad. Muhammad is infallible. You would almost believe he is himself a god, but the Koran says explicitly that Muhammad is a human being; he is a supreme human being, though, the most perfect human being. We must live our lives according to his example. What is written in the Koran is what God said as it was heard by Muhammad. The thousands of hadiths -- accounts of what Muhammad said and did, and the advice he gave, which survives in weighty books -- tell us exactly how a Muslim was supposed to live in the seventh century. Devout Muslims consult these works daily to answer questions about life in the twenty-first century.

The third element is that Islam is strongly dominated by a sexual morality derived from tribal Arab values dating from the time the Prophet received his instructions from Allah, a culture in which women were the property of their fathers, brothers, uncles, grandfathers, or guardians. The essence of a woman is reduced to her hymen. Her veil functions as a constant reminder to the outside world of this stifling morality that makes Muslim men the owners of women and obliges them to prevent their mothers, sisters, aunts, sisters-in-law, cousins, nieces, and wives from having sexual contact. And we are not just talking about cohabitation. It is an offense if a woman glances in the direction of a man, brushes past his arm, or shakes his hand. A man's reputation and honor depend entirely on the respectable, obedient behavior of the female members of his family.

These three elements explain largely why Muslim nations are lagging behind the West and, more recently, also lagging behind Asia. In order to break through the mental bars of this trinity, behind which the majority of Muslims are restrained, we must begin with a critical self-examination. But any Muslim who asks critical questions about Islam is immediately branded a "deserter." A Muslim who advocates the exploration of sources for morality, in addition to those of the Prophet Muhammad, will be threatened with death, and a woman who withdraws from the virgins' cage is branded a whore.

Through my personal experiences, through reading a great deal and speaking to others, I have come to realize that the existence of Allah, of angels, demons, and a life after death, is at the very least disputable. If Allah exists at all, we must not regard His word as absolute, but challenge it. I once wrote about my doubts regarding my faith in the hope of starting a discussion. I was immediately confronted by zealous Muslims, men and women who wanted to have me excommunicated. They even went so far as to say that I deserved to die because I had dared to call into question the absolute truth of Allah's word. They took me to court to prevent me from criticizing the faith I had been born into, from asking questions about the regulations and gods that Allah's messenger has imposed upon us. An Islamic fundamentalist murdered Theo van Gogh, the Dutch filmmaker who helped me make Submission: Part I, a film about the relationship between the individual and God, in particular about the individual woman and God. And he threatened to kill me, too, a threat that others have also pledged to fulfill.

Like other thinking people, I like to tap into sources of wisdom, morality, and imagination other than religious texts -- other books besides the Koran and accounts of the Prophet -- and I would like other Muslims to tap into them, too. Just because Spinoza, Voltaire, John Stuart Mill, Kant, or Bertrand Russell are not Islamic and have no Islamic counterparts does not mean that Muslims should steer clear of these and other Western philosophers. Yet, at present, reading works by Western thinkers is regarded as disrespectful to the Prophet and Allah's message. This is a serious misconception. Why should it not be permitted to abide by all the good things Muhammad has urged us to do (such as his advice to be charitable toward the poor and orphans), while at the same time adding to our lives and outlook the ideas of other moral philosophers? After all, the fact that the Wright brothers were not Islamic has not stopped Muslims from traveling by air. By adopting the technical inventions of the West without its courage to think independently, we perpetuate the mental stagnation in Islamic culture, passing it on from one generation to the next.

The most important explanation for the mental and material backlog we Muslims find ourselves in should probably be sought in the sexual morality that we are force-fed from birth (see chapter 3, "The Virgins' Cage"). I would like to invite all people like me who had an Islamic upbringing to compare and contrast J. S. Mill's essay "On the Subjection of Women" (1869) with what the Prophet Muhammad has to say on the subject of women. Both were undeniably interested in the role of women, but there is a vast difference between Muhammad and Mill. For instance, Mill considered his beloved wife an intellectual equal; Muhammad was a polygamist and wrote that men have authority over women because God made one superior to the other. Mill, a model of calm reason in the face of contentious issues, argued that if freedom is good for men, it is good for women, a position that today most of the modern world considers unassailable.

Yet any investigation into the Islamic trinity by a Muslim is thought to be an act of complete betrayal of the religion and the Prophet. It is extremely painful for a believer to try to question. And it is extremely painful for a believer to hear that other Muslims are questioning the Islamic trinity. Muslim's strong emotions and condemnations of people who do question the trinity impress outsiders, myself included, especially when they are expressed on a massive scale by entire communities and even nations, as has happened in Egypt, Iran, and Indonesia.

A quick look at Islamic history shows us that critical voices from within Islam have almost all been either killed or exiled. I find myself in good company: Salman Rushdie, Irshad Manji, Taslima Nasreen, Muhammad Abu Zaid -- they all have been threatened by fellow believers and are now being guarded by non-Muslims.

My own criticism of Islamic religion and culture is felt by some to be "harsh," "offensive," and "hurtful." But the attitude of the cultural experts is, in fact, harsher, and more offensive and hurtful. They feel superior and do not regard Muslims as equal discussion partners, but as the "others" who should be shielded. And they think that criticism of Islam should be avoided because they are afraid that Muslims can only respond to criticism with anger and violence. These cultural experts are badly letting down us Muslims who have obeyed the call to show our sense of public responsibility and are speaking out.

Copyright ©2002, 2004 by Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Augustus Publishers. English translation copyright ©2006 by Jane Brown

OK ...stop using mobiles

Fine, thats exactly what I need, seriously with curfews and continious endless phone calls of where the hell are you now, young lady u better get back home right now threats, I guess this stupid google service is just getting on my nerves.

Google has launched a tracking service that lets parents keep an eye on their children - and wives keep tabs on their husbands - round the clock. The software allows owners of mobile phones or BlackBerry hand-held computers to have their whereabouts followed by family and friends anywhere around the world. Once the service is activated, the location of a person's phone appears as a blue dot on a map on the screen of whoever is allowed to monitor them.

The Latitude feature is being promoted by Google as a 'fun' way to 'keep tabs on someone special'. However, it will raise concerns about privacy - and whether it is encouraging a Big Brother culture. The software is included in the latest version of Google 'This adds a social flavour to Google maps and makes it more fun,' said Steve Lee, a Google product manager.

Google insisted there was no threat to privacy. It was up to each user to decide whether to make their location visible to other people - and who could monitor their location. The service was designed to help people keep in touch, a spokesman added. Once switched on, it plots the user's location by using information from mobile phone towers and global positional systems. If a phone is equipped with GPS, then it pinpoints the location to within a few yards. If it isn't, the location is only accurate to hundreds of yards - or in rural areas with few mobile phone masts, several miles. It requires each user to turn on the tracking system, and then choose who they want to share their location with.

People can decide to accept or reject requests from other people to share locations. Google says the service is not open to abuse. It is promising not to store any information about its users' movements. Only the last location picked up by the tracking service will be stored centrally. A Google spokesman said: 'You can choose to hide your location from any person, or just give them a city-wide location. 'You can also type in your location manually. 'That means someone can put in their office, when really they are down the pub.' Google said it developed the tracking system's privacy settings after holding talks with charities helping the victims of domestic abuse.

There had been fears that violent husbands could insist their wives use the feature to keep track of their movements. It will initially be available on BlackBerry mobile phones and devices running the Windows Mobile and Symbian S60 operating systems, such as most Nokia phones. It will be available to iPhone users in the users in the next few weeks and will work abroad in 26 countries, including the United States.

Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1135489/We-know-Google-lets-track-friends-family-mobiles.html

And thats TRANSLATION

Better in Time ...

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yeah its for real .... a sex bomb

All right one can understand that being raped, shamed, prisoned and traded by your own father and brothers can easily lead to manipulating psychologically these doomed female suicide bombers. YES I understand that the fact of blowing themselves up is not because they are seeking paradise or "72 virgin males", its just for the sake of fleeing the hell of their lives on Earth, and I really sympathize with them BUT where the hell did they get such ideas from ....

'In paradise the male martyr gets 72 virgins but the female martyr becomes queen of those virgins. The rest of the virgins are her maids and they wait on her. She is the best and most beloved.'
OMG total nonsense, bullshit, what the hell is that, then you are a queen in heaven becuz u blowed yourself up and killed Jews and Americans, now u r to be the queen of virgins, great...good luck on that pathetic moron.... but since u will be their queen, u better stay a virgin cuz that would just be the ultimate dream, you will be the virgin queen of virgins for sick male martyrs in heaven. Have u ever wondered what these virgins will be for the male creatures in "heaven"?! ... good luck with that.

'In our religion it is forbidden for a girl's body to be uncovered even at home. How could a girl allow her body to be smashed to pieces and then collected up by Jews? This is absolutely forbidden.'
Right, in YOUR RELIGION its forbidden to be a female, you should be bured alive the moment u were born, how dare u come to this world without a "P" ...and surrrrrre a piece of your naked arm or finger, a bone from your torn skull or piece of your naked brain "if it is there at the first place" would just work on turning on jews who would go crazy jumping up and down in joy, running to collect your naked pieces from streets and kiss it in joy .... DAMMIT PEOPLE ARE U REAL!!!!!

'With a man it's different. For us, a girl can't show her leg or wear a short T-shirt. How can you then be a good Muslim woman and expose your body to the world? What Manal was doing recruiting those girls was wrong,'
YES thats exactly why its not right, u cant blow yourself into 1000 unidentified pieces and be a good Muslim ... DUH ... what the hell were u thinking...these pieces will be NAKED woman.....sorry guess u better wait till they invent a bomb that will blow u up wrapped in ur black filthy clothes, otherwise...sorry heaven is already full with male bombers, there is no place for u ... WOMAN yuck ....#F@F@@!#$shit

SOURCE:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1138298/Face-face-women-suicide-bombers.html

Extracts from Mona Eltahawy's Blog that I love...

• I was born into a Muslim family and I choose to remain a Muslim, a proud one. But I cannot believe that God considers two women to be equal to one man for example, as advocated by those who say it takes the testimony of two women to equal that of one man. To do so would require a turning off of my intellect, stooping to a pretence that I reject. And I cannot believe that God has given a man the right to discipline me if I am “rebellious” or “disobedient” as our You Tube imams and scholars claim with their various sermons on what can be used to exact that discipline.
• There are many things in other holy books that believers have let go in the recognition that they are no longer acceptable in our world today. And the Quran is no different. And many of our imams and scholars have indulged in such contextualizing of their own plenty of times and regarding many issues. But there is always one exception – they are fixated on women and on nailing our feet to the 7th century instead of leaving us be in the 21st.
• One of their biggest ruses is that old axiom “Islam is for all times and places”. My answer: yes, the essential message of Islam is for all times and all places but there are some things in the Quran that even they would agree were specific to their time and place. Their retort would be that I can’t pick and choose but must take it all or leave it. The “all” that I would have to take of course would be determined by them and it is full of what they have picked and chosen.
• From the near obsession with the way a woman dresses you would think that half the Quran was dedicated to a woman’s wardrobe whereas there are in fact just two verses that deal with a woman’s dress.
• My faith resides deep in my heart, but it has been hard at times to reconcile my heart with my mind, which too often recoils at the blatant misogyny that centuries of male-dominated interpretation of my religion have wrought. We are taught that Islam gave women rights more than 1,400 years ago that made them the envy of women in Europe’s Dark Ages. When European women were mere chattel, Muslim women gained the right to inherit and own property. But now the descendants of those women who envied Muslim women in the seventh century have moved far ahead. Where is that spirit of the early days of Islam?
• If God included us in the narrative, who has kept us out? Answer: The imams and scholars and their ilk around the world who have let the Muslim world down. Their apathy and disinclination to speak out against misogyny in the name of Islam long ago turned many of us off and encouraged us to move beyond them and towards setting our own agenda.
• “I am not the Quran in motion,” I would tell them.
And when I had decided, after years of struggling with it, that I would remove my hijab, my biggest fight was with myself. I wished I could keep it on so that I could “show” the West/non-Muslims and everyone really that you could be intelligent, stylish and wear hijab. But the distance between the external “me” and the internal “me” – who I felt myself to be – had grown too far and it was time to reconcile the outside with the inside, without any need to prove anything to anyone but to be true to myself. The liberators assured me I looked so much better with the headscarf off which just added to my guilt exponentially. In fact, I deliberately went to a bad hairdresser so that no one – read: I – would think I’d taken off my hijab because I wanted to look good or anything that frivolous.
• For too many Muslims, if my hair is uncovered, I’m not Muslim enough. For too many non-Muslims, if my hair is uncovered, then I’m that rare example of a “free” Muslim woman.

Source:
http://www.monaeltahawy.com/

NOT Kissing the Frog ....

In the happily-ever- after fairytales that they deluded our childhood and some adulthood with, it's usually a beautiful teenage princess who needs rescuing and a charming brave handsome prince -who is a warty frog waiting for a magical kiss-. Such tales usually include a castle, a gallant horse, a villain, a fairy godmother or wise mentor, and yeah nice singing bees and flowers. They meet by a stroke of fate and fall in love without considering faith, values, cultural background or emotional baggage and sure since both are well off why the hell would they consider financials. So in no time they develop a lasting commitment, trust and unconditional love, and sure live happily ever after since the only obstacle is the witch ... is gone. Uh there is no need to point out that the simple success of their relationship is entirely built on outward beauty and status. … so bare with me

Now… if we are to reconsider the "Fairy tale" and go with it through time till we reach the 21st century. I guess I will be having one version of the story here but with different possible endings. Lets see …hmmmm uh, so fast-forward to our time, falling into what appears to be a lasting, passionate love that will surpass the test of time without struggle or hard work, there’s no fairy godmother, no horse or SUV, but fact is the only thing this modern princess will find is very few available frogs that will never turn into "Prince Charming", some frogs who are already taken and not worth it, and unfortunately some frogs who are just fine but they prefer fellow frogs over her …uh life! And with as much kisses that she can give and to some maybe other kind of compromises, none of the frogs is to ever turn into her charming prince. So lets say our modern princess, the grown-up girl in her late 20s early 30s who happened to be lucky enough to be financially independent, well educated, intelligent and maybe even a manager of a project or in a company, fashionable, successful and traveled around, she for a certain kind of reason "maybe giving up, boredom, stroke by a lighting or just losing any sense of reason" considers settling for the least warty frog she can find. "Maybe he’ll change over time", she hopes … no actually she prays.

She goes out in all kind of dates, blind dates, arranged dates, dark dates, online dates... all for the mission of the slight chance of finding her frog in one of these dates. She bare silliness, narrow minded, sick ego, extremism, Machismo and sure childish attitude of many frogs. She the one dying to fall in love, draws a fake picture of the slightly good frog among them and fall for him in her mind to wake up to discover him being nothing but another frog who will cause her regret, different kind of pain, and leaving behind emotional distance and loathsome feelings making her a more resentful sad creature.

Yet since clock is ticking, and she dying for settling, being loved, not dying alone and maybe having kids, her search methods are almost expired, she forces herself to new kind of compromise, possibility, and maybes. Now let's assume she does find a frog, and they agree on dealing with communication difficulties, disappointed expectations, unresolved hurt feelings, long line of differences, sexual history, emotional baggage and insecurities. Let's say they agree that real life has acnes, bad hair days, fat cells and not enough money to look charming forever specially after the extra burden of having children. Now reaching this point wont require me to narrate what's next, I can give you a couple of endings, but I can assure you one thing, among these endings there will be no happily ever after one, and we better rest sure about that.

-The End -

OMG .... whatta a nation !

A statue built for Iraqi journalist Muntazer al-Zaidi, who hurled his shoes at former U.S. president George Bush, is seen in Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) Baghdad, January 27, 2009.

Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSTRE50T54M20090130?feedType=nl&feedName=usoddlyenough

on the same subject .... KHODHOM YA RAB
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/12/15/62070.html

OUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Student flees Taliban in 'Pakistan's Switzerland'

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- The targeting of girls' schools shows an anti-women bias by the militants, who advocate an extreme following of a version of Islamic law, according to Islamabad-based human rights activist Tahira Abdullah. She adds it's almost as if the Taliban does not want women to exist. "And if they do exist, they need to be within the four walls of their house compound; they need to be veiled," a teenage female student said.

Source:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/03/pakistan.girls.school/index.html#cnnSTCText

THEY LASH YOU FOR SMOKING NOW !!!!!

A Sudanese man has been sentenced to 30 lashes for smoking on a domestic Saudi Arabian Airlines flight. Wearing just a thin shirt, he will be flogged by a policeman wielding a slim reed who must hold a book under his arm to prevent him using too much force.

The strokes are not meant to leave permanent damage but to inflict painful welts that bleed and bruise. The unnamed smoker refused repeated requests from cabin crew to stub out his cigarette on a flight to the Red Sea port of Jeddah from Qurayyat in northern Saudi Arabia. He was arrested when the aircraft landed in Jeddah and promptly handed over to police.

The man apologised in court - and to prove his penitence presented evidence that he was attending a clinic to help him kick his heavy smoking habit.
But the judge was keen to make an example and gave a sentence designed to serve as a deterrent.

Smoking is banned in many public places in the conservative desert Kingdom but the law is often brazenly flouted. Smoking was outlawed on domestic flights of Saudi’s national carrier SAA in 1987 and on overseas flights in 1999. Last April a man caught smoking on a domestic Saudi flight was sentenced to 50 lashes. His cigarette triggered a smoke alarm that led to panic among passengers.

Under Saudi’s Sharia or Islamic law, flogging is common for a number morals offences ranging from adultery to being alone in the company of an unrelated person of the opposite sex. But it can also be used at the discretion of judges as an alternative or addition to other punishments. Sentences can range from dozens to thousands of lashes. For those sentenced to hundreds of lashes the punishment is carried out over a period of months in batches of 50.

Human rights groups condemn lashing as a degrading and inhuman punishment.

source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1134323/Man-sentenced-30-lashes-flouting-smoking-ban-Saudi-Arabian-flight.html

Up a new hill….

Riding your bike freely believing the world is your playground, you stumble, you fall, get up, you fall again, this time its harder, you believe you wont be falling this way ever again as now you know all about riding your way in this life, then you fall again, a stone, a rock and maybe fall down a hill, you just keep on getting up and falling. Then one day, the very tired bleeding you get up believing you will never ride again, but you are forced to, you look around to see if anybody saw you falling that much so you can hide from them believing that if they knew how you failed they will judge you. Then you step back, look at your wounds and start on feeling the pain, you got wounds everywhere, your knees are really hurting, and you are bleeding, yet you heal and start over again but every now and then you check up for the wounds, they won't magically vanish, they wont easily go, however they will heal yet there will always be scars.

The scars will keep reminding you of your falls, the hurt. Them being different and many will remind you how you once didn’t give up and kept on riding your bike and kept on getting hurt. Some are deep and some are barely seen, even scars can vanish and will be forever forgotten. They start big as they say but they grow smaller. At the beginning you fear showing them as this would be nothing but an indication of how badly you have been hurt and how many wounds you have got, people might use this against you, they might judge, maybe worse they might use you as they know now how fragile you have become with all these scars covering you, it doesn’t have to be an indication of being powerful getting up and trying and falling more, to them it could just be a proof of how tired you should have become. They might even believe you are far away from reason as how come you never learned from your lessons, how come you didn't once stop and reconsider, why didn’t you avoid this rock, why did you in the first place chose getting up this hill.

People wont get to know the difference between your scars, to them they are all the same, but you know every and each one and you might even remember when did you get it, which year, which friend or lover, who stabbed you from the back, who used you, hurt you, caused you pain, who did you lost forever, who turned his back on you and who just betrayed you. Some scars got nothing to do with others; it could just be life, misfortune, or even fate. Sometimes it could be you, as you yourself did hurt yourself, intentionally or not, that's not the issue, the scar is there to remind you.

You might decide being tough and never getting hurt anymore, you decide as you are forced to ride the bike that you better watch out and never fall again. On your trip you even decide that for this picture to be perfect you better hide these scars, you paint and paste on them so they wont be visible and people wont stare, you cover them up, if they saw them they will know how fragile you are, they might hurt and maybe judge or even worse as they might pity you and that’s the last thing you would ever want. You did a great job hiding, all your techniques are perfect, you managed perfectly to delude them, you are tough and rude, not weak and shy, that’s better now they will just back off. However, those who were riding their bikes beside you still know about the real you, they know well how you are faking it, they can see through the clothes, even worse, they can see through your soul, there are scars there too, maybe more ugly than the apparent ones, and you forgot all about them in your disguising perfect scheme, its obvious and no matter how you pretended, some did manage easily to see them.

You forgot you are not the only one who did fall, you forgot about others being just like you, you pretended not to care, yes they got hurt and maybe they just bleed as much as you did but the difference is you never stop and point out while many just did. Their cruelty hurts more, those who judge, blame and make fun of your misery, those who didn’t even care to check on you, give you a hand and just stood still bragging about how they managed not to fall your falls, how they managed to heal easily as that’s how tough they are. You feel ashamed and try your best to avoid those people as all they do is reminding you of your pain and even worse they might refer to it in a funny way that would help in nothing but deepening it and add more to the shame.

It’s a double standard society that we live in, and sure people love nothing as much as seeing others falling specially those who pretend being tough and being reputed and marketed well as powerful. There is something weird about people, they feel a kind of nourishment in their soul, a certain kind of happiness and fulfillment for being better than those who maybe tried and failed. In others failures they taste a certain kind of gratification and believe they are winners for just not being in your shoes. It’s a bizarre kind of success that they didn’t work for, guess they don’t believe in the no pain no gain saying anymore and for them its all about no pain always gain, maybe safe, one wont bother questioning!

So what's after covering and hiding, maybe its time to stop this useless effort of just quitting life for the sake of being afraid of it, quitting people cause you are so tired of handling their criticism. What about showing the world your scars, your soul scars, at the very end you are a human. They can point out at you as much as they want, why would you bother or even care. The scars could be an indication of your failure and misfortune but can also stand as a proof of how brave you are. And when people pointing and judging you, you better point with them saying yes I have them and yes I am getting over them and that’s why I am showing them. Maybe they will heal faster, maybe they will just disappear, but one got to try and get up again, more careful than before for sure, get back and ride the bike, try a new route, ride up a new hill, challenge something new and examine how tough your scars made you. Maybe in a new journey a new you will be discovered, a real strong one, not just the one you have been faking to cover your shattered soul.

In Love they said - Elizabeth Barrett Browning

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.
I love thee to the level of everyday's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee freely, as men strive for Right;
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! —and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861), English poet wrote Sonnets From The Portuguese (1850);

I always loved literature, maybe thats one of the reasons I had a BA in English literature. Yet I never liked poetry, very few would really touch and amuse me but still I was forced to study it and not like it. I have a good collection of books from different eras, the 18th and 19th century work of poets and writers. I never thought of Shakespear as a genius, he was sure talented but to me most of his work followed the same line of the rise and fall of tragic heros.

Since I have given up on reading literature for a long period of time now as I switched to the marketing and branding lane and I am more into that for like a decade now, yet every now and then I find myself starring at the book shelves in my room and wondering what really happened to the old me, I used to love it, enjoy it the most, I used to write analysis about how I feel about certain lines in James Joyce and D.H.Lawrence work and smile when someone believe that Bernard Shaw is nothing but a modern Shakespeare as thats how I used to say it too. Utopia, Brave New World for Huxely and The Waste Land for T.S. Eliot, were just my favorite. I was really so into that, but that was long time ago!

Anyway as I am trying lately to try and buy anything that might make me happy -yeah stupid me believing that this is the way for my 2009 pursuit of happiness scheme-. I came to reconsider the idea of going back to reading literature, and since I have this huge amount of novels, I will give it a try and pick any book without looking at its title and just open any page and read the first lines of its 2nd or 3rd paragraph and if it made me really eager enough to continue I will have it by my bed side so I can grab it easily and read again.

I picked a plain white book without caring much for its title and I found it to be a small collection of poetry from the 18th century, poetry written by women in a time that they were slightly able and allowed to create, write under their own name. I remember reading before for Elizabeth Browning, as I mentioned before I didnt like poetry that much but every now and then I did allow myself to enjoy few lines. I believe it was merely luck to pick up this book and open this same page inwhich I found these lines about her describing how she loves probably her guy, to me I would describe loving my child this way instead, but thats only me. And since I am not in love currently and -uh never say never- but I am more rational in a way now and dont have stars in my eyes, but one cant deny the lines are so touching, coming from a woman who can express herself right is just amazing.

I loved the most the following lines :
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints,—I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my life! —and, if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

Well that is just deadly romantic and so "uh" okay I am not going to make fun of it I am too cynical these days, apparently I lost faith in the so-called love and since I am in this condition now its better to just shut up.

Anyway I enjoyed it thats why I am posting it, its one of the best lines written about loving someone.

Buried Alive ...

Have you ever even imagined what it feels like, being buried alive?
Fine let me describe it, imagine you wake up every morning to go to a go-no-where job that you just need for its paycheck and sure to not be another number in the unemployed chart, specially while u did work for a period of time and managed to have few post graduate degrees, beside being a well bred person with a number of good qualities and sort of talented and hard worker yet unlucky.

Since you are blessed to have a car as I guess its a humiliation nowadays to even consider benefiting from the so-called public transportation. Yet due to your daily work destination, walking or cycling is not an option...let me rephrase this properly, due to your country status, walking or cycling is not an option, but I am not to discuss that now. The lucky you get in the car, drive to work for over an hour just to reach office, not going to describe that trip as I guess no one who lives in Cairo would care to hear about it, we all live it daily, complain about it daily, and nothing will every change to it entirely.

You are blessed if you managed to find a spot to park your car in to get to the office and sit there waiting for your employer who is due to the current circumstances and recession is freezing everything. Sitting on your desk you absolutely end up doing nothing for 8 hours but browsing websites that are not blocked by firewalls, or just stay gazing at the celing, doing nothing and wondering whats next...

You know you havent the guts to just leave as currently all employers around the world are not hiring due to the recession ugly phase we are living, actually people are being laid off and you are lucky u still have a place to go to. Anyway, the day goes by as unproductive as the one before it and after it, you start the same journey back home but now its over a 2 hr journey plus 20 minutes trying to park near your place and getting more and more not interested in breathing so whatta bout any afternoon activities, as for God's sake I just parked the damn car.

No interest in anything, no clue whats next, cant leave a lousy job, cant afford risking it, cant afford risking what you saved in such a time to start a business on your own, you go learn something new, you go buy something new, its just fake pursuit of happiness, as what kind of happiness would come without satisfaction. You hang out with your friends, some got news, some are moving on, some are just planning, and some just like you are just standing still.

You convince yourself ... one day its going to be different as nothing lasts forever, but that day is really too slow, I wonder if it will ever come. Now you go to bed in your room to wake up and go to your office in your car, to repeat the cycle over an over again. And incase you considered working out you enter your indoor gym, one full with heavy duty equipments and just a terrifying smell of different sweating odors.

Happy people you dont have to respond to this...its just my desperate depressed me talking so save it.... but you can ask yourself the same question, home(box) car(box) office (box) gym (box) outings (mall/coffeshops = box) where the hell would I find the air......sorry fresh air.... Jobs are lousy, economy is really bad, no need to discuss relationships as thats another thing. No need to mention society, stupid useless traditions, family burdens, responsibilities, no challenges, nothing to be creative for, nothing ... no air

despressed depressed depressed...I am buried alive

She dont want to get married !!!

No no no...its not as you might think, its not as Natasha Bedingfield song goes...

I'm not waitin' around for a man to save me (Cos I'm happy where I am)
Don't depend on a guy to validate me, I don't need to be anyone's baby (Is that so hard to understand?) No I don't need another half to make me whole
Don't need to be on somebody's arm to look good(I like who I am)
This is my current single status - My declaration of independence
There's no way I'm tradin' places - Right now a star's in the ascendant
I'm single - That's how I wanna be ....etc.

To me its more simple than that or so I guess...
In our age one would need someone mature, not another macho figure, not too emotional neither too cold, someone who doesnt have to share your same interests, someone just different but interesting.

A relationship called marriage in which one wont be taken for granted is not even negotiable, you need someone who you can have fun with and without, who would give you the required space when needed. Someone to be there in time of need, a fellow, a partner, a friend and a lover who is there in sickness and in health as they say, someone who is not only in for the fun and once you are not he turns his back to you leaving you wondering in despair!

A stable serious relation inwhich there is something called mutual respect, understanding eacother needs and principles should be considered, a relationship thats not a copy/paste of our parents, someone who would care less about what the society would say/judge and care more about his own and his partner happiness and good life.

If you managed to find such a one, and divorce isnt to be considered as a valid option as it would be needless, why the hell would you prefer staying single.

uh ChoColaTe

I am not sure how to react to this but ....

Iran executes two men by stoning

Two men convicted of adultery have been stoned to death in Iran, a rare punishment that the Iranian judiciary says it is trying to have scrapped.
The stoning took place in Mashhad in December, said judiciary spokesman Ali Reza Jamshidi confirming press reports.
In stonings, men are buried to the waist and stones are hurled until they die. Women are buried to the shoulders.
A third man, an Afghan national, managed to dig himself out of the hole, and therefore escaped execution.
In 2002, Iran's judiciary chief issued a directive imposing a moratorium on execution by stoning and it has been scrapped in the new draft penal code which has yet to be passed into law.
Several stoning sentences are said to have been suspended or commuted, and the last reported execution by stoning was in July 2007.
International and local human rights groups have long campaigned for a ban on stoning in Iran as a "grotesque" punishment which is designed increase the suffering of the condemned.

source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7826018.stm

Ok now I dont know how exactly to react to this... but away from me not being sure that in Islam stoning 2 death those who commit adultery is really required as all I know is the 70 whipping punishment mentioned in Quran, maybe there is a stoning penalty till death for those who commit adultery while being already married !!...no clue! However whats really interesting that they do punish "men" now...huh and more interesting is this shoulder/waist rule when burying them before preparing them to death.

Thats new to me...so okay...whatever !

well thats new !!!

An American professor made the intriguing and controversial claim that depression can be good for us. In Professor Jerome Wakefield's new book, he says that medicating depression as if it were a disease stops us embracing our miserable side and so prevents us from changing our lives for the better.

Read below...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1123083/Can-depression-EVER-good-Six-writers-share-views.html

Sweet Ballad (OST by Munchausen By Proxy Feat. Zooey Deschanel & Von Iva)

YES MAN - "Sweet Ballad" music video by MUNCHAUSEN BY PROXY



Got nothing to prove, I'm not your whore
You're gonna lose, coz I got more
Not sure you can endure
I'm not your little, I'm not your little, I'm not your little
Whore...

Von Iva: Whore whore whore...
Zooey: Not your late night booty call
Von Iva: Whore no more...
Zooey: Don't call me past 11pm, it won't happen again
2x

Like a scab that won't heal, just another sore
Lost face in the crowd such a lonely bore

Don't call me past 11pm, it won't happen again
Happened once, it happened twice it happened three times, maybe four times, maybe five times, maybe, maybe it happened six times but it won't happen seven times
No no no no no no...

Whore whore whore
Not your late night booty call
Whore no more
Don't call me past 11pm it won't happen again
2x
You could call me at 10.59 but don't call me at 11 coz that's my rule now

My favorite terrorist .... I KILL U

Achmed The Terrorist - Watch more Free Videos

إن التطرف هو أن تختار مسكنا فكريا و عقائديا لتقيم فيه راضياً عن نفسك و لكنك لا تريد لغيرك أن يختار لنفسه ما يطيب له من فكر و عقيدة بل تلزمه إلزاما بالحديد أحيانا أن ينخرط معك تحت سقف فكري واحد
زكي نجيب محمود

Away from it being a real funny clip but one cant help being caught in the thought of martyrs being awarded virgins in the other life!!.

I read Quran and still I dont get the morale behind many of its verses, they say my limited mind wont be able to get it all!
But among the different matters that really makes me wonder is ... if God created women and made them equal to men in many aspects, and by them alone this universe can be complete, yet why in Quran verses women are referred as rewards in heaven just like wealth and food and many other "things"....
Aint it degrading in a way... or at least the way Achmed is showing how Gehad to him is really is worth it as he will be having virgins in heaven as a reward ... whatta cause!!
I am a muslim yet sometimes it still requires me effort to understand my religion, I believe in God and thats not to be even doubted...sure obey what I can of the given rules and sure dont give a damn to what "beards" would say as I take Quran as my one and only reference. Yet still when it comes to some verses in Quran I am so in the dark, I keep thinking and challenging myself saying one day I will get it all, or so I hope.

Can we enjoy life their way ...

The restless exposed ....

I found this quiz in one of the popular blogs I check usually, its simple...,
u answer by saying the first thing that comes to ur mind, easy way to say more about urself:

What Wows Me:
• Good sense of Humor
• People with Hearts
• Smarts
• Classic ethics – they are classic as they don’t exist anymore
• Bocelli's voice

Dead to Me:
• I practiced the "let go" remedy. They are all forgotten now

Most Important to Me:
• My family and friends
• My career

I Don't Care What They Say:
• People who discriminate, judge and stereotype
• Extremists of all kind
• Stupid masses in general

My Shoes:
• Cant afford Christian Louboutin so any nice shoe with heels will do

My Foods:
• Chocolate
• Caramel ice cream
• Peking Vegetables spring rolls
• Thin crisp mushroom pizza

My Remedies:
• Chamomile tea
• Chocolate ice cream
• Carbs. Plenty and constant carbs

I Love(d) Reading:
• Memoirs interest me more than fiction
• Guess I am a collector with no favorites
• Blogs

I Love(d) Listening To:
• Barack Obama's speeches and debates
• Celien Dion, have you ever been in love
• My niece giggling
• Tango music

I Love(d) Watching:
• CSI
• Law and Order
• Friends
• Tom Hanks in any of his movies
• Egyptian B/W movies

I Wish I Lived In:
• Egypt but with Egyptians from the 40s
• A townhouse in Spain

I am Miserly About:
• French Fries

I Want to Own:
• A 4X4 SUV
• A small apartment with a view to hide in

I'm Addicted To:
• Chocolate
• people.com
• Vienna coffee

The First Thing I Do in the Morning Is:
• A hot cup of tea

I Use:
• Nokia phone (new 2 it though)
• Mac book
• Ipod
• Perfumes and bags

I Admire:
• Creativity
• Self-starters
• Passion
• Denzel Washington smile
• Aerobic dancing

I Respect:
• Myself
• People who respect themselves
• The kind and the conscious
• Discipline
• Rules

Atheist Bus Campaign is 'offensive', say complaints to ASA

When you read such post you will think different matters, but as I am sort of numb nowadays, maybe just gave up on all life whatever, I came to conclude the following:

- Western Christians filed a complaint, Muslims "mainly in Eastern countries tab3an) would have set bus on fire and screamed in streets La ElAH eLA ALLAH :P

- Maybe when this prevail, both Muslim and Christians will stop fighting for a while on nonsense silly absurd matters, uh u never know.

Anyway I believe there is a God, such campaigns wont bother me much, I will take it lightly and consider it a funny ad for doing the nasty :P ...

as if people cared aslan or feared God meen asaso....weirdosssssss

Read the post:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/jan/09/atheist-bus-campaign-asa

?! :(

Browsing the web became one of my usual habits...
yet today the 18th of Jan 2009, I gazed for a while when reading two headlines. One was in Times of India online and that was just funny and kindda silly at the same time while the other was CNN and I will not be commenting on though I am disgusted to the core and dont know till when such creatures will keep on breathing our same air that they managed to toxic by every possible mean.

Two minor girls married off to frogs

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Two_minor_girls_married_off_to_frogs_in_Tamil_Nadu/rssarticleshow/3994895.cms

Top Saudi cleric: OK for young (10 yrs old) girls to wed

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/01/17/saudi.child.marriage/index.html

And thats how Iran is next !!!

This is extracted from The Jerusalem Post website Jan 12, 2009:

Iran warns Hamas not to accept truce:
By:Khaled Abu Toameh

Iran is exerting heavy pressure on Hamas not to accept the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel, an Egyptian government official said on Sunday. The official told The Jerusalem Post by phone that two senior Iranian officials who visited Damascus recently warned Hamas leaders against accepting the proposal. His remarks came as Hamas representatives met in Cairo with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Gen. Omar Suleiman and his aides to discuss ways of ending the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

The Hamas representatives reiterated their opposition to a cease-fire that did not include the reopening of all the border crossings into the Gaza Strip, Hamas spokesmen said on Sunday. The spokesmen said Hamas voiced its strong opposition to the idea of deploying an international force inside the Gaza Strip.

The Egyptian official said that the two Iranian emissaries, Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, and Said Jalili of the Iranian Intelligence Service, met in the Syrian capital with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ramadan Shallah. "As soon as the Iranians heard about the Egyptian cease-fire initiative, they dispatched the two officials to Damascus on an urgent mission to warn the Palestinians against accepting it," the Egyptian government official told the Post."The Iranians threatened to stop weapons supplies and funding to the Palestinian factions if they agreed to a cease-fire with Israel. The Iranians want to fight Israel and the US indirectly. They are doing this through Hamas in Palestine and Hizbullah in Lebanon".

The official pointed out that the Iranians were applying "double standards" regarding the current conflict - on the one hand, they encouraged Iranian men to volunteer to fight alongside Hamas; on the other hand, Iran's spiritual leader, Ali Khamenei, told the volunteers that they would not be permitted to join the fight against Israel. "The Iranians never fired one bullet at Israel," he said. "But now they are trying to appear as if they are participating in the war against Israel. The leaders of Teheran don't care about the innocent civilians who are being killed in the Gaza Strip".

The Egyptian official accused Iran of "encouraging" Hamas to continue firing rockets at Israel with the hope that this would trigger a war that would divert attention from Iran's nuclear plans. "This conflict serves the interests of the Iranians," he said. "They are satisfied because the violence in the Gaza Strip has diverted attention from their nuclear ambitions. The Iranians are also hoping to use the Palestinian issue as a 'powerful card' in future talks with the Americans. "They want to show that they have control over Hamas and many Palestinians".

Karam Jaber, editor of the semi-official Egyptian weekly Roz Al-Youssef magazine, said that Hamas was caught between the Syrian anvil and the Iranian hammer. The Iranians, he said, prevented Hamas from negotiating a cease-fire with Israel, while the Syrians were blackmailing and intimidating the Hamas leaders in Damascus. "History won't forget to mention that Hamas had inflicted death and destruction on the Palestinians," he said. "We hope that Hamas has learned the lesson and realizes that it has been fighting a war on behalf of others. We hope the Hamas leaders will realize that they are fighting a destructive war on behalf of the Iranians and Syrians".

Egyptian political analyst Magdi Khalil said he shared the view of the Palestinian Authority and Egypt that Hamas was responsible for the war in the Gaza Strip. "Ever since Hamas seized control over the Gaza Strip in 2007, they turned the area into hell," he said. "They imposed restrictions on the people there and even prevented them from performing the pilgrimage to Mecca".

The analyst said that the head of the Egyptian General Intelligence Service was right when he recently described Hamas as a group of gangsters. "Hamas and its masters in Damascus and Teheran want to spread chaos in Egypt," he said. "They want to solve the problem of the Gaza Strip by handing the area over to Egypt. They want to create a homeland for the Palestinians in Sinai".

He said that Hamas was not only jeopardizing Egypt's national security, but had also destroyed the Palestinians' dream of statehood. "By endorsing the Iranian agenda, Hamas has brought the Iranians to Egypt's eastern border," he said. "Hamas has also copied Hizbullah's policy of entering into pointless adventures".

Source:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1231424929369&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull