Don't Use Expedia or Any Other Flight Search Engines

Buying a ticket through search engines was supposed to be easy, it was supposed to be convenient and it was supposed to be cheaper and better. 

Now while it is cheaper, it is rarely better or easier or more convenient. It often so happens that one needs to change a reservation and doing so should not be difficult. With Expedia it was beyond difficult. After half hour on hold I finally found out that my return flight was valued at 0 dollars and I essentially have to buy a one way ticket.

I've been tripped up on many of these booking sites and the savings of a 100-200 dollars is no longer worth it. Either use a travel agent or purchase from the airlines. Don't waste your time or money.

Use the sites to search the flights but do not use the sites to buy them. You'll thank yourself and me later.

4:15 a.m.

Night time shenanigans with the cats.

I arrived in Israel at 10:40 p.m. on a rainy Sunday night. By 12:30am my uncle was driving me through the empty Tel Aviv streets that I barely remember having been exhausted after a 20 hour flight with two connections and no sleep.  I was exhausted but there was food on the table and much to talk about. I was in bed by 2 am and asleep soon after.

My eyes were wide awake at 4:15 am. I couldn't understand why but I figured it must be jet lag. This jet lag kept me wide awake until 8:00 am when I passed out and slept till 5:00 pm.

Next day I slept just fine, I went to bed at 4:30 am after drinking all night with my buddies and woke up at 11:00 am with a massive hangover.

Out in Tel Aviv

By night I was exhausted, especially after a few drinks with friends. I was up and online until about 2:00 am when I passed out cold. Or so I thought. 4:15, I'm awake as a rooster at sunrise. I'm up again tossing and turning until nearly eight and then I have to go to another town so no sleep for me that night either.

That next day, after two hours of sleep, a two hour train journey to center of the country, 3 hour bike ride, a huge dinner and playing for a couple hours with little kids I thought my jet lag would be over and I would be asleep all through the night. This time I'm in bed at 11. And I'm up at 4:15. Until 7:00 I am wide awake and only then do I manage to fall asleep.

This is one rough jet lag I think to myself.

That day I am driven up to the Green zone inside of West Bank not far from Hebron where I spend the evening with family. I take a nap during the day for 10 minutes and the rest of the time we eat, drink and talk until almost 2 am again. I am confident I will fall asleep. There are no cars near us, no busy streets. We are out alone, in the middle of the forest. Jet lag should be gone by now, my fifth day in Israel. I fall asleep.


And wake at 4:15. And stay up until seven. This is out of control! But now I'm told my cousin with brain trauma also wakes up at 4:00 am and wanders about the house. "Well, I guess that's family ties!" I joked. But later that night I learn my grandmother, living 40 km south also can't sleep for a couple hours every night, and also wakes up at 4:15. And as we talk, my aunt chimes in saying that that's normal, because she also wakes up at 4:15 every night, and so does my uncle.

Four people in one family. One of them from United States. Who has no problem sleeping every, until this trip to Israel.

Something fishy is going on... Do you have issues with this too? Please leave a comment.

Why Nazis Are Still A Thing

I just read a film review by  Tablet about the film No Banality in This Evil about the recently found letters by Heinrich Himmler, the evil genius behind the final solution. While he was poisoned, it shows that everyone was poisoned around him, including his kids who had done nothing to be prosecuted with him, but they lived on to carry out his legacy. Here is an excerpt about his daughter's good work:

"One of the true believers, convinced that Nazism was not yet spent, was Gudrun Himmler (daughter). After the war, she became a prominent force in an organization called Stille Hilfe (Silent Aid), which helped Nazis escape Europe and provided financial and moral support to convicted war criminals. Silent Aid fought to free convicted Nazis and to prevent accused Nazis from being extradited for trial. Himmler was neo-Nazi royalty, her lineage granting her elite status within the airless world of unreconstructed fascist ideologues."

This is why we, normal people watch Nazi parades and bands and books in disbelief wondering how these people cling to these ideas after everything that has happened. But reading articles like this one realizes that it has never gone away, those people support everything that happened and would be happy to participate if the regime were ever brought back again and if they could they would do everything the same.

In essence, Nazi party and mentality never went away, they hid and they worked, tirelessly. Their work is coming to haunt us today in streets of Jerusalem and videos of ISIS.. Like a super villain of a comic book, they ran, they hid and plotted, while we, "the hero's" hung up the cape assuming all is well.

My name is John, I'm a bum.

So you wanna talk to me and here my story? Got a dollar? Good. I'll talk for a dollar. How much you gonna make on this story? Nothin or a hundred? Well if you make a hundred come back and give me another dollar. K?
You aint gonna ask my name? John. Yours? Huh.. that's a good name.
Why you wanna talk to me? Cuz I'm the first bum you ran across? My lucky day. Well yeah I'm not busy.
What's my regular routine like? Well fuck I'll wake up here, this is my spot. How long I been here? Four years, yeah its my spot, everyone knows me here and they know its my spot. Oh so yeah, the routine. Well I wake up probably around seven or eight, go find some cans and dumpster dive till I have 105. Why 105? Cuz that's 5.25 that I need for the vodka and coke. Yeah so I need a little pick me up he he he. Why? Cuz you get shakes if you don't.
Then I go to the Gym. Why the Gym? Shower man. Free? No ha ha. I got myself a membership. First thing you do when you get on the street, get a membership for the gym.
Then I go by the store, they give me food stamps so I got food. Then I go to the library. I'll use the computer, or read. What do I read? Oh you know, mostly science fiction. I liked Chronicles of Narnia and stuff. I don't read great but I'm getting better. Where did I go to school? I didn't go much, I went in Florida. Why?? Yeah I'm probably lazy. I heard it takes hard work to learn to work. My dad wasn't around and my mom was on meth. Discipline wasn't a big thing at our home. We got drunk all the time. How old? 10-15. Dad beat on us? Yeah yea he beat on us. Before he left. Where did he go? Prison. Why? Who gives a fuck. He just did.
Have I been to prison? Yeah, I stole and dealed. But two times you know, don't want to do a third. You steal a third, like bread or something and you go for a long time. Les Miserables? Haven't read it. Am I smart? Fuck no I'm not smart. You think I'd be here if I were smart?
Do I have kids? Yeah, I got two. Two grandkids too. How do I know? Daughter lives on another black. Son's in jail. Yeah sometimes you get girlfriends here. Easier to be together you know. Were they born here? No in a hospital. Someone called I guess and got the ambulance here. Took them 15 minutes, both times. She almost died. Twice.
Do I want to be off the street...... Fuck man, it would be nice.. I just don't know man.. I can't hold a job man you know. Cuz like I'm good now but sometimes my fucking brain ain't so good. I was in construction and I went crazy, almost put a 2x4 through my boss. Didn't remember it either. I was arrested but boss didn't press charges.
You live out here? Oh, in the burbs. Had a good childhood? Yea.. Parents still there? That's nice. You help them? They help you? Oh that's better. Why are you doing this? Journalism school. Sounds expensive. Yeah, no way for me..
Get robbed here? Easy, you know, shoes, blankets anything.. you know. But it's the newbies, cuz you seem them later and you beat them up. So everyone is honest you know, no one takes your stuff. Except cops. Yeah cops. They like fucking with us. See something nice, confiscated. Why? I think they get bored.
What kinda people here? Oh all sorts. Mike was smart there but then you know broke his back. Dissability? No, he had his own business, can't get disability. If you aint got family to help then you're on your own. He said he lasted for a while. It's not so bad for guys like him and me. You know I was like here after 15 when I ran away. Mike came here late but he was slow, you know. First the house, then car then tent then you just got a mattress. Jose, there he was in Nam, can't work. Bar was a stripper but you know, looks and money don't last. She was doing tricks I heard before but that don't last too. Like you know after five years girls like her go. Why? You know.. just fucking gets sick and dies.
So yeah after the library, you make the rounds, maybe sit on corner if you feel social, get more cash when tourists walk around or the businessmen, they like feeling guilty so they sometimes give more. Oh yeah I know they'll give. Feel guilty sons of bitches. Fucking privilege and shit. Why were they fucking born in a nice family, gave them shit, got them to college, you know they did. For every asshole that paid his way is a hundred who didn't. They think we game the system but they fucking game the system. Yeah I knew a gal with five kids who got an extra hundred. But I read them newspapers, half them pricks don't pay taxes. I'd pay taxes if I could, mother fuckers...  But shit what did this country give to me? My dad beat me, I skipped school, I did meth, did I get help? Fuck no. I got sent to jail. Did I get help in jail? Fuck no.

But you know.. I got it better than some.. Look at Jose that poor fuck. He's still in Nam. Every Veterans day he goes to to city hall and spits on it. Spits on every fucking person walking by him for sending him to Nam, bringing him back and leaving him to die here like a dog. He told me gooks in Nam get better life than he a "Veteran" here.

Am I happy? Fuck you man, take your dollar bitch ass. You sleep here one night and I'll see how you're happy. Yeah you keep walking you privileged little fuck. Write your fucking little paper, hope you feel good and choke on it. Fucking pity man. Hate you fucks with your fucking pity man.

Sorry man.. sorry... not you.. you're a good kid. I gotta go. Gonna get some more cans, I can use a drink. Aw thanks brother, appreciate the five. God bless.

Sometimes, It's Good To Be Fired.

Landing in Santiago. A view from above. All Rights Reserved

Today I let go of my baby. A machine I slaved on for the past 30 weeks was being worked on by the techs at a company which will allow families to have children after they thought they no longer could.  After many days and nights and weekends I delivered it. It was behind schedule and probably can be better but it was my first time taking a product from scratch to finish.

And just as I thought, upon successful delivery, I was given my last pay check. I was let go effective immediately.

It is hard to be bitter about a place that was always a placeholder, a place to make a little money before jumping somewhere else, a boiler room environment that was fun and stressful. It is tough to be bitter with a company where I couldn't be who I wanted to be and which is the way it is because it just is and there is no sense of changing it.

When you follow your gut, things act in beautiful timing and this must be one of those times. Incidentally, today was when our company, Phittle made a baby too. Today was the unveiling of our prototype. Three days earlier we had incorporated.

It has been an interesting year. I sold my home, I got out of debt, I wrote the book and now, onto the next stage.

Sure I'm scared and nervous and worried. After never having held a job for more than two years I worry I won't find another, I worry about my rent and dwindling down my savings. But at the same time, I realize there is a reason I've never worked at a place for longer than two years. There's a reason, I bought a ticket to Tel Aviv for Thanksgiving.  There was a reason I broke my own heart and a reason why I finally let go of the club I founded when finishing college.

Maybe I'm in denial, maybe I should be more scarred and more disappointed in myself. Even though I tried as hard as I could and not rue what I could have done differntly. Maybe this is just me dealing with something and putting a positive spin.. Or maybe there's always a reason and that's because we are all masters of our lives, even when we don't realize it.  Maybe the worst we can do is be blind to our true wants and desires, our real calling, the worst is to fight who we are and try being something we are not. Maybe doing that,z is the ultimate failure. 

America: You're Funny- Halloween

You America have scared most of your parents' shitless with endless Amber alerts and kidnapped children on TV. Kids would rather die than go to ask help from a stranger and immigrant parents that come to US from countries where kids like me ran wild all over town until late into the night, lock their kids up for fear of rampant kidnappers who are everywhere. So isn't it surprising after all the "No candy from a stranger," that you would confuse your children by once a year, sending them out with a specific purpose of getting candy from countless strangers?

What kind of message are you trying to send?  What is wrong with this holiday when millions of kids go begging door to door asking candy from strangers? It is totally awesome I know, but it is also very funny when you look at it from the side.

America, you're funny.

Normal Logic vs. Middle East Logic

Firebomb exploding on a policeman in Jerusalem.
http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/middle-east/49946-141106-jordan-warns-it-will-reconsider-pea

This week a bunch of Palestinian youths went into a "holy" Al-Aqsa mosque with firebombs and firecrackers and rocks and then began pelting police with these instruments. Police responded and now the whole middle east is up in arms. 

So let me explain the difference between middle east people and normal people.


Normal people reaction:
Well you should not have crazy youths with firebombs in a mall and while I disagree with with use of force near a holy place I think the people in charge of the holy place should not have allowed for people with weapons to jeopardize the holy place.


Middle East people reaction:
Let me ram a car into random group of people some of whom are actually Palestinians and then attack them with a metal crow bar.

http://www.timesofisrael.com/driver-plows-into-jerusalem-crowd-in-suspected-terror-attack/


Yes that's right, they think that the way you protest and show your dissatisfaction is by killing people at random. And this is random because when killed, these people are celebrated because the Middle Eastern people think that this is an honorable and noble way to act. To kill people at random as a show of dissatisfaction. Just plain murder anytime you are unhappy is a totally justifiable thing. And not only that but when police shot the man to stop him from hurting more people at random, the countries in Middle East actually are angry that they dared to stop his "dissatisfaction" Because surely life is far less important than his freedom to show his anger by killing 


Now next time you decide to criticize Israel, just consider that fact and that this is the type of people Israel is neighboring. 

How to Share On-Line Like a Pro

If I have a story to share, there are a lot of ways these days to share it. There is Facebook, twitter, google plus, Instagram, tumbler.. How do I choose which one to use for a particular story???
Let me explain my personal process.

If I care about something enough that I want to annoy my friends and possibly get some people to unfriend me: Facebook.

If I want no one I know to read it but a bunch of random people to weigh in on it: Google+

If I think it is somewhat relevant to what I care about but don't care if no one will read it ever: twitter.

It's a cool picture and I took it, I put it on Instagram and then depending on how awesome it is I will tweet it, put it on flickr, Facebook it or maybe if it is especially good, all three at the same time.

I never use tumbler: it's for nerds.

All others, are equally worthless.

As for hashtags?

Worthless on Facebook and Google+. 

May get a repost on twitter.

Awesome on Instagram to get people who I don't know to like my pictures.

San Diego-The Golden Cage

San Diego is a dumb town. It always was. Even JFK in the foreword to a book about San Diego History wrote that the people the Spaniards discovered here were beautiful but without much culture or art. It is the climate, it makes one laze. You do not have to work your butt off in the summer to store food for the winter so that you can survive. I've always known it but as I dove back into the dating pool recently, I've discovered that while I am naturally matched up to smart people, many of these smart people work dead end jobs in service industry where no degree is needed. Many of them came out here for the lifestyle but had aspirations of something more and as they sank into the culture of bros and hoes, they became complacent and lazy.

I've often said that San Diego is not a place where one comes to make money or become rich, it is a place to retire. I used to think that it was because it is an expensive place where it is hard to save. But now I think there's more to it. There's this relaxed work to live not live to work attitude here. When you do lots of things here you begin to stand out. You stop fitting in and you burn out from the sheer exhausting of fighting the flow of chill.

So back when I used to think that this is a paradise, I did not see the evil dark side of life draining effects. When I used to say with sarcasm: don't move here, it's horrible, the weather is always great and everyone is good looking, I am beginning to think that I should say the same thing, but without sarcasm: Don't move here, it's horrible, the weather is always great and everyone is always good looking.

Jews Aren't People

Jews aren't people. That's not an anti-semitic statement. That's an anti-semitic thought. The thought that many many non-Jews have, and even some Jews. 

The reason I say that is because of the expectations placed on Jews. We have a double standard for those we deem humans and non-humans. Someone who kills in battle is human, those who kill not in battle are worthy of capital punishment. But Jews are not deemed human even in battle. 

Look at Hamas, a murderous and genocidal organization. But to most people, they are not considered evil, gay killing, Christian persecuting, authoritarian corrupt killers, but simply faulty, they are human. People assume they can change their ways, if only Jews would disappear they would be calm and peaceful, they do not deserve death. 

Jews on the other hand, are thought of more as  dogs, one bite and they are off to the euthanasia room. You do not send the person who beats the dog to die, you send the dog to die that bites the man that beats it. Same way, Jews are told to stop their strikes, and to keep dying as the rockets hit them. Should they respond, the world over is surprise and anger. And it doesn't matter that the dog did not mean to kill, or harm, what matters is that it unlike a human, cannot make mistakes. Sure it can live with us and give us what we crave, attention, entertainment, but one bite and it is gone. Same for many other animals who we pursue and kill should they attack man even in their own habitat, such as "killer sharks", "killer mountain lions", "killer children" who were abused as kids and need help instead we send them to the chair. Thus we have the clear distinction in human rights: to kill is human, to be killed is received for those who are not. And should a non-human kill a human, the animal must die.

This is the reason why the world has a double standard. Jews are valued for their thought and contributions, but only so much as one values their car or phone, they are tools, no more than slaves. Their efforts, may not always be physical but can be as prized as labor of a slave by the slave-owner, and should a Jew skrew up, showing independence or free thought, the world is angered, the anti-semite virulent, like a slave-owner, who at slight sign of insolence, beats the slave and sometimes kills.

To anti-semites, Jews are not worthy of a state, of ability at self-determination. They are "occupiers" in their own land and fighting terrorism, terrorism we would never for a moment allow in our own midst, fighting terrorism is not for Jews, for terrorists, they are but human, unlike the dirty, ungrateful, Jew.

Mankind's Greatest Mistake

Ever think that any parts of your body are separate from you? Let's take a finger, is it any use outside of the body? If it is ever outside the body for extended period of time, it dies and turns to nothing. Our body without the finger can survive but not as well as if had with the finger. Then we can take a look at the liver or kidneys, abusing those as if they are not part of our body creates failure and we die...

So then let's take this analogy to the world. Human's consistently take themselves out of the world, thinking we are somehow above it, outside it. Just because we collectively are able to influence it means we are greater than it. But that is an illusion. First and foremost, when we are outside of our civilization, we are nearly useless and at full mercy of the world. So here, like a finger, when we work together we are good and when we separate like a homeless or a drug addict, we collectively suffer a little while the bum or drug addict withers and dies.

But then let's extrapolate that even further, what happens when man kind as a whole separates from the universe, the universe dies a little as a whole, and maybe even a lot, look at the mass extinctions going on all around the world as a result of our over-population, poaching and reckless consumption. But we are that finger that is outside the body, not only does the body die but the finger is dying too. We are that separated finger that is alive a while longer while detached. Without re-attaching it will catch gangrene and die, so it must be re-attached as soon as possible.

But we are more than a finger, much more, for we give our tiny part of the universe conscience of itself, we are the part that can understand how the whole thing works. Without realizing, we are the brain. By cutting ourselves off from the world, we are depriving the world and ourselves of oxygen.

We have been around for millions of years, in that time, the period of time which we have cut off ourselves from nature has been on the order of days, maybe even minutes. Two minutes to four minutes is enough to give brain damage without air. We must start breathing, or face our own certain demise...

It maybe too late, but we don't know, it certainly will be if we don't re-attach the finger, end the drinking and begin to breathe and remember, we are the Universe, the Universe is us, there is no part, just one whole.

The Newest Terrorist Organization

There's a new terrorist organization that we all know of that hides under the guise of "humanitarian" similarly to Hamas. Like other terrorists it can be found in most uncivilized areas with ties and money coming to it from civilized people. It has it's hands in most conflicts including Israel, Ukraine, Georgia, Rwanda, Serbia and Syria.

It has an armed force that it refuses to use for good, uses aid workers as shields for those who do evil, it facilitates armed transfer to other terrorists groups, it speaks of social justice but ignores gassing by Assad,  destruction of Kurds, Yazidis, ignores Hamas strikes on Israel but will condemn all actions by Israel in response. It ignores Russia incursion into Crimea and welcomes Russian "humanitarian" convoys into Ukraine which happen to be empty of humanitarian aid just as it did when a flotilla with weapons tried to enter Gaza and condemned Israeli attempt to stop it.

This organization, creates schools where hate is taught and bombs are stored and when it is forced to show those bombs, it hands them back to its terrorist allies who then use those bombs directed at civilian populations as it did in Israel.

This organization was there and watched as thousands were slaughtered in Serbia and millions in Rwanda. It refuses to be direct and unequivocal against real terror but it will be quick to defend any terrorist organization or state fighting United States. Sure it sometimes pays lip service as it did when United States was attacked on 9/11 but then it condemns killing of those masterminds by United States.

This organization, claims legitimacy under pretext of good as does ISIS and Hamas, but it is no good, it is evil. This organization, you may have guessed, is no other than UN, United Nations, United for terrorism and good for no democracy, no good for freedom, no good for peace.

America-You're Not Funny: Being White

Being a white person in America is pretty easy. You don't have to worry about being shot by cops. You don't really have to worry about being shot by anyone, but you are. So you buy as many guns as possible and then itch for an opportunity to use them.

If you are black, you have a very good reason to be worried. If the black people won't kill you, the police will. Here is an exerpt in a recent article about the killing in St. Louis.

If this can happen in St. Louis, it can happen in any city."

It does. On August 5 in Beavercreek, Ohio, 22-year-old John Crawford was killed in a Walmart when a toy gun he had picked up from inside the store was apparently mistaken for a real gun. LeeCee Johnson, who had two children with Crawford, said that she was on the phone with him, and that his last words before she heard gunshots from police officers were, "It's not real."

On July 17 in Staten Island, New York, 43-year-old Eric Garner, a well-known presence in the neighborhood who sold illicit cigarettes and kept an eye on the block, was killed after breaking up a fight when NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo used an illegal chokehold on the asthmatic man. "I can't breathe," he said, before he died. "I can't breathe."On the night of September 14, 2013 in Charlotte, N.C., 24-year-old Jonathan Ferrell was killed after getting into a car accident. He climbed out of the rear window of the car, stumbled to the nearest house, and banged on the door for help. The homeowner notified the police, who showed up to the house. Ferrell was tased, and then an officer named Randall Kerrick shot and struck Ferrell 10 times.

There was Trayvon Martin in Sanford, Fla., and Oscar Grant in Oakland, Calif., and so many more. Michael Brown's death wasn't shocking at all. All over the country, unarmed black men are being killed by the very people who have sworn to protect them, as has been going on for a very long time now. It would appear that cops are not for black people, either."

http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/america-is-not-for-black-people-1620169913/+GregHoward1

To think that our society is so deranged that killing after killing we do nothing. Then again, when our kids go to school and never come back and we do nothing because we assume it won't happen to ours and instead of making mental care we slash mental care budgets. Instead of making gun laws tougher we make them looser. And instead of putting more limits on the cops when the crime rate is at an all time low we make them better armed and with fewer limits.. what do we expect?

At some point society must take responsibility and change, but at what cost? I guess so long as it is not old white men dying, no one cares and no one does anything.

Antisemitic Rants: A Collection

People don't think antisemitism exists. So I shall start a new post to all the wonderful comments I see out there.

Idea: Uber for Small Jobs

This idea was born out of a friend being offered a coffee shop job. She didn't want to be full time since she already had a good job, she wanted to just to fill in shifts whenever it was convenient for her.

So this app you activate whenever you have free time and don't mind like picking up some cash in your immediate area. You go online and if someone in the area goes on-line then they can request you and you can accept. 

The owner gets to see your rating and your resume, you get to see their rating and their distance and amount of time you'd be needed.

A match is made and you earn money. :)

This would be awesome for stay at home moms and people who have a job or no job.

Now go and make it and make me proud.

Amazing Travel Hacks!

24 Travel Tips That WILL SAVE YOU!

Why American's Don't Care About Soccer (and never will)

I remember the good ol' days when I played soccer on the streets of my home town in Ivano-Frankivsk. We didn't have fields, just concrete and we didn't have an official ball, just a plastic one that we could kick hard and kick far. I then played in the United States on a club team and they called the missile, because I would run for the ball and it didn't matter who had it, I would get it or knock over who ever had it. Running after it involved long leaps in the air and violent collisions with the ground. We ran, we fell and we kept running. 

As anyone knows, this is not the way it is in professional soccer. People run, people fall and then they grimace and pretend to be hurt. They get angry at each other, they try to knock each other down and then pretend like they didn't do it. It is blue balls for anyone who wants to fight. It is a game of cheats and fakers and the team that is the fastest, the strongest and the best cheater, wins. It is the game of the unsaid rules and of winning by breaking the rules the most made most famously by Maradonna and his Hand of God. 

 This mentality is completely foreign to American culture. We hate seeing the spectacle. America is a place where cheating is despised, where there is a saying that "excuses are like assholes, everyone has one" and where persevering and pretending like you're not hurt is far more prized than pretending like you're hurt just to see the other team loose a player. We prefer sports where you are allowed to hit or run into someone, like baseball, hockey, basketball, football and even MMA. You will never see anyone pretending to like each other, or to be hurt as you do in soccer. And this is why the American public doesn't care for it. 

This is why America will never be good at soccer, this is why we created our own sports so that we don't need to compete with anyone else. We have the World Series and Super Bowl and Stanley Cup, and aside from the Canadians (our 51st state) no one shows up because no one else is invited. This is why we do not judge our performance in the world championships such as Basketball or Hockey. Instead, we have our own championships where we recognize the players and the cities. We are isolationists and we are happy for it. This serves a dual purpose, it keeps us feeling good because winning feels good and it prevents us feeling bad because loosing feels bad. We are the best in the world and if we are not, we don't have to see it. This is why we love to ignore soccer, because we prefer to ignore our sucking in something we're not good at because it is far better to celebrate that which we are good at. 

So let us take a look at American sports in a bit more detail. They are not sports per-se, they are entertainment game. You cannot sit and drink and socialize during soccer. You have to be glued to the game or you may miss that one goal. It is a game of ups and downs and constant concentration. American sports on the other hand are made for drinking and socializing. There is little action through most of it and many breaks to take a drink and talk. They have set moments of quick action when you can turn to the game, look and drink. They are high scoring so that they are more fun. That's just the nature of Americans, we don't like being frustrated and we don't like not having fun.

One last thing to add about soccer and American sports. You rarely see Americans rioting after a loss after a regular game. This is because we watch the people on the field take out their aggression and vicariously, we do too. After a game, we are not angry or tense the way after a long match soccer fans are. We let our athletes be the thugs who commit crimes, we just watch them and go home and drink a few more brews while the rest of the world succumbs to enraged soccer fans.

Soccer is the funny sport that represents our planet. Eleven men chasing a ball, trying to prevent the other from putting it into a goal while crying and cheating the entire time. Maybe that is why Americans are so different from the rest of the planet, maybe this is why it has done so well in those areas where the most important thing is to just suck it up and have fun. 

Happines

Democracy and rule of humanistic and rational law is at it's foremost an acknowledgement of the truth: that there is no happiness at the expense of happiness of another.

http://vk.com/video36161107_168728212?hash=b75da88943e6e307

Дорогие Россияне

Дорогие Россияне которые думают что Америке очень важно подкосить Россию. Нашим политикам и людям не до России потому что мы и они слишком заняты тем что бы лучше себе жизнь делать тут в Амеркиа. То есть строить больше госпиталей, лучше дороги, лучше учительные учреждения и находить людям хорошие работы. Если бы вы смотрели Американские новости вы бы это знали и понимали. Но вы этого не знаете потому что у вас здоровье плохое потому что медецына некуда, вы английского не знаете потому что образование распад и доехать до мест тяжело потому что дороги просто ужас а насчёт работы то это вы и мы понимаем.. не надо об этом даже разговаривать. Но ваше правитилество вам ничего лучше не пытается сделать а по этому у вас в новостях только и есть сплошное "Америка то и Америка сё". Поверьте ребята, не до вас нам и для вас должно быть также. Так что не вините нас за распад СССР, вините коммунизм который разворовал страну. Вините враньё. Перестаньте смотреть на нас и винить других. Берите себя и свою судьбу в руки, не ожидайте от государева не чего а работайте и делайте свою жизнь и жизнь ваших соотечественников лучше. Если вы не хуже Американцев (вы ни чем не хуже), то не вините Американцев а делайте себе жизнь как Американцы
Слава России, Слава Украине, Слава Америке и пусть всегда будет Мир

показываю вам пример американских дорог, госпиталей и университетов чтобы сами понимали что не врём, И чтобы видели что это просто гоогл поиск, даже видите сами что вписал в поиск. Для себя можете попробовать во яндексе

Хотя бы тут не позор но мы и вы всё равно понимаем что образование корупционированое, вы заслуживаете лучше. 

America, You're Funny- Arts and Writing

"Many of us hopeful writers grew up browsing bookstores with the misguided impression that all of those tens of thousands of authors we see on the shelves were writing for a living. The vast majority are not." What pisses me off about American Capitalism is that there is no path for people to write, draw or play professionally and make a living wage. You don't have to be an all star engineer to earn a living wage but you have to be literally one in a thousand to be able to afford rent and food as an artist. Yet when we think what is most important to us from a cultural standpoint it is Steinbeck, Warhol, and Karoac whom we value, not Jobs or Gates or even Lincoln and Eisenhower. It is art that speaks for us and represents us, not politicians or businessmen.


http://authorearnings.com/the-tenured-vs-debut-author-report/

A Letter to News Sources with Regards to a New Credit Card Breach

Dear News Media,

I was wondering if anyone is investigating the new security breach that recently happened? Many of my friends and I have had their Bank of America cards cancelled and replaced due to a breach at one of the merchants where we shopped which according to the bank happened in the past six months. Bank of America would not give me the name of the merchant whose security was compromised because the merchant according to them is not required to disclose that information, which seems very counter to protection of consumers and clients. This lack of transparency on account of Bank of America makes me more distrustful of using electronic payment than the actual security breach because not only are there more security breaches, but they are kept from me by the merchant and the banking institutions. I look forward to hearing about this issue on the news in the coming days as this I feel a very important matter to all consumers.

Kind regards,
Consumer

Our Spaceship Earth

Is a fragile thing. "We are one species with one destiny." If we don't act like it, our destiny will still be one, but it will be of death, not survival.

Russia: You're Not Funny

Today I start a new series of articles called: You're Not Funny and my first choice is Russia.

See I used to think that Russia was a smart country just without laws, then I thought it was a cleptocracy but now I realize that it is far worse, it is an idiocracy, a country run not just by thieves, but by really dumb thieves. It seems that almost a hundred years of brain drain have left the country incredibly stupid. This of course applies to Ukraine in someways too, especially the east. If you read the exit polls they are just beyond idiotic, they just have nothing to do with reality. Sad part is, that that can be generally said of the world. However, most countries have some fairly intelligent people who help their idiots stay alive and lead good lives while in Russia it is the idiots who lead poor lives and ensure that everyone leads a crappy life with their votes and their government.

I wish this was funny but it isn't. This is why Russia, you're not funny, or smart, or talented or brilliant.. But you can be.

Russia, Russian Literature and Russian Lies.

Before reading this post, I'll give a disclaimer, I know not my view does not represent all Russians and is ver Russophobist. I'm sorry but the problem with my generalization does not lie with me but with the reality in Russia. The intellectuals do not believe that it is their job to go into politics, they believe it is a dirty business and thus only unclean go into it and thus only the unclean control the country and thus only their views are forced on the arts and on the majority who are unlike the educated intelligentsia do not have the wherewithal to distinguish truth from fiction. Well that goes back to the intelligentsia, power is for those who take it and not for those who give it up. If you believe you are not fit to rule then you shall be ruled and if you let heathens rule you then do not complain when I describe the country that you yourself allowed to be ruled by criminals.

Now that I've ensured that no one will continue to read this, let's dive in.


I find it interesting that Russia's most repressed writers are those who speak the truth about Russia, about it's horrors and it's backwardness.

What is funny is that 50-60 years after those writers are hated they become loved and are raised as examples of Russian literature, probably because their talents were recognized abroad and Russia will take any and all PR and lay credit to it even if only a short while ago it did it best to drown those people, many of whom it did.

What is strange and what I don't understand is the pride Russia takes in those novels. It is as if it half thinks that it is ok because time has passed and therefore the world will think : "Well, that was a backwards and crazy place and look at these people now, they are so different." And they do it as if to themselves they are proud that they are this way because let's face it, they have't changed, they never change because they have no desire to change. To them that chaos, that ignorance that "absurd" is normal. They don't know how to live otherwise. A normal life is incomprehensible to Russia. They sooner drag anyone down than let anyone live a normal life. And thus they think they conned the world again, and again and again. Because no one lies like a Russian. No one tells a lie so honestly, so tryingly. No one forgets their evils and no one feels the happiness that a Russian does of pulling something over on someone. No one gloats as much as Russia at seeing someone trust them, knowing that that person is about to be stabbed in the back....

This is the story of Russian "help" to all of its neighbors. This is why it sees America the way it does, because in the perverse way, Russia thinks everyone is just like it and so it does not understand why anyone doesn't like it and why anyone would like the United States...

This maybe why Russian writers are so popular, Westerners just can't understand why this seemingly normal country would be so backwards and so they read novels about Russia the way they watch Jersey Shore, with pure curiosity and bewilderment.

Russia Is Really Easy to Understand If...

Americans say that Russia and Russians are hard to comprehend. Russia has been called an enigma wrapped in a riddle, or was it the other way around? Doesn't matter. Russia and Russians are actually really easy to understand. Once you understand that Russia is a huge country that is sparsely populated with vast natural resources, you understand that it is a thief's paradise. Thus it is run by thieves. Anyone who is not a thief and smart enough to understand that it is a thief's paradise, is either killed or leaves the country. Thus the only people who can change it, are systematically eliminated or leave the country or become drunkards. The people that live there are simple and under educated and are given enough scraps by the government to stay alive. They will believe anything the government tells them because the government allows them to steal, and keeps them from being killed and gives them vodka to not too think too much about their lives. To not believe the government would mean that they are helpless and are allowing themselves to be used constantly by thieves. Think about it, how would you like to be the laughing stock of the world. For Russians to stop believing the government and face facts is like asking them to go insane because that is the only alternative. This is why the more repressive the government in Russia, the cheaper the vodka.

This is why Europe and the West are the constant emulant and the ever present threat. Because the belief  that life in Russia is possible without thieves implies that you can over throw the thieves but fact is, you can't and to think you can is to invite insanity. So the West constantly tries to tell them that they can be free even though the reality is that they can't. Thus, they would prefer to believe the lies of Russian thieving government than the misunderstood and naive lies of the west.

Once you understand the sad predicament of Russia and its people, it is a very easy place to understand.

To understand Putin is also easy. He is Russian and for him to live in the land of facts is to loose Russia. He is not lying to Americans, he could care less about how his lies make him look to the west, what's important to him is to keep up the lie for Russians, because if he stops lying, Russians will kill him.

Письмо Украинцам

Письмо Украинцам,
Дорогие Украинцы, мои сородичи, nожалуйста перестаньте говорить что вы не хотите войны. Если вы свободные люди то война тут не причём, главное страна и свобода. Путину по-фиг что вы хотите. Ему главное то что он хочет, а он хочет контролировать Украину. Если вы не хотите быть под контролем России, то вам придетса воевать. Это реальность всех стран и людей которые хотели быть свободными. И Америка, и Израиль и Россия, все дрались за свободу. Америка против Англичан, Израиль против Арабов и Россия против Немцев. Если вы хотите свободу, вам надо бороться, и ваше хотение или не хотение войны не причём. Потому что свободные люди думают только об одном, свободе.

В двадцатых годах Украина была независима каких то двадцать лет. Она решила не воевать и стала часть советского союза в отличие от финнов. Сегодня, двадцать три года спустя независимости Украины, экзамен свободы повторяется. Если вы отдадите свободу, то новый шанс быть свободными долго может не появится. Так что выбор ваш. Вы можете хотеть свободу или покой раба. Выбирайте Украинцы и с вашим выбором мы увидим если независимая Украина невмерает, и увидим как вам дорога свобода.

Malaysia by train (From Bangkok to Singapore)

Malaysia is one of my favorite places in the world. The food, the sights, the Muslim yet liberal society. You have your jungles and colonial and city and it is right in between Thailand and Singapore.

I traveled through Malaysia by train going from Thailand to Singapore.

Bangkok
It was about $40 from Bangkok to Butterworth. The ticket was easy to get at the Train station in Bangkok. Train left at midday and arrived in Butterworth in the morning. The train was comfortable, modern and the bed folded out to be large and comfortable.

Butterworth/Panang
Once you arrive in Butterworth, a quick walk over to the ferry station and a $3 ferry to Penang. You can leave your bags at the train station for the day.

In Panang there are cheap places to stay, cheap beer and delicious food at the Malaysian markets. There is rain forests, beaches and really cool temples.


Kuala Lumpur
I took a night train to Kuala Lampur and arrived at the really nice train station. The train station is next to some great hotels where you can get a great view of the city. The subway or metro is also at the train station and you can go all over town.

Patronas Towers-
It's something like a $100 bucks to go up and it does sell out so you may need to get the tickets in advance if you only have a day or two in KL.

The Television tower has great views of the city and it is more affordable than the towers. At night you can get a great view of the towers.

From Kuala Lampur there are trains to Singapore. They are cheap but if you don't get a sleeper, it will be an uncomfortable ride.

Singapore
You arrive in Singapore quiet far from downtown but it is close to a bus station. The way through border patrol is quick and easy.  A bus will take you to a metro/subway station from where it is easy to get to downtown. There is a nice Malay style food market at the bus-station where you can get a bite to eat before the hour bus ride.

Train info
http://www.seat61.com/Thailand.htm#Singapore

Love Explained Via Cars

What is love? How do we know if we're in love? How does it feel to be in love? Well, most women seem to have an idea about it but men, most of the time, sadly do not. However, men have cars. Cars they love and while love for car is not love for a woman, I imagine that a parallel can be made.

Just think of that car, that car that you had been looking at for years. You never imagined that one day you would be able to afford it. That one day, would come a day, when you would own it. But here you are, the day has come to buy a car and you go to a dealership. You see thousands, you sat in dozens but this one, this is the one. It may not have the sunroof, but it has all the things you want. Maybe a strong engine, maybe leather seats maybe its a stick shift with a CD player. Whatever the options, it is the color and style that you are willing to pay for and take home.

You take her home and you love her. Your parents approve, your friends have to admit, that they are a little jealous. They all want to ride her but they can't. Why? Because she's yours.

First few months you are on a honeymoon, you go on road trips and she has that new car smell. You take her to the car washes nearly every week and not some crappy car washes or oil changes or gas stations, the best! She's new and she needs the best.

You see her in the parking lot and you love her curves. When see one like her, you look but only because they remind you of yours and make you even happier that you have your car and that car makes you happy. And sure, you've had other cars. The other cars were great, they did their job and you might have even had affection for that green corolla. But that was a hand me down, that wasn't the car that you had sought out for so long. It wasn't the one for you on every important to you level.

With this car, every ding and scratch is noticed and hurts as if it were on you. You think about where you park her and when you get back to the parking lot and she is hidden behind that other car, your heart squeeze for a bit in a flash of fear, that she might be gone.

You make sure she gets oil changes and you rotate her tires. You vacuum her and you never think of trading her in just because she's a little dirty or messy because you know, she just needs a wash, some armor all and a little wax, and she's ready to impress on a night out in town.

Even five ten years later, you look at her just as you did that first day you saw her, long before she became yours. She has a name, unlike other cars and she is good to you and you are good to her, because she's the one you've always wanted, she's the one you finally got and she's the one that you will always want. And should anything happen that the two of you part... you will grieve and you will always remember her. You may get one years later, just like her, but you will know, it isn't her. Because, there's only one true love.


Love you Sugar!

Письмо Россиянам

Почему Запад Противостоит России.

Запад не против Россиян, но честные государства не могут ладить с государствами которые воруют у своих и чужих людей. Заметьте Россияне, что один тип государств имеют проблемы с США, и это в основном корупционерoвные и автoкритичные государева которым просто не возможно доверят. Государства которые не соблюдают права своих соседей, в которые инвестировать незачем потому что это деньги за которыми не следят и которые просто уходят в карманы воров. Вот почему Запад противостоит России. Потому что после всех миллиардов которые запад инвестировал в вашу страну, страна осталась такой же и только верхушка поднялась. Не злитесь на нас, западэнцев что мы с врунами и ворами в вашем государстве не ладим.

Разве вы не видите почему заработки на западе выше? Потому что свобода там выше.. но вам это не видеть и не понят, потому что думаете что у нас как и у вас, что все во всей государствах воруют и что это нормально потому что ваши вруны вам это говорят а вы им верите. Украинцы поняли что этот тип жизни не нормален и свергли Русского чиновника, Януковича...

Если вы хотите жить как люди а не выживать... то тоже можете.. но только если захотите а захотите тогда когда надоест воровать так как украли Крым. Тогда, когда ваша страна перестанет быть странной воров, тогда мир, честный мир а не Сирия и Иран и Северная Корея, свободный мир с вами будет ладить. Потому что только когда вы скинете ваших воров потому что не хотите больше воровать и жить под притиском воров, только тогда вы станете людьми с которыми другие люди смогут ладить.

-Демократичный и цивилизованный запад.

Извините за орфографию, просто Русский редко мы используем потому что так изолировала себя Россия что редко кто использует этот язык. Но это может и надеюсь будет время когда это поменяется

Thoughts on Russian Take Over of Crimea

Reading the text of Putin's speech on Annexation of Crimea and seeing him shake hands with a criminal murderer and mafioso Aksyonov that is now Prime Minister of Crimea I had two main thoughts:

A) His claims were simplistic and out of context Mr. Putin but then again I don't expect intelligence out of KGB man.
B) "So does America" excuse doesn't work with parents for kindergarten children and hearing it from Russia is tiring, but not surprising considering it is coming from a cleptrocracy. 

This made me think of RT (Russian Television) and I realized that they are as credible as their government, which is not at all. Both are complete joke, a dangerous and sad joke but nevertheless a joke.. All of Russia's brightest and strongest either die of alcohol poisoning or move to Europe or United States because that is where honest people can make a living, because unlike in Russia, lies are not promoted but uncovered..

 Because that is the main difference between the two,  everyone makes mistakes, in America people make  mistakes just as much as they do in Russia... but in America we try to fix them while in Russia they just keep ignoring. This is why America has had the same government since 1776 and Russia keeps collapsing again and again and again. 

Putin's speech and the so called support of Russian people, for the first time, has made me ashamed to be of Russian descent. 

If Russia avoids war, it will be great- and it will be a failure for centuries if it doesn't.

Pavel Pozhigaylo tells how Russia, Russian politicians and Russian people are ready for war. Essentially, they are a warrior culture that forgot how to make great art, great music, great technology and they are just bored and too lazy to rebuild a successful country. So what are they going to do? They are going to go war. What will this accomplish? Many dead Russian soldiers, because no one needs young angry people who would otherwise rob and beat and drink in Russia. Those young Russians will kill a bunch of Ukrainians about whom Russia doesn't care and has always seen as less than people, they even have a name for them: Hohol. They don't care for the Russians in Ukraine either, those will be killed just like Ukrainians, for them they have a cute name too: Malorussy, which means little Russians, not quiet Russians.

So Russia will go to war, it will get part of Ukraine, that part of Ukraine in turn will get a government that doesn't care for them nor is able to take care of them. They will be robbed and they will realise what they got but it will be too late because leaving Russia will not be as easy as leaving Ukraine.

But the worst part is that with this war, Russia will put the final nail in the coffin of Russia itself. With huge TB and HIV epidemics, with alcoholism that is out of control, with corruption and lack of any kind of industry besides natural resources like some kind of banana republic.. they will forever be marked as aggressors and out of control warlords. Like Germany, they will forever be marked with a history of shame. Wherever they go, they will no longer be looked on with curiosity, but with disdain. Their businessmen will no longer be respected or trusted, their politicians will be laughed at and that respect that they have been looking for, will be lost for many many centuries...

All for a little war... But this can be changed.. if they only apply that will to fight to fight for their country, to rebuild their country to weed out corruption and lawlessness to make a country worthy of Solzhenitzin, Pushkin, Lermontov and Tolstoy.. To make a country worthy of all those victims of WWII. Russia can be great, but only if it avoids war.

Criminals in Power

What is a citizen to do

When his country is taken over

When the government

Is criminals and thugs

Who pillage coffers

Imprison the just

Steal from the power

Criminalize the lawful

And promote the liars, thieves

And murderers?

What is an honest thinker

To think

When journalists are jailed

For writing truth

While sycophants on the TV

Speak lies with honest faces?

What is a patriot to do

When everyone he knows

IS but a slave to callous hordes

What is a man to do?

To work for them?

To make them rich? Off his blood and sweat?

Or throw them from the shoulders

Letting atlas shrug.

Putin Isn't Russia, Russians Are Ashamed

Putin does not represent Russia, Putin has been destroying Russia and this fiasco is his another destructive act in a selfish desire to hold on to power.

Translation from: http://echo.msk.ru/blog/revzin/1275052-echo/?fb_action_ids=634304096617188&fb_action_types=og.recommends

Ukraine - no. government was not legitimate, God knows who we know them do not know and do not see the focus. Is the only legitimate president Yanukovych, but it also is not. Why, President, and such state either. It was the state, but there was a revolution, the old state canceled and new we do not see. As they say - lost state. This was done, got lost somewhere. And such people - Ukrainians - no. Ukrainians - is Russian, only small, Little Russians. They are like children playing something, want to eat, love Putin. They need to care about. Teach them necessary. If there are some Ukrainians who want something - it Bandera. Bandera - it fascists .. They jumped out of the Great Patriotic War and captured the small, gentle and lovely, but the foolish Russian children. Since we are fighting the Nazis. This is for the masses. People really experienced in world politics, understand, of course, is not real fascists. These fascists, Stalin won in 1945. This Nedobitko. Which, of course, would not have been if they had not lure cookies. So in essence it is the Americans. Americans, who staged Maidan and we otvevali Ukraine, which now is not. Something is there, but it is not Ukraine. It generally, if so think about it, a country occupied by Bandera, ie fascists, ie Americans. We liberate her. Parts. Here Crimea already released. From the Americans. Well, that is from the Nazis. From Banderivtsy. again - Ukrainians, but there Bandera that fascists are actually Americans. With them we are fighting. Very good and fighting. We have them occupied Crimea, slyly, as if not we dressed and occupied. They answer that? Nothing. Sanctions figantsii - gut them thin, and again this is the same side they come out here. Eat, where to disappear. Yes it is, by the way, do not even war. What war, which killed? There is no war. So peaceful occupation to show Americans fig during the victory over fascism. They do how? Iraq, again here in Kosovo. Remember Kosovo? Do not you remember? Very good, you do not remember, we'll tell you now, there, then, was this exactly the same as ours, and as we were Americans. And now we do as Americans. They can, but we can not? They have occupied our Ukraine, Little Russia, a country where they live little Russians, our, in essence, the country, and we have to answer that same sitting in the corner? Yes they have the same after this respect will not. horror that all this heh * nya gradually fills your head. Not only enthusiasts occupation, and those who do it in the throat. Here I am, for example. I have that day, like an idiot, I think not, sanctions, they eventually something oh so painful hit. West, he harnesses the long, fast rides yes, and here is how close the boundaries of time, freeze deposits, so little did not find it. Yes civilized world can not so easy to pick up and put up with this mess. civilized world, he thinks, will have his uncivilized. Listen, it's all phantoms. Quite another matter. fact that we, Russia, fight with Ukraine. Not with the civilized world, not with America, not with the Nazis and with Ukraine. It is she, and not America, we othapali piece of territory. We are fighting with her for what she rebelled against rogue and thief, and took off his to hell. We are fighting for her that Putin offered her $ 15 billion, and she spat in his face. We are at war with her for what she wanted in Europe. One may pretend that all thinking Ukrainians - it Bandera, fascists, anti-Semites and russophobes, but it's nonsense, and we know that this is nonsense. Million people, which came out in Kiev against Putin Yanukovych laws - is that Bandera? Well you who want to cheat? Yourself? Himself. You hope that this heinous crime - the war of Russia against Ukraine - as it passes you. Somehow it appears that the history of this matter will not because Putin in 2014 occupied part of Ukraine for its attempt to become a European country, and that he had corrected the historical injustice and return to us Crimea, Sevastopol, Odessa, Donetsk and better still , Kharkiv, then everywhere. But it does not work. Historically, this is not possible, because the Ukrainians will now consolidate opposition solely on external aggressor, and that the aggressor - Russia. We occupied Hungary and Czechoslovakia, Poland, we were forced to carve itself - and what they did then? They rushed us to hell, and we do not have now more persistent opponents in Europe than these our fraternal peoples once. But to hell with it, from a historical perspective. Much worse is right now, when Ukrainians will resist. Or do you think they never will? We'll shove and shove, and they sing songs in response? Talking about? You will represent each dead Bandera that is fascist, that is American? Long enough? main horror is not in Russia sanctions accounts and visas, not in international isolation, not militaristic hysteria, not that we somehow there answer to Syria or God knows where else. It's all garbage, this is not about anything. Chief Russian horror that UKRAINE - IS. And Russia invaded its territory.

Putin isn't "lying" or "crazy", he is smart.

  Watching Russian Television it is clear that Putin has convinced Russia and Russian speaking Ukraine through careful propaganda and framing that Ukraine is a loose cannon, that they had a violent take-over and that Ukraine needs to be invaded. He does not need to convince the west of his actions. What he says is inline with what he needs to say to Russians. He is being consistent not for truth's sake but for keeping Russia behind him. He has to upkeep the "lie" because when his troops start shooting, the Russians will be shown "Ukrainian" forces shooting who will have no insignia. Russian TV does not show the license plates or Russian names because that is what Putin says not to show. They show the barricades and scared Russian speakers and they will keep showing the "angry mobs" of Kiev and keep omitting the footage of Berkut killing protesters. They do not show the grandmothers or students on Maidan. They create alternate realities where snipers were bought by opposition to shoot both Berkut and Opposition and the West plays in to their hands by calling Putin Hitler which only cements in Russian eyes the desire of the west to destroy Russia. This is why their Foreign Minister cannot meet anyone from Ukraine, because so long as they do not acknowledge anything the west says, they can keep the spin going and as long as they keep repeating the line, the hope to keep Russians and Russian speaking people fooled for long enough to get Ukraine back, or at least parts of it.

Maybe if the West made a plea to the Russian people.. maybe if the West got together to put strong sanctions on Russia.. who know how this will work out..

To me it seems as if Putin lost Ukraine, this is Ukraine's the war of 1812 where Russia like Britain tries to take back its colony. Putin's demands in UN are to install HIS government and give him HIS Ukraine back, if not, he will take it back by force. West can't allow that. This is the war where Ukraine unites and wins or looses... it all depends on how well they can convince Crimea that they are with them.

In the end... perhaps it was a little bit naive of Ukrainians and the West to think that Putin would give up Ukraine just like that.

Islam's Greatest Fear

  I was sitting beside my girlfriend inside a beautifully made and aptly named Joan Kroc Theater for Peace and Justice on the campus of University of San Diego. We had just finished watching the movie Honor Diaries about the effect of the word "honor" on women in South Asia and how it has been used to perpetuate violence and control over them. The movie was essentially a discussion between Hindu, Muslim and Christian women activists from Middle East living in the West about their experience fighting for women's rights. Religion was brought up but it was made clear that this was a cultural phenomenon. I was sitting in front of a panel made up of a Jewish writer and producer of the movie, a female Associate Professor of religious studies at USD, an Imam from Algeria, a Pakistani Graduate student and a Professor of USD from Turkey.

   After the writer gave his introduction,  the other panelists one by one dove off topic and began to criticize movies' imaginary criticism of Islam deflecting the issue of women's rights. There was no more talk of women's rights, no talk of what to do about the plight of underage marriages, acid attacks, female circumcision or the fact that this happens in United States and the west in shocking numbers and that Westerners are afraid of stopping it because they are often deemed as attackers of religion and culture. At no point did the moderator try to take the conversation back to the issue of women's rights and abuse of women in United States. Instead, one after another talked about how the film attacks Islam, how those cases are minority, how they are done by the uneducated and as the Associate Professor herself said, "Last time you tried to help women in middle east you bombed them, let them deal with it on their own." equating a war with women's rights and saying that information will do nothing, that women who have no voice or information to even know that what is happening to them is wrong, should not have access to that information, to opportunity to live the lives they live. Instead of addressing the issue of the movie and the plight of women in South Asia, the panelists redirected to the plight of women under occupations, sex trade and other issues which are valid but were not brought up there. 

It was sad... it was pathetic and it shows that the greatest challenge to women is not from outside but from within. It was a full show of how much "honor" of their religion to the panelists mattered more than the rights, lives and well being of their own women. How will it be possible to address human rights if those closest to the issue refuse to look at it, refuse to fix it and become offended when others try to bring it to their attention? I say human rights because men are trapped here too. What man wants to be confined to a woman he does not love, what man wants to be confined by a society that puts enormous pressure on him with their judgement of him based on how his wife, daughter, wife, mother looks or acts? What man wants the pressure of providing for a family and controlling everything about the family and what man wants to harm his daughter or mother or wife? This violence is perpetrated on men as much as it is on women.

  So what is Islam's greatest fear? Truth of course, as it is for Ultra-Orthodox Jews and Far-right Christians. The truth that their way of life is not correct. They fear loss of control over information and over people who they keep confined with their version of the world. Thus they have to isolate themselves and those around them from the world and when anyone disobeys by showing any sign of openness to the world, be it short sleeves, driving or even watching a movie... the response is quick and violent. Because only violence and threat of violence can have the effect of subjugation through fear. It is the only way to take choice away from a human being; give them a choice between freedom and death and let those who witness the atrocities choose fear and submission.. 

   But humans cannot live in lies, it is unnatural so while these acts of violence go on and while denials and defensive posturing and anger mask the fear that these ideologies carry, while all this still exists, the question is: for how long? At some point, all lies unravel before truth.

For more, go to  http://www.honordiaries.com/