Sunday, October 29, 2006

Moving Day

Ugh, I'm trying to completely uproot all my belongings from my old place and move them into my new place. I have crap everywhere, things in bags and boxes, hardly any furniture, I feel like a nomad. A matter of fact I'm writing to you now from the comfort of my cold floor. Even worse I haven't set up the cable or internet in the new apartment, don't worry though there shouldn't be a drop in publishing, I plan on hacking into the neighbors wireless connection.

Highlights of the Move.

-The cleaning lady came by, cleaned the fridge, the kitchen counter and then left. I guess I'll be doing the rest.

-I have no food because the cleaning lady decided to throw out my groceries.

-I AM SITTING ON THE FLOOR!

-No movers, just me and and 2 friends.

-I'm hungry...oh yea I forgot, there's no food in the fridge.

-I don't know where I'm sleeping tonight.

and

-I expect getting settled into a new place to feel like the first few weeks in jail, minus the forcefull and aggravated man on man love.

Saturday, October 28, 2006

TV For The Whole Family

This is what I watched on ABC FAMILY today. I stress the words family, as in something Mom and Dad can watch with the little ones.

Thursday, October 26, 2006

If You Don't Wear Hijab You Will Be Raped!


This debate never gets old.

AUSTRALIA'S mufti should resign and move to Iran after publicly saying women who do not wear the hijab invite sexual assault, a Liberal MP said today.

Sheik Taj al-Din al-Hilali used a Ramadan speech in Sydney to blame women who don't wear the hijab (Islamic headdress) for being preyed on by men.

"If you take uncovered meat and place it outside on the street, or in the garden or in the park, or in the backyard without a cover, and the cats come and eat it ... whose fault is it, the cats or the uncovered meat?," The Australian quoted him as saying.

The comments come after several young men were jailed for a string of notorious gang rapes in Sydney, although the sheik did not refer specifically to the crimes

Does this guy have timing or what?

Mrs Mirabella urged the sheik to consider moving to Iran.

"I have a message for Sheik Alhilali: This is Australia, not Iran, and violence and degradation of women is not acceptable," she said.

"If he wants to sprout this type of offensive discourse, perhaps he should be making these comments in an Islamic state - something that Australia never has (been) and never will be."

The more I hear about Australia and their attitude towards Islamic extremism the more I want to move there!


Wednesday, October 25, 2006

My Car Accident.



Tonight Some friends and I made plans to go and watch the Chicago Bulls game at our favorite Arabic coffee shop, so I drove downtown to pick up my friend, Doctor D. After I scooped him up we headed towards the highway down one of Chicago's busiest streets, Ontario. Driving down that street is always a disaster waiting to happen because the end of the street runs directly into the highway, its a mad dash to switch lanes and turn before hitting the point of no return. Add that to the fact that the city is filled with Nigerian taxi cab drivers on a suicide mission and you have a gauntlet worthy of American Gladiators (I miss that show).

However it wasn't a Nigerian cab driver who caused this accident, it was much worse than that. Allow me to paint the picture. I'm sitting at the traffic light waiting for it to turn green when.....BLAM! I get rear ended. Everything goes flying, loose change, a water bottle, a pair of chopsticks, things I didn't even know I owned and what I think was a shard of glass, I thought my rear window shattered. It was terrible, I almost spilled my tea. I look to my friend...

Yours Truly: Dude are you O.K.?

Doctor D: What was that!

Yours Truly: What do you think you idiot?

Doctor D: I don't know!

Yours Truly: Just shut up!

I pull over and push the shifter towards park except it wont go into park, I look down and find two pennies wedged in the shifter slot. I pull them out, get out of the car and I swear, the first thing I think is, "It better not be an Asian Driver". Of course because all stereotypes are true and Asians are known to be bad drivers, the perpetrator just so happened to be an Asian girl driving a BMW. Our conversation went like this...

Yours Truly: What happened, you didn't see me?

Stupid Asian Girl: No, I sorry. I look I think you stop.

My internal thought: Great an Asian with no depth perception!

Yours Truly: You think "I stop"? The light was red!

Stupid Asian Girl: I sorry, you are OK?

Yours Truly: Yea we're fine, let me get your information.

While she's filling out her info I see a cop car coming our way. Thank God right? Wrong, he makes a quick left into the McDonald's parking lot and pulls into a handicapped spot only 30 feet away from us, I know he saw us. So I tell Doctor D to run and grab him to make an accident report. Doctor D goes skipping over and apparently the conversation went like this...

Doctor D: Excuse me officer, we just got into an accident could you make a report.

Officer Jag Off: Is anyone hurt!?

Doctor D: No.

Officer Jag Off: Are the cars drivable?

Doctor D: Yes.

Officer Jag Off: O.K. well we're on break so we'll call it in when we're done.

Doctor D: Uhh O.K. thanks!

Chicago's finest ladies and gentlemen!

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

"America Is Not Fertile Ground For Producing Jihadists"...I Beg To Differ!

I stumbled onto this Article in the Christian Science Monitor with the headline, "Radical Islam Finds U.S. to be Sterile Ground". I nearly choked when I read the following...
"Home-grown" terror cells remain a concern of US law officers, who cite several disrupted plots since 9/11. But the suspects' unsophisticated planning and tiny numbers have led some security analysts to conclude that America, for all its imperfections, is not fertile ground for producing jihadist terrorists.
and

It's impossible to pinpoint the factors that produce home-grown terrorists, analysts say. But it's also impossible to ignore the stark contrast between the lives of Muslims in European countries where bombings have occurred and those of Muslims in America.

"What we have here among Muslim-Americans is a very conservative success ethic," says John Zogby, president of Zogby International in Utica, N.Y., whose polling firm has surveyed the Muslim-American community. "People come to this country and they like it. They don't view it as the belly of the beast. With very few exceptions, you don't see the bitter enclaves that you have in Europe."

I find the whole concept laughable on an idealistic level and extremely dangerous on a national security level. You don't need me to tell you this is B.S., just think about the country you live in. No one really wants to be American we are all guilty of that, this is the country where 10th generation Americans drive around with foreign flags on their rear view mirror, the country where everyone cheers for their ancestral nation during World Cup instead of the country they live in. This is the country where cities are still segregated into several different ethnic groups, personally I'm down the street from the Ukrainian Village, 2 miles from China town, half a block from Little Italy, across the highway from Greek Town and every shop owner in Arabic town (which overlaps over Korea town) knows my face.

England, a victim of homegrown terror is quite different, immigrants have almost totally assimilated into British society. If you question how true that is just observe British media and entertainment, you will be amazed at the number of Indian and Pakistani faces you'll see, broadcasters, actors and other T.V. personalities.

Don't let these kinds of articles and Zogby polling fool you, America is full of American born Muslims who dream of turning the U.S. into a Muslim controlled nation, complete with Islamic law, trust me I grew up around many of them. I was there in the Mosques, before 9/11 listening to the cries for Jihad and I was there after 9/11 in the Universities when Sheiks preached peace and love out of their own fear, they were wolves in sheep's clothing. Let me assure you that the faces in the Mosque with me, listening to hate speech were young men, born in America and when America suffers its first attack from the hands of home grown jihadists, it will be men like these who are blowing themselves up.

Are the majority of American born Muslims jihadist candidates? No, certainly not, don't come away thinking that! However is the U.S. safe from home grown terror? Far from it.

*Tomorrow I will post, "How To Detect An American Terrorist"

BTW- I love the guy with the Dale Earnhardt jacket wearing the traditional Arab scarf in the picture above.

Egypt, Prepare To Be Attacked!

Well not quite but a little too close for comfort regardless. Several Israeli cabinet ministers are demanding the re-acquisition of the Gaza-Egypt border following the discovery of tunnels leading from Egypt into Gaza. The call comes from the Shas Party, an ultra orthodox party which supports an extensive military operation including Israeli troops on Egyptian soil.

Personally I think Israel has controlled the Sinai Peninsula since its acquisition in 1967. It was signed back over to the Egyptians in 1979 but I don't think Egypt has much say in whether or not Israeli troops step foot on it. Plus the territory is filled with checkpoints, Egyptian soldiers, Israeli tourists and a Giant wall to help keep the "animals" contained.

Friday, October 20, 2006

Arab Americans Are Second Class Citizens In The Occupied Territories




Not my words but those of a senior diplomatic official.


During her recent trip to Israel, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice raised the issue with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and U.S. diplomats have also recently complained to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, officials said.

"They are being treated as Arabs and not Americans," one senior official said. "They basically treat them as second-class citizens."

In a speech October 11 before the American Task Force on Palestine, Rice acknowledged "continuing problems of security" faced by Palestinian-Americans living and working in Gaza and the West Bank and pledged "to ensure that all American travelers receive fair and equal treatment."

David Siegel, a spokesman for the Israeli Embassy in Washington, told CNN in a phone interview, "We are aware of the issue and it is being treated at senior levels, but we are waiting for more details from the administration on specific cases they have raised."



Though this might be news to most, I can't say that I've been unaware of such issues facing Arab Americans traveling in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Not because I'm so astute but because Israel's mistreatment of Arab Americans changed the State Departments policies years ago, concerning American citizens in foreign countries. Most Americans think when they travel abroad they have power and security the Pope could only dream of, you know that line, "Hey you can't do that I'm an American!" Sorry John Smith, it doesn't work like that anymore. So before you go running around in a foreign country with your pants down, let me clarify things for you. That's how it used to be, American citizens used to have the leverage of contacting the U.S. Embassy for various reasons. Approximately 10-15 years ago that all changed. Israel lobbied the State Department to change their policies regarding American travelers so that Americans of Palestinian ancestry returning home could not refuse check points, unwarranted arrests and other abuses. The State Department eventually conceded and since changed their policy stating that Americans are subject to the laws of the country they are visiting.

To read that the State Department was unaware of Israeli mistreatment of Arab Americans in the occupied territories, is laughable. Where were the State Departments objections when they bent over to Israel's request. They know why the policy was changed, they were aware of the methods of the IDF concerning Arab Americans before the policy was changed because by lobbying for a policy change Israeli petitioners brought their intentions to light, as if to say, 'this is how we want to treat Palestinians regardless of American citizenship , this is how we have been treating them but your foreign policy is complicating the matter.'

I'd love to slander Condi and demand she get off her butt and do something but what can she do, ask Tzipi Livni to lighten up on Arabs, 'pretty please' ? There's a better chance of me marrying Haifa Wahbe. It's not as though Arab Americans traveled through Israel harassment free before the State Department amended its policies. However I have this piece of advice for Ms. Rice, hold on let me turn on my mega-phone...

CONDI, STOP PUCKERING YOUR LIPS UP TO ISRAEL'S BUTT CRACK! THE U.S. GIVES OVER 1.6 BILLION DOLLARS TO ISRAEL EVERY YEAR, NOT INCLUDING BALANCING OUT THEIR DEFICIT EACH YEAR. YOU DON'T HAVE TO POLITELY ASK THEM TO BE CIVIL AND HUMANE TO AMERICAN CITIZENS, DEMAND IT!!!!!

BTW- I have a Palestinian friend who gets beat up, arrested and released without charges each and every single time he travels back to the homeland (the occupied territories of Palestine). I don't know why that stupid bastard keeps going back. The worst part about it is that he was born in the U.S., he's Palestinian only by blood. He's not even a potential terrorist, the guy's Christian....C'est la vie

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Shobrawy Throwback

I hate slow news days like today, they make me wish there was some terrible going on somewhere, call me evil. Don't get me wrong things are happening, nothing I care to entertain you with but things are happening.

Some rich idiot, with no peripheral vision, poked a hole in a 140 million dollar Picasso...big deal. More troops are dead in Iraq, I wish that was any different than yesterday or tomorrow. Oh yea, Anwar Sadats nephew has been arrested and charged with "spreading false rumors and insulting the armed forces", for suggesting that a military conspiracy involving Hosni Moubarak was responsible for his uncles death. I'm sure every Egyptian blogger will be writing about it but not me, I cant say I find it terribly interesting.

So what do I have for you? A special treat! Back before anyone knew my site existed I was still writing, quality stuff too. The following is a personal story I wrote on June 19th, 3 days after I opened my blog, a throwback.

The Phantom Menace

June 19, 2006

In my description I note being analytical, I like to believe I am in the upper percentile in terms of analytical ability and because of being so analytical I have a lot of opinions.

That bothers some people but ask yourself, have you ever met anyone who had NO opinions. I have and let me start by saying people like that are the scourge of the earth and should be abandoned on a remote island with scarce resources.

What would they talk about, would they bore each other to death? Really imagine what kind of person you would be if your parents didn't take a stance on issues and tell you, "this is wrong and this is right"? Worse yet, not having opinions generally equals an inability to have a conversation.

Let me tell you about this soulless person I was once friends with, who was functionally incompetent at forming a single opinion. In order to protect this persons identity we will refer to her as The Phantom Menace (yea its a girl, are you surprised).

When it comes to me I enjoy good conversation with my friends and personally I think I am a master at creating conversation with anyone, I could get a mute to tell me about their likes and dislikes.

One of my techniques is randomly posing a question to a group of quiet and boring people. You have to make the question a little edgy, I could get the Queen of England to talk to me about her bowel movements.

I am not David Blaine though, if your mentally absent I cant help you. The Phantom Menace was mentally absent, this was one of our conversations, word for word...

Yours Truly: what's up?
PM: I don't know, nothing?
Yours Truly: *raised eye brow* your not sure?
PM: Huh?
Yours Truly: Nothing, so hows school, work, life?
PM: Um, I dont know.

Is this girl serious, she doesnt have an opinion on how shes doing, she "dont know".
Now even though this isn't the first encounter of this nature with PM I am going for gold here because I have faith in my skills, so I hit her with this...

Yours Truly: when was the last time you farted?
PM: What!?
Yours Truly: come on, its nothing to be ashamed of, its normal, its natural, everyone does it, you're human aren't you?
**PAUSE**
PM: Yea, Sooo what's up?

Great we are back to talking about nothing! At this point I decide to throw a cynical curve ball

Yours Truly: So how do you feel about Hitler, nice guy? Over achiever?
PM: I don't know
Yours Truly: you dont know? wow, anything, anything at all?
**Blank Stare**

Seriously is she trying to be cute, whets the deal? The scary thing is, this girl is in law school. A lawyer without opinions is like a basketball player without illegitimate kids.
Generally I am up for this kind of challenge but I have no patience so I loose it...

Yours Truly: seriously why am I friends with you, why is anyone friends with you, you offer absolutely nothing to society!
PM: What, what do you want me to say?
Yours truly: nothing, don't say anything, just sit there and take up space.

I know this seems harsh but the good thing about people like this is you can really rip into them and it rolls right off their back.

What ended up happening is I realized that even though PM isnt a bad person I just cant communicate with her so I ended ties 4 or 5 months ago. I know what your thinking, I am mean right?

Well it might seem mean but if you have a friend like this do yourself a favor and cut them loose because by continuing your friendship your actually making yourself dumber. Save yourself people!

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Bad Decisions Lead To Last Decisions



The Pope has scheduled a trip to the secular but Islamic country of Turkey only a month after his controversial comments which drew fatwas ordering his murder. Hmmm.

Some extremely poor last decisions

-Christopher Wallace , A.K.A. Notorious B.I.G., travels to L.A. to release his second album months after the death of Tupac Shakur, which some believed Wallace to be responsible for.

-After a long day of work Mary Todd Lincoln convinces her husband to take her out for a relaxing night at the theatre.

- King Henry II of France insisted on having his helmet made out of gold, he was killed during a stunt knight's jousting match, when his helmet's soft golden grille gave way to a broken lance tip which pierced his eye and entered his brain.

-President William Henry Harrison gives the longest inaugural speech in U.S. history in the middle of winter with no coat on, resulting in death from pneumonia.

-John Sedgewick, Union general in the American Civil War, was killed by a distant Confederate sniper at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House . Among his last words to his men were "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!"

-Jack Daniel, founder of the famous Tennessee whiskey distillery, died of blood poisoning from a toe injury he received after kicking his safe in anger when he could not remember its combination code.

-"The Engineer" Yahya Ayyash, chief Palestinian bombmaker of Hamas was assassinated by way of a Shin Bet (Shabak) rigged mobile phone, which detonated when he answered a call. Shouldn't have let your cell phone leave your sight.

-David Bailey, an Irish man died when he was urinated on by a rat while attempting to retrieve lost golf ball from a ditch. Bailey apparently startled the rat, causing it to dart up his pant leg and urinate on him. After the incident, Bailey's companions urged him to immediately shower, but Bailey refused stating that he had no bites or scratches. He died two weeks later from kidney failure brought on by an acute case of leptospirosis.

-Alexander Bogdanov, a physician and scientist, conducted an experiment for a "rejuvination" technique wherein he deliberately gave himself a transfusion of blood from a student who suffered from malaria and tuberculosis. He died of the subsequent infection.

Sunday, October 15, 2006

I'm On Drugs


Last week my Mom called me to say my Uncle S, A.K.A. "The Enforcer", was looking for me. I love my Uncle but he's not the kind of guy you want "looking for you", he's not called The Enforcer for nothing.

To put it plainly my Uncle is a professional bad ass who served in the Egyptian army during one of the Arab-Israeli wars and who is feared by Chicago's entire Egyptian community. This guy is no joke, he has a stone cold look that makes babies cry, not to mention that he's one of the most imposing figures I've ever known.

Regardless I decided to swallow my fear and give him a call to see what he wanted.

The Enforcer: Hello!

Yours Truly: Hi Uncle.

The Enforcer: Hey how are you?

Yours Truly: Good.

The Enforcer: Good? What do you mean your good?

Yours Truly: I don't know, I feel good.

The Enforcer: Uh huh, like the song? I feel good, nah na nah na nah na na!

Yours Truly: Uhhh kinda, Mom said you wanted to talk to me, yea?

The Enforcer: Yea, why don't you come over on Sunday so we can talk?

Yours Truly: Sure, no problem.

How completely terrifying, the Enforcer wants to talk to me face to face! I have to admit when Sunday came around I was ready to crap my pants but you couldn't tell by looking at me, I know not to show fear in front of The Enforcer. When we finally met up my Uncle grabbed two chairs, faced them about 2 inches from each other and told me to sit down.

The conversation went like this.

Yours Truly: So what did you want to talk about?

The Enforcer: I wanted to talk to you about something someone told me, something disturbing!

Yours Truly: Uhh O.K. what is it? (at this point I'm shaking)

The Enforcer: I heard you're on drugs.

Yours Truly: What!? Me? On drugs? Who told you that?

The Enforcer: It only takes one or two times to become addicted and then your stealing your doing anything for more drugs.

Yours Truly: Uncle, I'm not on drugs.

The Enforcer: I see these people at work, they are like animals, the black people and the Mexicans, they kill each other for more drugs.

Yours Truly: Seriously I'm not on drugs, why would someone who doesn't know me say that?

The Enforcer: Just tell me now, we can get you help!

Yours Truly: Uncle would you please listen to me, I'm not on drugs, you can talk to any of my friends they will tell you I'm not on drugs.

The Enforcer: OK, I believe you but if you are just tell me now so we can get you help!

Yours Truly: Oh my God, I don't know what I can tell you that will convince you I'm not using drugs!

The Enforcer: OK, If your not than I'm happy.

Yours Truly: OK, are we done here?

The Enforcer: Yea, but I better not find out your lying!

How unbelievable is this! I have never been the victim of Egyptian gossip before and suddenly after so many years I find out from my Uncle, via some anonymous stranger, that I'm on drugs! Allow me to clarify, I'm not on drugs, nor have I ever used or even tried a drug. So to that person who's making up lies about me, I'm going to find you!

Side note: Maybe this rumor started as a result of my abuse of NyQuil.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

Iraqi Kids Get Their Ass Beat!

I know I've been a little YouTube happy lately but I cant help it, I keep unearthing good stuff like this jewel of a clip.

The video shows some British troops in Iraq beating the crap out of some kids after the kids threw rocks at them. It looks terrible but let me point out some things before you go nuts and write your Congressman.

1. Soldiers carry guns.

2. Soldiers kill people for a living.

3. Soldiers witness a lot of mind altering events like bodies blowing up and people getting shot in the face, its not like the movies, seeing that stuff will change you forever.

but most importantly

4. Soldiers kill people for a living!



So what would make a 12 year old brave enough to throw rocks at these lean mean killing machines? Drugs maybe? I've heard a lot of people say, "they don't know any better", don't give me that crap, those kids know exactly what they're doing, in fact they know very well the nature of these soldiers. They throw stones because, 'there's no way the kind hearted British/American soldiers would kill me!' Would these same kids have dared to throw stones at Saddam's Republican Guard? No way because Saddam struck the fear of God into their hearts! If Al-Qaeda were patrolling our streets would you let your kids play in the streets and throw stones at them? If you were irresponsible enough to let your kids do something so foolish, do you think our enemies would hesitate to kill them!? Yea these Soldiers beat these kids up, excessively even but do you think they treated them different then anyone in their neighborhood would treat some punk kids?

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Mark Foley Is A Flamer!


Listen to Pat Buchanan rant and rave, I love it! Listen to him say flamer, he really stresses the "F", it sounds like Fffffflamer!

These news shows continue to pop out hilarious video clips. If I had to pull a figure out of my butt I would say 51.8 percent of clips on YouTube are from news channels like Fox News, MSNBC and CNN.

I Love You NyQuil


I'm sick...again! Some of you might remember my earlier post about being sick. This time I'm exceptionally sick (I always think I'm sicker than the last time I was sick). When I'm sick NyQuil is my best friend, I don't even measure it I just chug it out of the bottle like a drunk housewife. Tonight I intend to take an unsafe dosage of Nyquil, copious amounts of NyQuil in fact. If I stop publishing posts its either because I'm either dead or asleep.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Classic Ayman al-Zawahiri Video




A couple things about this video.

1. The narrator is far too sympathetic towards Ayman al-Zawahiri, Al-Qaedas number 2 and Omar Abdel Rahman the mastermind of the first world trade center bombing.

2. If an Islamic fundamentalist (Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind Sheik), who has been arrested and linked to the assassination of a foreign leader, attempts to immigrate to your country, its probably best you don't give him a green card. Who is the jag-off who approved his application?

Saddams Disorderly Conduct

Guess what? Today Saddam was kicked out of court...again! For the fourth time in 3 weeks in fact and I have to admit, I'm upset, not because he's been getting booted out of court but because I'm not there to witness it. Really imagine it, Saddam Hussein, former dictator, delusional sociopath and the constant butt of jokes and caricature for the last 15 years, on trial for Genocide! Not to mention that Saddam really puts on a show, this time it was quoting the Quran at high volume. He stood up and yelled, "fight them and God will punish them..." before his mic could be turned off and the bailiff escorted him out.

(this might interest you, the complete verse Saddam was trying to state before he was rudely interrupted is "Fight them, and God will punish them by your hands, cover them with shame." Surah 9:14 In context the verse revers to fighting non-believers, infidels.)

Now that Saddam has been removed from court the show must be over right? Wrong! After he's removed the other defendants stand up and start yelling in protest. Then the bailiff walks over and trys to force defendant Hussein Rashid al-Tikriti back into his seat, al-Tikriti responds by punching the bailiff!

I cant wait to see what happens tomorrow!

By the way- I absolutely love that picture, I seriously want a poster of it.

Monday, October 09, 2006

A Palestine/Israel Dialogue For Everyone.

Last week I wrote a post concerning Condoleeza Rice's visit with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and her pledge of U.S. help. The point of the post was to express the contradiction in actions as I see it. I would like to present to you the dialogue between a commenter "programmer Craig" and myself because I feel some key points were brought up and I would like to share them with everyone. This is the type of post in which I anticipate dialogue from the readers. Because of the nature of the topic, Palestine/Israel, I would like to remind everyone that I expect respectful and constructive dialogue, please refrain from childish name calling and violent rebuttals. (unless you find it absolutely necessary, haha ) In advance I would like to say thank you to Craig for providing the dialouge, I respect your right to disagree.

First Craig's comment and then mine.

PROGRAMMER CRAIG
Yes, the US does support Israel. You're absolutely right. And that is not ever going to change. I do believe the US wants peace, though, and a mutually agreeable solution. The US does not view Palestinians as an enemy now, and it never has. That's as good as it gets for US positioning towards Palestinians, and it's probably better than it should be. Palestinians forced two US journalists to convert to Islam at gunpoint just a couple months ago. That's not good. To say the least.


The enemy of my enemy is my friend-Arab proverb

Wouldn't a variation of that be "the enemy of my friend is my enemy," DB?

Are you advocating that the US should treat Palestinians as enemies of America?

You provide the bombs that are dropped on Palestine

We sell weapons to all of our allies. We even sell weapons to neutrals. We sell weapons to Egypt, you know?

you provide the construction equipment that is used to build homes in the occupied territories

You'd prefer if Israeli construction companies bought heavy equipment from Russia? Japan? China? Europe?

What possible difference would it make?

you provide the training that is used to sweep the homes of families in the West Bank and Gaza Strip

This is untrue. The US does not train Israeli military personnel. Trust me, I would know, if we did. The US *does* train Egyptian military personnel, though.

you provide the money and the legislation that has greatly diminished the Palestinian quality of life.

Egypt and Israel *both* recieve money, as agreed to by the Camp David accords. That is a matter of treaty, agreed to by Jimmy Carter, Anwar Sadat, and Menachem Begin.

Nothing to so with Palestinians.

As far as Legislation, US lawmakers do as they see fit, and as their constituents will support. We don't work for Palestinians over here in teh US, and we don't work for the Israelis, either.

If you think Palestinians should be treated better by America, try doing something that merits better treatment. And if you'd prefer Palestinians be enemies of the United States, I'm sure that could be arranged. It wouldn't take much.

Yours Truly
Craig-"Are you advocating that the US should treat Palestinians as enemies of America?" I'm certainly not advocating that, my point is a cynical one. The U.S. DOES in fact treat the Palestinians as enemies by financially backing a country whose biggest door mat are the Palestinians.

I certainly don't agree with the actions of many Palestinian groups however the Palestinian people are being blended as enemies alongside Jihadist groups. You can say the people support them etc but by that logic it's justifiable for Al Qaeda to target American civilians because we support our troops.

You cited several examples in which the U.S. provides assistance and you asked would i rather china, japan or Russia provided it, "what difference does it make"? The difference is obvious. While funding and supplying the slow and cruel genocide of Palestinian civilians we are pledging help to the Palestinian leadership. It is the pure definition of Cat and Mouse Game.

As far as the money Egypt and Israel receive as agreed to by the camp David accords. Its not an eternal payout. The amount goes up, it goes down and it can stop, in fact congress votes on whether to continue funding to Egypt each year and this was a key issue previous to the "democratic" elections in Egypt this past year. The reason our government supports Egypt is because Egypt is considered a potentially large threat to Israel if not kept close to the American bosom. Tactically it is crucial to Israel and the U.S. that Egypt stays an ally and not an enemy. Do you think if the Muslim brotherhood gained control of the Egyptian Government the U.S. would continue to fund Egypt because of the camp David accords?! Obviously not.

Craig do I believe the U.S. works for Israel? Well Israel is the only country whose Bonds are redeemable in the U.S. Israel is the only country in which American citizens can fight in its army. The Israeli lobby is the second largest and most power full in the country after AARP and during the past presidential elections John Kerry and George W. Bush both stated "I will do what is in the best interest of Israel and the American people" Respectively. This has become standard protocol for American voters but as far as I'm concerned I don't want MY president doing anything in the interest of another country. We the American people should be their first priority.

Do I think the Palestinians should be treated as enemies of the U.S.? I don't see how they are not! Does anyone else?

Friday, October 06, 2006

An Exciting Announcement


I would like to proudly announce that my blog has reached another milestone in its constantly evolving development, I have been recognized by Toot! What is Toot? Toot is an organization which in the last year has hand picked a very select number of blogs from around the Middle East as well as the world wide Arab diaspora, and features them daily on their site Toot! Other blogs featured on toot include Sandmonkey, Leilouta, Mindbleed, Mental Mayhem and Iraq The Model

I think I'm in good company! Thanks Roba.

By the way, on Toot you can vote for blogs you like so if you enjoy what you read swing over and give me a vote, Thanks.

Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Cat And Mouse Game

As far as Israel/Palestine is concerned you may agree with Israel you may agree with the Palestinians. Regardless of how you feel both sides can acknowledge one simple fact, the U.S. supports Israel...whole heartily, it's not a matter of contention. With that being said allow me to pose a question. Why do U.S. administrators pledge to help Palestine? Like Condoleeza Rice telling Mahmoud Abbas, 'we pledge our help', 'we are very concerned'. No your not, come on, I don't care who your enemies and allies are but lets be realistic. You provide the bombs that are dropped on Palestine, you provide the construction equipment that is used to build homes in the occupied territories, you provide the training that is used to sweep the homes of families in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, you provide the money and the legislation that has greatly diminished the Palestinian quality of life. It wouldn't bother me so much if it wasn't so ironic and contradictory.

I don't think I need to construct some analogy explaining how to deal with allies and their enemies, if I do please X out the page and never read my blog again. So what's the deal is it a matter of playing the fence? Is it guilt? Is it just keeping up appearances?

The enemy of my enemy is my friend-Arab proverb

15 Things I Love.

Responding to a Tag by Ha Ana Za


1. Television

2. Big Booty


3. Shobra, Egypt


4.Basketball


5. Tabasco Sauce

6. Chicago

7. The Fresh Prince of Bel Air

8. 2pac's music

9. Stuffed cabbage

10. Lipton tea


11. War movies

12. Ruby

13. Great white basketball players

14. Wiener dogs

15. The sound of laughter

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Holy S&#*!


Oh my goodness gracious, taking this test may cause me to lose half my readers. The sad part is, the description couldn't be more true!



What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com


UPDATE:
I did the leader test again because I was not totally thrilled with my initial result. I answered 9 questions instead of 27 questions and got this.



What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com


Who's the sick jerk who designed these tests?

Fun With Pictures

Something is wrong with this photo, can you figure it out?



Side note:The friend of a friend of a friend made this picture for an IKEA catalog and was fired for it.

Shobrawy Eats Greek, Loses Temper.

Sunday I went to dinner in "Greek Town" with a friend. We decided to go to the more famous of the Greek restaurants available. I won't even bother telling you the name of this restaurant because I don't want to accidentally promote their business and as a result make them money. As you might be able to tell I was extremely displeased with my dining experience.

I should have known better, I haven't yet had a good experience at a Greek restaurant but I apparently came down with amnesia before agreeing to it. Even worse I get suckered into eating Greek food fairly often because Egyptians are under this tragic misunderstanding that Greek food is a classy adaptation of Arabic food.

Anyway, we arrive and are seated, the place is nice on the inside, very busy and lively, waiters yelling "Opa"*, setting alcohol soaked dishes on fire etc. The waiter asks me what I'd like to drink, I order a Coke so he brings me this


Yours Truly: Excuse me, Stavros.

Waiter: Yes sir?

Yours Truly: What is this?

Waiter: It's your Coke sir.

Yours Truly: Yea and where's the rest of it?

Waiter: that's it.

Yours Truly: Listen I'm sure in Greece these bottles are cool and trendy but by the looks of this 10 oz bottle I don't believe there are free refills, are there?

Waiter: No sir.

Yours Truly: Uh huh, thanks.

You might not be able to tell from the picture but that's a 10 oz. bottle of Coke. I would have brought one from the restaurant and taken its picture next to a regular bottle but the busboys were like ninjas, I never saw them come or go. I would take a bite of food and suddenly the bottles were gone, they should work for the CIA or something. Either way the bottles were like two good sips, that's it. I hate restaurants that don't have free refills, it seems like the most basic courtesy. Keep your complimentary bread it's cutting the roof of my mouth, give me a free soda instead, I'm thirsty!

Another thing I hate about Greek restaurants is the menu, nothing sounds appetizing at all. On top of that I hate ordering at a restaurant, I'm terrified I'll order something and not like it so I ended up ordering something I've had a million times, gyros. You might be thinking, "You ordered gyros at a nice Greek restaurant" Trust me if I could go back and time and order something else I would.

By the time he brings out the food I've racked up 15 dollars in Coke alone, I'm starving so I dig in. My taste buds are slow, it takes me a while to figure out whether I like the food, after a couple bites I realize my gyros is D.I.S.G.U.S.T.I.N.G.

1. Its dry, bone dry infact, so dry that it scratches my throat on the way down. Some parts were even crispy and everyone knows gyros is NOT crispy.

2. It smells. I didn't realize it at first but it smelled like old meat.

3. It tasted like a combination of the fat you scrape off the bottom of a frying pan and testicle sweat. It's not unlikely that the waiter was wearing my gyros inside his underwear all day.

Finally I called the waiter over and asked why my gyros tasted like human sweat.

Yours Truly: Hey Stavros, I never complain at a restaurant but this Gyros tastes really bad. Is it supposed to taste like this?

Waiter: It's just like any other gyros.

Yours Truly: Really, so its supposed to taste like ball sweat?

Waiter: Excuse me sir.

Yours Truly: It tastes like the cook rubbed my gyros on his balls! You want me to believe it's supposed to taste like this!

Waiter: Sir it looks fine to me.

Yours Truly: Taste it, you might gag!

Waiter: No thank you. Would you like a glass of wine sir?

Yours Truly: What for, to drown out the taste? No thank you, can we get the check please?

Can you believe this guy, trying to tell me their gyros which was clearly burned on some parts, was just like any other gyros. I don't know if I'll ever eat gyros again.

*Allow me to dispel some misconceptions about Greek restaurants. I heard a waiter drop a plate or glass and NO ONE yelled Opa! Instead the manager looked over like "if you drop one more plate your fired"

Monday, October 02, 2006

The Soprano's Meet Al Qaeda.

Apparently there is concern among the FBI counter-terrorism division regarding mobsters selling arms to terrorists, if the price is right of course. The FBI has cited incidents of mobsters attempting to sell missiles to FBI informants posing as terrorist middle men for Al Qaeda. Most distressing is the FBI's suspicions of New York Crime families like the still powerful and active Gambino crime family. I have a friend in Brooklyn who does "favors" for some mobsters, I'll be giving him a call tomorrow.

Being that the U.S. is engaged in an indefinite war with terrorits all over the world, I think its only fair that any person living in America and caught aiding terrorists be charged with treason and upon a guilty verdict, be executed. It's only fair and I would have trouble finding people who disagree, except for maybe a few extreme liberal tree kissers.