Nuclear race is heating up in the Middle East

Arab countries have seen what Israel can do for the sake of saving two of its soldiers. Basically it can destroy an entire country, just like what it did to Lebanon.

Now Egypt has a nuclear plan, and rightly so. I hope the rest of the rich Arab world would fund it. I also hope that the plan is not for peaceful purpose as in the case of Iran.

The question is, will Egypt be left alone with this plan? Will the US lend a helping hand, after all, the Egyptian government is a 'moderate' and a friendly government?

In the US books, the term of moderate and friendly Arab governments really means:

- They listen to the US and never oppose it
- They buy weapons from the US and never use them against any of the US other friendly governments.
- They never question the US blind love and support for Israel.
- They never put Israel at risk.
- And as a bonus, they have diplomatic relation with Israel .

Of course, it does not matter if the Arab government is lead by a tyrant, a corrupt and selfish leader who has no respect for his people and human rights.

If Egypt pursues a nuclear policy regardless of its intent, the US would deem such plan as an attempt to put Israel at risk. And all of a sudden, Egypt, which is lead by a moderate, friendly and understanding leader would be become a state that sponsors terrorism and lead by a tyrant, ruthless leader who is a major risk to the US and its freedom loving people. And its neighbours.

Religion - The Pope is meeting Muslim Envoys

It is never too late to do good. The Pope is showing the way. He made a blunder, and he wants to fix it. There is a call among Pakistani Muslim clerks for him to step down. Who are they to ask a man of his status to step down? He made a mistake, and wishes to fix it. In my book that is the way we should be dealing with others. In any case, if we ask our Muslim clerks to step down after insulting others with a different faith, more than 50% have to go.

It is the month of Ramadan, and it is time to be nicer, patient and in peace with all.

Life - Ramadan Karim

The month of Ramadan is due in a day or two; and I look forward to it.
It is the month where I eat less, read the Quran more, and pray for the good of mankind even more.

To all Muslims, Ramadan Karim.

The Coup in Thailand

Isn't cool? A military coup without bloodshed. May be the world should learn one or two peace lessons from Thailand.

Ahmadinejad Vs Bush

I listened to both Presidents' speeches yesterday at the UN. I must admit, Ahmadinejad makes far better sense than Bush. I think the US needs another Clinton if these two ever debate.

Religion - The Pope is sorry... almost

He made a blunder, whether he knew it or not, whether he intended or not. Now he apologized. Well almost. But good enough, being whom he is.

Should Muslim accept his apology. I, as one, yes, and I will add a thank you to it. I now have greater respect for you than even before this blunder.

As for the rest of Muslims who love to burn effigies, please do not do it. You are not making it any better.

Remember when the Prophet (PBUH) was stoned in Taif by its men and children, he prayed that their grandchildren are better.

I am happy.

The Blind Talking to the Deaf

I mean no disrespect to the truly blind and deaf men in this world. They are certainly wiser and smarter and can actually see and hear better than my blind man and deaf man in my blog.

Just imagine, a blind man telling a deaf man which direction the deaf man should follow.

The situation in the Middle East made me feel that this comparison is valid.

The US government believes that the problem in the Middle East and the rise to terrorism has to do with the lack of democracy, education and poverty. Well, the Middle East is not the only part of the world that lacks democracy, and it is certainly no poorer than 50% of the rest of the world. The profile of the suicide bombers are not of those who live in poverty. Some of them are rich and come from rich Middle Eastern countries. Some are even educated or spent sometimes living in the West.

And in return, the people and the governments of the Middle East think the problems lies solely on the United State government and Israel. And as long as the US government continues its blind support of Israel, do not expect the Middle East to be a bed of roses for America, or that democracy would flourish and terrorism would disappear.

I am just wondering, who is the blind or deaf man here?

Gadgets - Microsoft Zune's Day.

I look forward to Microsoft Zune's Day (http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060914/tc_nm/microsoft_zune_dc)

There are two reasons. The first, we need a fresh challenge to Apple iPod. The second reason, the spics look good, and interesting. Imagine having to wifi songs, video to each other without having to use a computer. Way cool. My son thought it would be great if it has a camera too.

I have an iPod that I bought almost 4 years ago. It is the best gadget I have ever had. It is probably the only gadget that I use everyday. And I hardly use it to listen to music. It never failed me, though the battery leaves a lot to be desired.

I checked the new version of the iPod, but there were not enough features to lure me into buying them. Add to the fact that you have to use iTunes in order to use it. One last grievance I have against the iPod; that is you have to use only one computer to sync to it. If that computer crashed, your database of songs is gone, unless you know how to use some clever hacking software.

Once the Zune is out, Apple would up the benchmark with something even much cooler. As long as SJ still running Apple.

Family - Birthdays..what a silly idea

I was never comfortable with birthday parties, even when my children were celebrating it. But I never knew why I did not like the idea. Something was bothering my all the time. One of my kids is popular in her class. She gets invited 20 times a year, which means we have to buy presents 20 times. What an expensive ritual. The kids basically see each other everyday at school. Yet, 20 times a year they have to see each other somewhere else, and pay for such visitation. Most, if not all the time, such birthdays are driven and planned by the mothers. We, the fathers, are too busy with more important things. But we have to cough up the cash for the gifts. Something is just not right about it.

About 2 years ago, I made a decision. My kids will not celebrate their birthdays any more. There will not be any party. Instead, I decided to give them a gift for their birthdays that is worth the amount of money that will take to stage a party. The kids agreed to that, without putting any kind of protest. I was relieved. But I still was not happy about this whole ritual called birthdays or even this new arrangement with my kids.

Today, I know why I was never comfortable with the whole thing.

Birthday parties, what for? It isn't that my kids or any kid have achieved anything other than they became older. Something that they cannot do anything about. In fact, when they are in their 40s, they will not like to remember that they are getting old. You see, every living creature on this planet goes through this day once a year. There is nothing special about it any more.

So today, I decided that my kids are not going to get any presents on their birthdays too. Unless they scored above 95% in 5 subjects at school.

They will be sad when they hear of this decision.

Politics and Hollywood - George Clooney talks to the UN

George Clooney talked to the UN about the possible human catastrophe in Darfur if the UN does not interfere. This is very commendable. I like George (as if he is my friend). He has guts, but not enough. Bono, Angelina, Brad and Sir Bob Geldof are always doing their best to help the poor of Africa. I admire that. But what bothers me is that those celebrities do not have the guts to raise the issue of the plight of the Palestinian people who have been suffering under the Israeli occupation for over 50 years. Such celebrities had guts to criticise South Africa during apartheid. But they always stay away from Israel. Israel is a taboo for famous people. You criticize it, you do not get a role in a movie any more. Not even a B movie.

Israel is a Jews state (the only one). And Jews control the media in the West. I hope I am not being anti-Semitic by saying that. And if a conscious celebrity like Clooney cares about the world, why doesn't he visit Gaza and talk to the UN about the suffering of the Palestinians. Or where were they when Israel destroyed Lebanon. Hiding?

I guess those celebrities do have guts, but they have chicken guts. Speak up against the atrocities committed by Israel if you really care about Darfur, Ethiopia, and the rest of Africa.

Here is a simple formula to make the world a better place. Fix the Israeli-Palestinian problem based on just settlment, not forcing the Palestinians to settle for little because of this new reality, and there would be less terror. You do that right, there would be less money to fight terror and more money to fight poverty. I sometimes believe that the world is ruled by the same people who own factories that produces instruments of war; weapons of mass destruction.

It is just too sad.

Politics - Rights & Wrongs and National Interest.

Just a thought! Is it right for a government to support a regime run by a ruthless dictator who tortures and kills his own people as long as this dictator buys weapons from this government, supplies it with oil, provides them with a platform to fight its enemy. This and other similar relations is what has been going on since the Second World War. The world is in a mess because national interest is more important than what is morally right and wrong. But who is to judge?

Tech Talk - Why I will not buy software from Apple

I am a techie.. and love what technology has done for mankind. It is also one good reason why I think highly of American people (not their government though).

Now if you are a true techie, you would be a man/woman of substance. Pretty things do not matter if they are not up to your performance standard. That is why I did not use the Mac for the last 10 years. Steve Jobs (a hero) comes on stage, demo some Photoshop filters that he claimed run faster on the Mac than the PC. And the poor gullible Mac crowd actually believe him. So they rush to buy the latest Mac hardware only to realise that is is much slower than a cheaper PC.

That was then. Now it is different. The Mac is not just a pretty face, but an amazing powerhouse. I am impressed.

So I got myself a Mac Mini. Actually, a friend (who was eager to convert me, gave me the Mac Mini) Initially I was skeptical. I hardly used it. So I decided to let my kids use it. And in order for them to use it, I had to re-learn how to use the Mac as I have not used one for over 10 years. And I fell in love with it and the new 10.4 OS. That was 2005.

Now it is 2006
I decided to invest in iLife 06. Where I live, piracy is rampant. You are an idiot if you buy original software. And I am an idiot. I paid approx. USD100 for iLife 06, went home to install it. Everything installed nicely except Garage Band (the main reason I bought iLife 06). So I took it to the shop where I bought it, and they could install everything in all the Macs in the shop but not Garage Band. I brought my Mac Mini to the shop another day, they tried, they failed to install Garage Band even after formatting my poor Mac Mini. Naturally, I asked for another DVD as a replacement. Since they had none then, they sent my DVD to Apple distributor to get a replacement.

Guess what? To my horror, they refused to exchange the DVD since the Apple distributor managed to install it (not sure if they could install Garage Band though). So I am stuck with a faulty media that will install everything but Garage Band.

I had to do what all wise-men would do had they been in my shoes. I bought a pirated version of iLife 06 for USD2, and installed everything including Garage Band.

Now I am a laughing stock among my peers. "ha ha ha, this is the dude that bought original software that did not work", that what they say now.

That is why I will not buy Software from Apple.

Religion - Pope Benedict Making nonsense

Pope Benedict in his speech while visiting a university in Germany said (as claimed in the media) that Islam was spread by the sword... and that Islam goes against reason.

Let us study some facts..

Islam did spread in many part of the world by the sword. But more than 70% of Muslims (living in India, Indonesia and Malaysia) converted to Islam without waging war or killing the inhabitants of those countries. They saw reason, they converted.

Is the Pope telling us that no one was killed in the name of Christianity? In fact, historically, more people were killed in the name of Christianity than in the name of all other faiths put together.

And how did Christianity spread? I know, by hanging the cross on the naked breasts of a famous pop star. That is one good reason why Christianity became popular.

What happened to the indigenous people of America when they did not adapt to Christianity. Their heads got chopped, and their hair was sold as wigs for the peace loving Europeans. Or what happened to Christian Africa and slavery? We are familiar now with the church role in the ethnic cleansing of one tribe over another in Africa.

I guess the Pope is trying to pacify or to come closer to Pat Robertson, an evangelical Christian who thinks like him, and who belong to a group that does not believe the Catholics are true Christians.

Let us see, Islam believes in the One God that cannot be comparable to anything or anyone that we can imagine and we are all born righteous.

Christianity on the other hand believes that God killed his Son (who happened to be himself too - confused!), because he loves mankind and wants to forgive us and we are all born sinful. They tell you, sin as much as you want, as long as you believe in Jesus as your Saviour, you are forgiven.

Give me a break, I will stick to "Pigs Can fly..". it makes more sense.

May be the Pope wants the world to forget that the Catholic church is infested with Child-Molesting priests. This way the Catholic church may not be sued in the US.

Just one wish, no violent protests please against the Pope or other Christians.

Life - Why homosexuality is wrong..

While googling for a gadget, I end up here http://www.malaysiakini.com/letters/56725

Basically the article is about a man who wrote that homosexuality was wrong because the Bible said so.
Someone else wrote back this:
"
Deuteronomy 22:13-21 If a bride is found not to be a virgin, the Bible demands that she be executed on the spot by stoning.

How can one part of Bible be deemed to be carved in stone when other parts have been dismissed as archaic?
"
Valid point in my view. Most religions condemn homosexuality. Sadly today it is accepted, and admired even by some. It is a trend. Be open-minded, they tell us.

Let us leave religion aside, and I will tell you why in my view homosexuality is wrong.

Let us imagine that mankind existed only 2000 years ago. And there were only 100 men and 100 woman living then. All ready to mate. But being primitive, they thought that they can only mate with the same sex. (I am not sure how the female would have done it then).

Move forward 150 years from that date. Would there be a new generation of children and grandchildren? Basically, to keep this community alive, they would have to restore to natural sex (call it whatever you want) which is between male and female.

It is a hypothetical example, but it is an example nevertheless.

... end of part 1

Religion - God's Will vs God's Command

Just in case you did not know the difference...

God's will, cannot be disobeyed, or stopped.
God's command, can be disobeyed.

Do you know why?

Religion - Which is easier?

Just a quick question. Which is easier, not believing in God or believing in the wrong God?

Sadly more people believe in the wrong God than not believing in God.


I feel sad for them.

The war on terror, how long?

I just want to know how long will take to fight this war. As long as it takes?

Let's see. If you are asked to run a company that was losing money, would you ask the Board of Directors to give as long as it takes to turn it around? And if the company gets worse, would you accuse those who oppose you of being not supportive enough? Or unpatriotic?

I just need some deadlines....

If the war on terror does not make the world a better place before 2010 then a change of policy and strategy is needed. Otherwise we are all doomed? It is just a matter of time.

Sad.

Politics - Get on with it America

It is 9/11. A sad and very tragic event that happened 5 years ago.

CNN and the BBC are boring us to death with replaying old footage of the event. To remind us of what? Imagine having to listen to the names of over 2700 people who died for hours. Let them rest in peace. After all hundreds of thousands of innocent people died in more tragic events and no one remember them. Much more died in the course of preventing events like 9/11. But who is to blame?

What I cannot comprehend, is that, America is country which is most fascinating, and some of its people are the most creative in the world (in my view). Yet, America does not want to admit that its government foreign policy led to that tragic event.

I guess the Arabs and the Americans have one thing in common after all, we all love to blame others for our failure. Except that we are blaming each other.

Sad.....

Politics - Which is better?

We all want peace. But peace without justice is called surrender.
If you ever wondered why the Middle East is in turmoil, it is because the US and Israel want to impose such peace. Add to the fact that the most if not all of the leaders in the Arab world aren't making it better.

May be we should all strive for justice for all, and not peace. Because peace without justice is a recipe for unrest. And extreme injustice leads to extreme violence. Isn't it what we are seeing now?

That Arabs like to blame the US government and Israel for the mess the Middle East is in. The US government and Israel like to blame the lack of democracy in the Arab world for the same mess. It is like a blind man guiding a deaf person. Just imagine.

It is a sad situation.