you watch the ad ... and the ad watches you ...
story
January 31, 2009
January 30, 2009
My People
i went to kingdom hospital today to visit some of the people who were injured in the israeli assault on gaza that are being treated there ... i went with my brother and we met there with one of my dad's friends who had arranged the visit along with some of the hospital staff ... we visited a total of six people ... three little boys ... one little girl ... and two young men from the resistance ... in every room is a family member ready to tell the patient's story ... like how he had been under the rubble for three days ... where he was hurt ... who in his family had died ... you want to hug them or do something to help ... but all you can do is stand there and listen and offer your kind words ... in general most of the patients were pretty hurt and could hardly move ... they are conscious but very weak ... even their voices were faint ... except for the last guy ... one of the young men ... luay was his name ... he had lost both of his legs and had been unconscious for seven days ... one of the doctors told us that he was on a ventilator when they brought him over ... but he was awake now ... and smiling and talking and such high spirits ...
Let's Eat
well my brother arrives in riyadh in a few hours ... he is here on a business trip that lasts for a week ...
it will be up to me to take him out every night and wine and dine him in riyadh's finest restaurants ... well dine him anyway ...
it will be up to him to foot the bill ...
And what are we doing?
The Absorption Ministry is recruiting new immigrants and Jews living abroad who have access to a computer and who speak a second language to a volunteer effort to improve public relations for Israel on the internet. The campaign was launched last week.
In the cross hairs are problematic blogs, talkbacks, online social networks, online polls, Youtube videos, and more.
The Absorption Ministry forwarded the volunteers' details to the Foreign Ministry, which briefed them via email and provided up-to-date material on the situation, including video clips that could help them in the field.
While the Absorption Ministry is tasked with recruitment, the Foreign Ministry will be responsible for directing the volunteers online. Each time the ministry identifies an anti-Israel trend on a foreign-language blog, news site, or other website, it will immediately put out a message to the volunteers to flood the site with pro-Israel opinions.
source
In the cross hairs are problematic blogs, talkbacks, online social networks, online polls, Youtube videos, and more.
The Absorption Ministry forwarded the volunteers' details to the Foreign Ministry, which briefed them via email and provided up-to-date material on the situation, including video clips that could help them in the field.
While the Absorption Ministry is tasked with recruitment, the Foreign Ministry will be responsible for directing the volunteers online. Each time the ministry identifies an anti-Israel trend on a foreign-language blog, news site, or other website, it will immediately put out a message to the volunteers to flood the site with pro-Israel opinions.
source
Gran Torino
i watched the movie gran torino tonight ... directed, produced, and starring clint eastwood ... forget about pacino and deniro and pesci and whoever else ... this guy is the real badass ... the name of the movie refers to eastwood's car in the movie ... but this movie is not about cars ... eastwood plays a racist old white guy who lives in a neighborhood full of minorities ... he doesn't get along with anyone ... even his children ... but as the movie progresses he begins to open up ... mainly to his chinese neighbors ... becoming something of a mentor to their young boy ... a lot of religious tones in this movie ... salvation and what not ... but yeah ... i thought it was a great movie ... 8/10 ...
January 29, 2009
Never Forgive, Never Forget
Israeli soccer matches were suspended during the assault on Gaza. When the games resumed last week, the fans had come up with a new chant: “Why have the schools in Gaza been shut down?” sang the crowd. “Because all the children were gunned down!” came the answer.
source
source
Returning the Favor
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday ordered a frigate deployed immediately to the waters off Gaza in an effort to fight arms smuggling and consolidate a fragile cease-fire.
A statement by Sarkozy's office said he is asking that a helicopter-carrier be sent to international waters off Gaza "in full cooperation with Egypt and Israel."
He ordered Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to immediately "coordinate closely" with the United States and Europe to propose other ways to fight arms smuggling on land and at sea.
later on that week ...
France summoned Israel's ambassador on Wednesday to complain after French diplomats were blocked for hours on the Jewish state's border with the Gaza Strip and Israeli soldiers fired warning shots at their convoy.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said France's consul general based in Jerusalem and several of his colleagues travelled to Gaza on Tuesday to assess the reopening of border crossings and to inspect projects funded by France.
"At the end of this visit, the convoy, which had planned to go back to Jerusalem in the evening, was blocked by the Israeli authorities for more than six hours at the Erez border crossing," Chevallier told reporters.
"The convoy, which also included other European diplomats, had two warning shots fired at it from Israeli soldiers," Chevallier added.
A statement by Sarkozy's office said he is asking that a helicopter-carrier be sent to international waters off Gaza "in full cooperation with Egypt and Israel."
He ordered Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner to immediately "coordinate closely" with the United States and Europe to propose other ways to fight arms smuggling on land and at sea.
later on that week ...
France summoned Israel's ambassador on Wednesday to complain after French diplomats were blocked for hours on the Jewish state's border with the Gaza Strip and Israeli soldiers fired warning shots at their convoy.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Eric Chevallier said France's consul general based in Jerusalem and several of his colleagues travelled to Gaza on Tuesday to assess the reopening of border crossings and to inspect projects funded by France.
"At the end of this visit, the convoy, which had planned to go back to Jerusalem in the evening, was blocked by the Israeli authorities for more than six hours at the Erez border crossing," Chevallier told reporters.
"The convoy, which also included other European diplomats, had two warning shots fired at it from Israeli soldiers," Chevallier added.
January 28, 2009
Latin Arabia
A Jordanian Foreign Ministry official says the country's ambassador has returned to Israel after an absence of several weeks that was widely interpreted as a protest over Israel's offensive in Gaza. The official spoke on condition of anonymity on Tuesday because of the sensitivity of the issue.
source
meanwhile ...
The Israeli government have expelled the Venezuelan Embesy staff in Tel Aviv and severed diplomatic relations with the country. The Israeli government says that this move comes in response to the Venezuelan Hugo Chavez decision to expel the Israeli Ambassador to Caracas earlier this month.
source
source
meanwhile ...
The Israeli government have expelled the Venezuelan Embesy staff in Tel Aviv and severed diplomatic relations with the country. The Israeli government says that this move comes in response to the Venezuelan Hugo Chavez decision to expel the Israeli Ambassador to Caracas earlier this month.
source
Singing
sweden rocks ... sweden rocks ...
to the tune of the song for the drew carey show ... "cleveland rocks"
True Story
congress is trying to pass a bill that would require mobile phones to make a noise "audible within a reasonable radius of the phone whenever a photograph is taken with the camera in such phone" ... they call it the "camera phone predator act" ... the reason ... voyeuristic photos ...
Superbowl Predictions
care to make one?
i personally know next to nothing about nfl football ... and what little i know i get from listening to sports talkshows on the radio while driving ... like sports byline and dan patrick and sports overnight and jim rome and what not ... but i made a prediction a couple of years ago and i came awfully close ... i got the winner right though ... last year i forgot to make a prediction ... which brings us to this year ...
now i know that the steelers won it a few years ago so i think the cardinals are hungrier ... both teams have star quarterbacks ... pittsburgh has the defense whereas arizona has the offense ... so what does that all mean ... nobody knows ...
anyway here is my prediction ... tanenan-tanenan (sportscenter music) ...
Cardinals 20 - Steelers 31
do the touchdown dance ...
January 27, 2009
Take That
An Israeli soldier was killed today morning when an explosive device detonated near the Kissufim crossing along the border with the Gaza Strip. An officer was seriously injured in the incident and two other troops sustained light wounds.do the happy dance ...
Axis of Boredom
i sometimes write about how boring life in riyadh tends to be ...
well let me give you an idea just how dead this city is ... ahmed ahmed is coming to town to perform and everyone is excited about it ... i mean really excited about it ... i've been getting numerous facebook invitations to attend and people i don't usually talk to are popping up on msn at work to tell me about the event just as an fyi ... i had no idea who he was but apparently he's part of the 'axis of evil' comedy group ... i've seen their act before and it's not bad ... not great but not bad either ... i mean they're not my favorite stand-up comics but they're ok ... they're smart though ... touring the arab world and making money off it ... i remember they went to jordan before and my friend who works for play fm posted this album on facebook of her hanging out with them backstage ... like we're supposed to be jealous or something ...
anyway i don't know if i'll go ... but if i do it'll only be because practically everyone i know is going ... not because i want to go see mr. ahmed perform ... does that make me a follower ...
although the price of one ticket is equivalent to the price of one ps3 game ... hmmm ... opportunity cost ...
meanwhile ... my older brother's coming to town this friday and staying for a week ... it's a business trip ... so that should be fun ... i guess ... we can paint the town red ... yeah right ...
January 26, 2009
January 25, 2009
طيور الجنة
Lina Hassan, 10, was killed by an Israeli shell which hit her as she walked to the shops next to a UN school in Jabaliya on 6 January. “She asked me for a shekel to go to the shops to buy something for her and her brothers and sisters,” said her father Abdul, 37. “I heard the shell and I ran out. I saw her body lying on the ground … Was my daughter Hamas? Do you think a 10-year-old even knows the difference between Hamas and Fatah?”slideshow of children killed in the attack on gaza
January 24, 2009
Douchebaggery
i have a friend who is not a friend ... just someone i know from work ... but he is my friend according to facebook ... anyway remember the silly business on facebook about adding gaza to your name ... well he was one of those who did it ... and like everyone else he shared countless links and photos and notes about gaza and what not ...
well now that the war's over ... he removed gaza from his name ... and today ... he became a fan of frappucino ... too soon?
you can't make this up
From: Husni Mubarak
To: Israeli government
Subject: Help me help you
Dear friends,
I'd like to place more troops on the border to protect you. I hope that this request meets with your kind approval.
Sincerely,
Your bitch
story
To: Israeli government
Subject: Help me help you
Dear friends,
I'd like to place more troops on the border to protect you. I hope that this request meets with your kind approval.
Sincerely,
Your bitch
story
Quote of the Day
The first thing we have to do is a roll call to see who has, and who has not, survived the conflict.
U.N. spokesman Chris Gunness
source
Tens of thousands of children wearing uniforms and carrying bags flocked back to schools in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, days after Israel ended its barbaric attack against the territory.
U.N. spokesman Chris Gunness
source
Tens of thousands of children wearing uniforms and carrying bags flocked back to schools in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, days after Israel ended its barbaric attack against the territory.
Jackass
well i spilled water on my laptop and the keyboard stopped working properly ... i just bought this laptop two months ago ... so i took it to the shop ... the guy there assured me that this happens all the time and all it takes is a little fixing that usually doesn't require any formatting so i don't have to worry about losing any data ... unfortunately the warranty doesn't cover clumsiness ... but i googled what to do when you spill water on your laptop so i'll know what to do in case it ever happens again ... hopefully never ...
حسبنا الله و نعم الوكيل
On Thursday, hundreds lined up with blue gas canisters along the main north-south road, near the town of Deir el-Balah, after word spread that cooking gas was being distributed.
Hamad Abu Shamla, 24, waited for seven hours, only to leave empty-handed. The unemployed carpenter — he lost his job to the blockade — said he last had cooking gas five months ago, and that he, his wife and four children have mostly been living on canned food and bread since then.
He said he had already promised his family a steaming plate of couscous for lunch, and was sad to return home and disappoint them.
"We build our hopes on God," he said, when asked about his future. "We don't know what to do. We are empty-handed ... and we don't know what to do."
story
Hamad Abu Shamla, 24, waited for seven hours, only to leave empty-handed. The unemployed carpenter — he lost his job to the blockade — said he last had cooking gas five months ago, and that he, his wife and four children have mostly been living on canned food and bread since then.
He said he had already promised his family a steaming plate of couscous for lunch, and was sad to return home and disappoint them.
"We build our hopes on God," he said, when asked about his future. "We don't know what to do. We are empty-handed ... and we don't know what to do."
story
January 23, 2009
negotiations
they used to be between palestinians and israelis ...
now they are between palestinians and ... palestinians ...
personally i feel the same way about both ... against ... and against ...
yeah i'm an extremist ... so what ...
now they are between palestinians and ... palestinians ...
personally i feel the same way about both ... against ... and against ...
yeah i'm an extremist ... so what ...
January 22, 2009
Muchas Gracias
The Catalunya government has called off the ceremony marking the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which was scheduled to take place on January 27, citing the Israeli offensive in Gaza as the reason.
The Gaza campaign has inflamed public opinion in the northeastern Spanish region, and the local media has run endless stories comparing the Israeli stance on the situation in the Strip to Nazi atrocities. Over 30,000 people marched in Catalunya's streets in support of Gaza, during the three-week campaign, burning Israeli flags and handing out flyers that criticized local pro-Israel journalists.
The overwhelming public support for the Palestinians has prompted the government to cancel the Holocaust Remembrance Day service. This was to be the only public event marking the day, and was scheduled to take place in Barcelona's central piazza. "Marking the Jewish Holocaust while a Palestinian Holocaust is taking place is not right," a local City official told Barcelona's La Vanguardia newspaper.
source
The Gaza campaign has inflamed public opinion in the northeastern Spanish region, and the local media has run endless stories comparing the Israeli stance on the situation in the Strip to Nazi atrocities. Over 30,000 people marched in Catalunya's streets in support of Gaza, during the three-week campaign, burning Israeli flags and handing out flyers that criticized local pro-Israel journalists.
The overwhelming public support for the Palestinians has prompted the government to cancel the Holocaust Remembrance Day service. This was to be the only public event marking the day, and was scheduled to take place in Barcelona's central piazza. "Marking the Jewish Holocaust while a Palestinian Holocaust is taking place is not right," a local City official told Barcelona's La Vanguardia newspaper.
source
Weekend Plans
i get off work in two hours .. it's a half-day today ... i'll pick up a big lunch on the way home from taxi ... stuff my face ... watch something on the laptop like a standup or some episodes (while stuffing my face) ... and then play valkyria chronicles all day long ... may or may not see luay ... most likely not ... i already saw him yesterday ...
tomorrow ... wake up ... shower ... go to friday prayers ... come back home ... sleep ... or not ... if not then go buy a big lunch ... devour it ... possibly watch something on the laptop ... and then play valkyria chronicles all day long ...
then on saturday ... back to work ...
valkyria chronicles is a ps3 game i bought last weekend ... and i barely had a chance to play it all week ... i'm always too tired by the time i get home from work ... i usually get home at six ... i just eat, shower, pray, and watch something until i fall asleep ... which is usually around ten or eleven ...
ahhh to be a bachelor living by yourself in riyadh ... such an empty existence ... void of any meaning ... three main activities ... food, watching, playing ... not to mention working and sleeping ... and of course the occasional exercising ... but yeah i'm not complaining ... yeah i am ... kill me now ...
but relief is on the way ... i'm going to lebanon for a week next month ... WOOHOO!
I Wish
i was a soccer player so i that could wear a necklace with your photo in a locket so that i could kiss it everytime i score a goal ...
Body of Lies
i saw body of lies yesterday ... what a stupid movie ... if it weren't for the GID element which piqued my interest i probably would have had no reason at all to watch it ... but it's always nice when hollywood makes a movie that actually criticizes the war on terror instead of just the typical US-good-guys-fighting-the-middle-eastern-bad-guys flick ... so i give them credit for that ... but other than that i wasn't very impressed ... too 'orientalist' for my liking ... and russel crowe's fake cowboy accent was extremely annoying ...
syriana was much better ... even rendition was better in my opinion ... and even that wasn't that great of a movie so ... 4/10 ...
syriana was much better ... even rendition was better in my opinion ... and even that wasn't that great of a movie so ... 4/10 ...
Awwwww
Over the past few days Tel Aviv residents have been collecting food and clothing items, as well as toys and hygiene products for the benefit of Gaza's residents, many of whom have been left without the most basic supplies following Israel's three-week military attack.
"The situation we have left them in does not seem reasonable to us," said Daphna Levy, one of the drive's organizers.
source
"The situation we have left them in does not seem reasonable to us," said Daphna Levy, one of the drive's organizers.
source
January 21, 2009
Lego
A replica of the 56th presidential inauguration at Legoland in Carlsbad, California.REUTERS/Mike Blake (UNITED STATES)
Never Forgive, Never Forget
Helmi Samouni's two-storey house was one of the few left standing, despite the gaping hole from a large tank shell that pierced his blackened bedroom wall. During the invasion it had been taken over by Israeli soldiers, who wrecked the furniture and set up sand-bagged shooting positions throughout.
They left behind their own unique detritus: bullet casings, roasted peanuts in tins with Hebrew script, a plastic bag containing a "High Quality Body Warmer", dozens of olive-green waste disposal bags, some empty, some stinking full - the troops' portable toilets.
But most disturbing of all was the graffiti they daubed on the walls of the ground floor. Some was in Hebrew, but much was naively written in English: "Arabs need 2 die", "Die you all", "Make war not peace", "1 is down, 999,999 to go", and scrawled on an image of a gravestone the words: "Arabs 1948-2009".
There were several sketches of the Star of David flag. "Gaza here we are," it said in English next to one.
story
They left behind their own unique detritus: bullet casings, roasted peanuts in tins with Hebrew script, a plastic bag containing a "High Quality Body Warmer", dozens of olive-green waste disposal bags, some empty, some stinking full - the troops' portable toilets.
But most disturbing of all was the graffiti they daubed on the walls of the ground floor. Some was in Hebrew, but much was naively written in English: "Arabs need 2 die", "Die you all", "Make war not peace", "1 is down, 999,999 to go", and scrawled on an image of a gravestone the words: "Arabs 1948-2009".
There were several sketches of the Star of David flag. "Gaza here we are," it said in English next to one.
story
January 20, 2009
Uncletama
so barack obama will be sworn in tonight ... i said this when he won the elections and i'll say it again now that he's being inaugurated ...
congratulations on being america's first black president barack ... but you're no malcolm ...
to me this whole thing feels like whenever a mega-hyped rookie is drafted into the league and everyone wants to see if he will live up to the expectations or if he will be a bust ... of course it's still too soon to tell ... but let's watch and see ... i am referring of course to the american expectations of obama ... as arabs we don't and shouldn't expect anything different from him than any of the presidents before him ...
Whopper Sacrifice
Two weeks ago ...
Facebook's developer platform has been used for a zillion marketing campaigns so far, but this one is actually dead-on hilarious.
Fast-food chain Burger King has created "Whopper Sacrifice," a Facebook app that will give you a coupon for a free hamburger if you delete 10 people from your friends list.
Burger King has put out some interesting campaigns as of late ("Whopper Virgin," "Subservient Chicken"), but this one piques our interest because of how gleefully it pokes fun at our social-networking obsessions. "Now is the time to put your fair-weather Web friendships to the test," the Whopper Sacrifice site explains. "Install Whopper Sacrifice on your Facebook profile, and we'll reward you with a free flame-broiled Whopper when you sacrifice ten of your friends.
The funniest part: The "sacrifices" show up in your activity feed. So it'll say, for example, "Caroline sacrificed Josh Lowensohn for a free Whopper." Unfortunately, you can't delete your whole friends list and eat free (however unhealthily) for a week. The promotion is limited to one coupon per Facebook account.
Facebook's developer platform has been used for a zillion marketing campaigns so far, but this one is actually dead-on hilarious.
Fast-food chain Burger King has created "Whopper Sacrifice," a Facebook app that will give you a coupon for a free hamburger if you delete 10 people from your friends list.
Burger King has put out some interesting campaigns as of late ("Whopper Virgin," "Subservient Chicken"), but this one piques our interest because of how gleefully it pokes fun at our social-networking obsessions. "Now is the time to put your fair-weather Web friendships to the test," the Whopper Sacrifice site explains. "Install Whopper Sacrifice on your Facebook profile, and we'll reward you with a free flame-broiled Whopper when you sacrifice ten of your friends.
The funniest part: The "sacrifices" show up in your activity feed. So it'll say, for example, "Caroline sacrificed Josh Lowensohn for a free Whopper." Unfortunately, you can't delete your whole friends list and eat free (however unhealthily) for a week. The promotion is limited to one coupon per Facebook account.
A few days ago ...
Burger King said Friday that pressure from Facebook has caused it to yank an application that gave members of the hot social networking website a Whopper for every 10 friends they dumped.
"While Facebook was a great sport, they did ask for changes that would have resulted in a different approach to our application," a Burger King spokesperson said. "Ultimately, based on philosophical differences, we decided to conclude the campaign."
Changes sought by Facebook reportedly included ditching an application feature that sent deleted friends messages informing them that an online pal preferred a hamburger over them.
"We encourage creativity from developers and companies using Facebook Platform, but we also must ensure that applications meet users' expectations," said a spokesperson for the social-networking service.
"After constructive conversations with Burger King and the developer of the application, they have decided to conclude their campaign rather than continue with the restrictions we placed on their application."
"We encourage creativity from developers and companies using Facebook Platform, but we also must ensure that applications meet users' expectations," said a spokesperson for the social-networking service.
"After constructive conversations with Burger King and the developer of the application, they have decided to conclude their campaign rather than continue with the restrictions we placed on their application."
January 19, 2009
Numbers
so the war on gaza seems to be over ... thankfully ... a lot of statistics coming out ... number of people dead ... number of buildings destroyed ... number of rockets fired by the resistance ... economic cost of the war ... and so on ...
but here's one that i'm curious about which nobody mentioned ... how many interviews were given by usama hamdan over the past three weeks ... the guy is tireless ...
but here's one that i'm curious about which nobody mentioned ... how many interviews were given by usama hamdan over the past three weeks ... the guy is tireless ...
Children of Gaza
Doctors operating the only brain-scanning machine at an Egyptian hospital near Gaza have been almost overwhelmed by the number of Palestinian children arriving with bullet wounds to the head.
Among them last week was nine-year-old Anas Haref, who arrived with a bullet in her brain. Dr Ahmad Yahia, head of the trauma team, broke the news to her grandmother that the girl was not expected to live.
"The bullet has damaged a big part of her brain," said Dr Yahia. "It came in, hit the skull wall and then changed direction downwards."
Dr Yahia, a professor of neurosurgery, believes that the bullet was shot from close range. "If it changes course inside the brain it has high velocity and its penetrative force is also high," he said.
story
Among them last week was nine-year-old Anas Haref, who arrived with a bullet in her brain. Dr Ahmad Yahia, head of the trauma team, broke the news to her grandmother that the girl was not expected to live.
"The bullet has damaged a big part of her brain," said Dr Yahia. "It came in, hit the skull wall and then changed direction downwards."
Dr Yahia, a professor of neurosurgery, believes that the bullet was shot from close range. "If it changes course inside the brain it has high velocity and its penetrative force is also high," he said.
story
Change You Can Believe In
As the recession continues to wreak havoc on the U.S. economy and inauguration celebrations ramp up, a lot of people are asking: "How much will this shindig cost?"
The short answer? Likely more than $150 million — and yep, that could be the most expensive ever. (By comparison, George W. Bush was given a hard time for the $42.3 million cost of his inauguration .... but that number, as Media Matters points out, did not include security.)
story
The short answer? Likely more than $150 million — and yep, that could be the most expensive ever. (By comparison, George W. Bush was given a hard time for the $42.3 million cost of his inauguration .... but that number, as Media Matters points out, did not include security.)
story
The Aftermath
Destruction was everywhere on Sunday, in churned up farmland, dangling electricity poles, charred bodies of cars abandoned on pulverized roads, and broken pipes overflowing with sewage. The stench of rotting corpses, both human and animal, hung in the air.
January 18, 2009
Art
President Bush, art urinal, by Clark Sorensen.From EXHIBIT: 'DOWN THE DRAIN' -THE LEGACY OF GEORGE W
January 17, 2009
Multiple Choice
1. Arab leaders are _______
a. corrupt
b. puppets
c. zionists
d. pussies
e. dictators
f. all of the above
a. corrupt
b. puppets
c. zionists
d. pussies
e. dictators
f. all of the above
Singing
they lost they lost ... they lost they lost they lost ... lost lost lost ... lost lost lost ...
to the tune of the itchy and scratchy song ...
________________________
i'm talking about this ...
to the tune of the itchy and scratchy song ...
________________________
i'm talking about this ...
Pwned
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was caught off-guard Friday night by three journalists who shot accusations at her over the fighting in the Gaza Strip.
One of the journalists called Livni a "terrorist" and complained that Israel was preventing reporters from covering the war in Gaza.
"What are you, like Zimbabwe?" another woman told the foreign minister.
story
One of the journalists called Livni a "terrorist" and complained that Israel was preventing reporters from covering the war in Gaza.
"What are you, like Zimbabwe?" another woman told the foreign minister.
story
Fuck Israel Indeed
Workers of the Dutch branch of the Israeli company Issta were surprised to discover Wednesday morning that the building's display windows had been spray-painted with anti-Israel graffiti. Issta, Israel's biggest travel agency, has a number of branches abroad. The office is located in Amsterdam's city center and employs six workers – an Israeli manager and five Dutch employees. The Amsterdam office is easily recognized as an Israeli one, as its logo – which includes its name in English and in Hebrew – is clearly displayed on the building's windows and signs. 
January 16, 2009
The War On Terror
The Israeli military punched deeper into Gaza City on Thursday with a series of strikes that hit the United Nations' headquarters, a major hospital and the offices of international news media groups.
source
source
thought of the day
instead of donating blood and money and clothes and food to the people of gaza ... we should all donate our balls to the leaders of the arab world ...
Summiting
well there was an arab summit in doha today ... some people are saying it doesn't deserve to be called a summit ... apparently it doesn't meet the arab summit criteria ... there was also a gcc summit in riyadh yesterday ... and there's another summit on monday in kuwait ... monday's summit will be attended by ksa, egypt, and jordan ... all three of which did not attend today's summit ... morocco and tunisia also didn't attend ... who else ... oh yeah fricking abbas didn't attend ... can you believe this guy ... anyway his term expired so whatever ... but everyone who attended today's summit will also attend monday's summit ... but today's summit was a gaza summit ... that is it was held solely to discuss gaza ... whereas monday's summit is an economic summit but gaza will be discussed ... are you still with me or did i lose you ... anyway ... hamas and iljihad ilislami and iljabha il sha3biye were all represented at the summit today ... so correct me if i'm wrong but i think that's the first time that's ever happened ... but i don't think they will attend kuwait's summit ... i don't think they're even invited ... but everyone else who was there today will be there ... wait ahmadenajad also attended today's summit ... i doubt he's invited to the kuwaiti summit as well so he probably won't be there either ... and also a representative on behalf of venezuela also attended ... no that's not a typo ... fricking venezuela attended ... so yeah he probably won't be there either ... lebanon also attended but you get the feeling that it didn't want to be there ... every time they would cut to the lebanese president he would look really uncomfortable ... which is understandable ... i guess lebanon doesn't want to take sides and wishes to remain neutral ... anyway ... was it - the gaza summit - a success ... i don't know ... they did manage to set the bar pretty high for the kuwait summit though ... but i tend to be dismissive of arab summits ... i posted a poem a couple of days ago disparaging them ... arab summits remind me of that festival held in duraid lahham's film il7dood ... a lot of talk and clapping with zero results ... much ado about nothing as shakespeare once said ... it's kind of ironic that we call them summits ... we should call them rock-bottoms ... but let's wait and see ... the war is not over and that's what matters to me ... when it ends and how it ends then we can talk about failures and successes ... and as i write these words condi is speaking to the press announcing a "memorandum of understanding" reached with livni ...
5itaman ... kul qimmeh wintu b5air ...
5itaman ... kul qimmeh wintu b5air ...
Go New Zealand
The owner of the Strawberry Tree, a local pub in the town of Kaikoura, New Zealand, placed a sign outside its door reading, "Israelis not welcome before shelling (in Gaza) stops". The owner, who previously worked as a photojournalist in Gaza, also has a sign that reads "Free Palestine" inside the pub.
Rhetorical Question
"How is such a country, which does not implement resolutions of the UN Security Council, allowed to enter through the gates of the UN (headquarters)?"
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan
Salam Stein
i was watching the news - i watch aljazeera for my news by the way - and they brought a joint conference for salam fayyad and ban ki moon ... and i realized something ... salam fayyad looks exactly like ben stein ...
Go Kaufman
A British lawmaker declared Thursday that Israel was taking advantage of the guilt many non-Jews feel over the Holocaust to ruthlessly press ahead with its offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
Gerald Kaufman, a governing Labour Party legislator, sharply criticized Israel in a House of Commons debate on Gaza, arguing that the Jewish state has exploited guilt that much of the world feels for having ignored the slaughter of six million of Jews during World War II.
"The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt from Gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians," he said.
Kaufman, a frequent critic of Israel who was raised as an Orthodox Jew, commented on the claim that large numbers of the Palestinian victims were militants. "I suppose the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw ghetto could have been dismissed as militants," he said.
Kaufman urged the British government to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
"My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town.... A German soldier shot her dead in her bed, he said. My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza," the MP said.
watch the speech here
Gerald Kaufman, a governing Labour Party legislator, sharply criticized Israel in a House of Commons debate on Gaza, arguing that the Jewish state has exploited guilt that much of the world feels for having ignored the slaughter of six million of Jews during World War II.
"The present Israeli government ruthlessly and cynically exploit the continuing guilt from Gentiles over the slaughter of Jews in the Holocaust as justification for their murder of Palestinians," he said.
Kaufman, a frequent critic of Israel who was raised as an Orthodox Jew, commented on the claim that large numbers of the Palestinian victims were militants. "I suppose the Jews fighting for their lives in the Warsaw ghetto could have been dismissed as militants," he said.
Kaufman urged the British government to impose an arms embargo on Israel.
"My grandmother was ill in bed when the Nazis came to her home town.... A German soldier shot her dead in her bed, he said. My grandmother did not die to provide cover for Israeli soldiers murdering Palestinian grandmothers in Gaza," the MP said.
watch the speech here
Slumdog
i saw slumdog millionaire and let me just say that i don't get what the fuss is about ... very very average movie ... original story ... but so what ... truly i don't see what is so special about this movie ... i don't recommend it ... you're not missing anything ...
January 15, 2009
قصيدة قمم للشاعر مظفر النواب
قمم
قمم..
معزى على غنم
جلالة الكبش
على سمو نعجة
على حمار
بالقدم
وتبدأ الجلسة
لا
ولن
ولم
ونهي فدا خصاكم سيدي
والدفع كم ؟!
ويفشخ البغل على الحضور
حافريه
لا . نعم
وينزل المولود
نصف عورة
ونصف فم
مبارك .. مبارك
وبالرفاه والبنين
أبرقوا لهيئة الأمم
أم قمم
كمب على كمب
أبا كمباتكم
على أبيكم
جائفين
تغلق الأنوف منكم الرمم
وعنزة ... مصابة برعشة
في وسط القاعة بالت نفسها
فأعجب الحضور ..
صفقوا .. وحلقوا...
بالت لهم ثانية
وستعر الهتاف...
كيف بالت هكذا ..!!!
وحدقوا .. وحللوا...
وأجلوا
ومحصوا
ومصمصوا
وشخت الذمم
وأهبلتكم أمكم
هذا دم أم ليس دم ؟؟!
يا قمة الأزياء
يا قمة الأزياء
سوّدت وجوهكم
من قمة
ما أقبح الكروش من أمامكم
وأقبح الكروش من ورائكم
ومن يشابه كرشه فما ظلم
قمم ... قمم .. قمم...
قمم
معزى على غنم
مضرطة لها نغم
لتنعقد القمة
لا تنعقد القمة
لا.تنعقد القمة
أي تفو على أول من فيها
إلى آخر من فيها
من الملوك .. والشيوخ .. والخدم
قمم..
معزى على غنم
جلالة الكبش
على سمو نعجة
على حمار
بالقدم
وتبدأ الجلسة
لا
ولن
ولم
ونهي فدا خصاكم سيدي
والدفع كم ؟!
ويفشخ البغل على الحضور
حافريه
لا . نعم
وينزل المولود
نصف عورة
ونصف فم
مبارك .. مبارك
وبالرفاه والبنين
أبرقوا لهيئة الأمم
أم قمم
كمب على كمب
أبا كمباتكم
على أبيكم
جائفين
تغلق الأنوف منكم الرمم
وعنزة ... مصابة برعشة
في وسط القاعة بالت نفسها
فأعجب الحضور ..
صفقوا .. وحلقوا...
بالت لهم ثانية
وستعر الهتاف...
كيف بالت هكذا ..!!!
وحدقوا .. وحللوا...
وأجلوا
ومحصوا
ومصمصوا
وشخت الذمم
وأهبلتكم أمكم
هذا دم أم ليس دم ؟؟!
يا قمة الأزياء
يا قمة الأزياء
سوّدت وجوهكم
من قمة
ما أقبح الكروش من أمامكم
وأقبح الكروش من ورائكم
ومن يشابه كرشه فما ظلم
قمم ... قمم .. قمم...
قمم
معزى على غنم
مضرطة لها نغم
لتنعقد القمة
لا تنعقد القمة
لا.تنعقد القمة
أي تفو على أول من فيها
إلى آخر من فيها
من الملوك .. والشيوخ .. والخدم
January 14, 2009
Psy Ops
A number of Israeli citizens have received the message seen in the photo above on their mobile phones. Attempts to call the phone number from which the message was sent were met with an automated message stating that the number had been disconnected.
I Hope You Lose!
i always listen to my iPod in my car ... be it quran or music ... but always the iPod ... no radio, no tapes, no cds ... just the iPod ... but sometimes it'll be charging on the laptop ... and i'll forget to take it with me before going out ... so i get in the car and realize that my iPod is still inside the house ... sometimes i go back and get it and sometimes i don't ... today morning was one of those times ... and i was already running late for work so i was like fuck it ... so anyway i listened to the radio because i don't have any tapes or cds in my car ... so when i was driving home from work later on that day ... i was listening to mbc fm ... and the host of the program ... who was a female ... was saying a3iza2i il mustami3een il yom akeed yom fara7 wa munasaba sa3eeda la2ano munta5abna il s3oodi byil3ab nitmanalo il tawfeeg ... and they would play some song by rashed el majed or whoever singing for the munta5ab ... ya salam ya su3oodiya shit like that ... ya a5dar bla bla ... and the host would come back on and say the same shit all over again tab3an il yom yom sa3eed w munta5abna nitmanalo il foz nshala ... and another song is played ...
meanwhile ... the number of people killed in gaza is approaching four figures ...
meanwhile ... the number of people killed in gaza is approaching four figures ...
Even The Dead Are Not Safe
Israeli aircraft also struck the Sheikh Radwan cemetery in Gaza City, destroying tombs and unearthing dozens of bodies.
story
never forgive ... never forget ...
story
never forgive ... never forget ...
Media Bias .. Media BS
one of the arguments being repeated in western media is what would we do if our neighbors were lobbing rockets into our backyard, our schools, our malls on a daily basis ... point being that israel is only defending itself ...
oddly enough you never hear anyone say what would we do if foreigners descended upon us from all around the world and started killing us in an effort to steal our land so they can declare their own country on it ... point being that the palestinians are only defending themselves ...
oddly enough you never hear anyone say what would we do if foreigners descended upon us from all around the world and started killing us in an effort to steal our land so they can declare their own country on it ... point being that the palestinians are only defending themselves ...
Zionist Coffee
the starbucks mentioned in the story is very close to where i lived during my college years ... it was literally right around the corner ... i can proudly say i never went there ... not once ...
About a hundred demonstrators have converged on west Beirut's branch of the Starbucks coffee shop and closed it down in protest over the Israeli attack on Gaza.
Protesters are justifying their actions by claiming that the Starbucks corporation' owner donates money to the Israeli military.
Customers fled the Starbucks as the protesters descended on it and turned out the lights and blocked the doors on Tuesday.
Protesters then raised a Palestinian flag over the shop and wrote on its window "Jewish favorite coffee."
Protesters are justifying their actions by claiming that the Starbucks corporation' owner donates money to the Israeli military.
Customers fled the Starbucks as the protesters descended on it and turned out the lights and blocked the doors on Tuesday.
Protesters then raised a Palestinian flag over the shop and wrote on its window "Jewish favorite coffee."
January 13, 2009
thought of the day
كتائب المقاومة الوطنية .. كتائب القسام .. سرايا القدس .. كتائب أبو علي مصطفى .. كتائب شهداء الأقصى .. إلى آخره .. حبذا لو توحدت الرايات فالعدو واحد .. و الله ينصركم
Avid Gamer
the teenager in this photo shot both of his parents in the head ... the reason ... they took halo 3 away from him ... (story)
January 12, 2009
Bi Sharafak
"We are in the middle of a battle against the Gaza killers, those that murder Israelis and don't hesitate to expose the residents of Gaza to indescribable, pointless, and unfounded misery. We hope with all our hearts that this violent strife ends swiftly,"
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday, speaking at ceremony at the French-Israeli school in Mikveh Israel on Monday.
source
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday, speaking at ceremony at the French-Israeli school in Mikveh Israel on Monday.
source
drone diaries
i watched the movie office space last night ... yeah it's old and i've seen it before a long time ago ... but this was my first time watching it as a guy with work experience ... anyway that's a good movie ... don't know if i'll watch anything tonight ... maybe slumdog millionaire i don't know ... i recently discovered that there's a subway close to my house ... i mean the restaurant not the underground transportation system ... so i've been eating from there for the past two days ... maybe if i keep eating there i can pull a jared and lose some weight ... haven't played ps3 in like a month ... ever since i came back from eid holiday actually ... don't know why that is ... don't really care either ... there's a rumor that our boss might change ... hmmm ... not sure how i feel about that ... still contemplating when to take the beirut trip ... still didn't get the ok to take a vacation anyway ... i think if i take it in february it's better ... but i don't know ... my car needs new tires ... and i think the refrigerant needs a refill because the AC won't emit cold air anymore ... fucking car ... i gave R a taste of her own medicine the other day ... that felt pretty good ... and i will gladly do it again if i get the chance ... meanwhile ... the bombs continue to fall on gaza ... while we watch and pretend to care ... such a pointless life ...
i think a change ... a change ...
i think a change ... a change ...
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