Tag Archives: OddBox

Hariri Resigns As Lebanese Prime Minister All The Way From Saudi Arabia, Because Patriotism

I wonder though, did Saad Hariri know he wanted to resign last week – or even two days ago – when he was all over the place announcing plans and grand schemes to increase Beirut’s airport capacity, boost Lebanon’s tourism, work on further bringing Gulf investors back, and the like? Or when he filmed his Hala Bel Khamis video with a bunch of youth? Or did he simply wake up on November 4th, hop on his private jet to Saudi Arabia, probably without paying that extra tax his government imposed on us, and decided that he did not want to be prime minister anymore?

Whether we are going to actually have elections in 2018 becomes up in the air as well. What Hariri resigning also does is entice Lebanon’s Sunnism, further fueling their sense of being at the short end of the Lebanese stick, threatened merely for existing. Sectarianism is in full blown play, months before we head to the polls – if we do in the first place.

With threats of war, conflict, instability, the Lebanese population deserve

Nothing says patriotism and Lebanese sovereignty as much as your own prime minister announcing his resignation, and subsequently a nail in the coffin of Lebanese governance, all the way from a foreign country, on one of their megaphone TVs nonetheless.

Saad Hariri, who has been back as prime minister for nearly 11 months now, in a government that was billed as one of “national unity” suddenly remembered that – gasp – he is sharing his rule with Hezbollah, a party whom Hariri’s funders in Saudi Arabia do not approve of and whose entire existence is, as we’ve come to know, is mutually exclusive with Hariri’s raison d’etre.

Entre nous, I had totally forgotten up until this very moment that Hariri was prime minister and that Lebanon actually had a government. It’s not that difficult to forget such details when things have been pretty much the same, whether Hariri is there or not, and whether we have a government or not. Corruption is still omnipresent. Dysfunction still reigns supreme. And countries that are not Lebanese still dictate what goes on in our own home country. Their accomplishment? Burdening us with extra taxes and then leaving.

Case in point? Hariri resigned from Saudi Arabia, not even from our Serail, in protest of Iranian influence into Lebanon’s governance.

Hariri’s reasoning for his resignation – clearly dictated on him by his bosses abroad – are that the current situation in Lebanon is similar to the ambiance before the assassination of his father around 12 years ago, along with the threat that Hezbollah’s arms pose on an internal level after their escapades with the dictator in Damascus over the past few years.

Reasonable, perhaps, but it’s mostly a little too late, and exceedingly cowardly for a politician to leave the entire country in the dust as he rushes away to save his own ass, all other Lebanese be damned. Yet again, what can we expect from a ruling class whose priority was and will always be its own skin, and whose MO for ruling is to benefit as much as possible from being in power, with servicing us as Lebanese citizens being the last thing on their minds?

I wonder though, did Saad Hariri know he wanted to resign last week – or even two days ago – when he was all over the place announcing plans and grand schemes to increase Beirut’s airport capacity, boost Lebanon’s tourism, work on further bringing Gulf investors back, and the like? Or when he filmed his Hala Bel Khamis video with a bunch of youth? Or did he simply wake up on November 4th, hop on his private jet to Saudi Arabia, probably without paying that extra tax his government imposed on us, and decided that he did not want to be prime minister anymore?

Whether we are going to actually have elections in 2018 becomes up in the air as well. What Hariri resigning also does is entice Lebanon’s Sunnism, further fueling their sense of being at the short end of the Lebanese stick, threatened merely for existing. Sectarianism is in full blown play, months before we head to the polls – if we do in the first place.

With threats of war, conflict, instability, the Lebanese population deserves more than politicians who are willing to throw it under the bus on whimsical dictated moves. We deserve more than to wake up one day and realize we don’t have a government anymore, and that our security and well-being is even more up in the air just because a politician’s foreign bosses told him so.

Filed under: Lebanon Tagged: Government, Lebanon, Prime Minister, Resignation, Saad Hariri

Once A Douche Always A Douche

Another Saturday and no medical stuff…a day off from the medical stuff and treatments….so one post for today so I can enjoy the down time.

But first I would like to thank all those readers for the out pouring of kindness and support during this time.  Thank you and I appreciate you guys more than you can imagine.  Your kind words are a source of strength during these days of recovery.

Now let’s get to the post for the day.

This Guy Is Truly A Douche!

I use to love Papa John’s Pizza, the one with everything on it, then he bitched that if he gave his employees health care he would have to raise the prices….and then he raised prices because the stockholders demanded it.

Needless to say I would not pee on a Papa John’s Pizza today.

Plus there is more from this cry baby douche…….

“Papa” John Schnatter, fresh off seeing his net worth drop $70 million, is blaming the NFL’s tolerance of player protests for declining pizza sales at his eponymous restaurants, Forbes reports. Papa John’s released its third-quarter financial report Tuesday, and while it beat its estimates for earnings and revenue, it also lowered expectations for sales. On Wednesday, shares fell 11% and Schnatter saw his net worth decline to $801 million. According to Bloomberg, it was Papa John’s biggest stock drop in two years and came nearly a year after the chain hit an all-time high last December. The culprit, according to Schnatter: NFL players kneeling during the national anthem and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell’s failure to stop them.

“This should have been nipped in the bud a year and a half ago,” Schnatter said on a conference call Wednesday. Schnatter, a Trump donor, believes Goodell should force players to stand for the anthem. “Leadership starts at the top, and this is an example of poor leadership,” Schnatter said. A Bloomberg analyst says it’s possible to see where Schnatter is coming from: fewer people watching football means fewer people ordering pizza or seeing ads for Papa John’s, which has been the NFL’s official pizza sponsor since 2010. But, as Slate notes, there’s no evidence protests—either by players or offended fans—have been behind the decline in NFL viewership. Multiple sports have seen ratings decline as more people opt out of cable, and the NFL’s ratings have actually been going up as the season progresses.
Makes me wanna slap the crap out of this douche bag……a titty baby.
There is a right way and a wrong way……

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 Like I said ……once a douche always a douche.
If you must have a pizza then please do not make this douche any richer.
That is it for the today….don’t forget to set your clocks back……it is “Fall Back” time…..I will rest and relax and hope you have a good weekend……chuq
 

 A lifestyle of segregation

I was invited to make a talk with students in a school in Jabal Al Mukabber in jerusalem. I liked the idea, and I  thought it was close and convenient … After all Jabal al Mukabber is out there . 

Of course my negligence won my intelligence as I thought that the neighborhood is an easy to reach place… The tayelet is a frequent area that should be a good landmark to the village . I found myself discovering villages that I always knew existed and actually visited throughout my life. Unlike what I knew in the geography of my city , these villages are a segregated, fragmented and isolated parts of what should be a central area in Jerusalem. We became strangers in our own spaces . It get natural to drive through talpiyot, arnona , tayelet , even to nes harim which is inside the village , but reaching Jabal al Mukabber felt like visiting the inferno . The only sign that leads to the village is the sign you see when entering the village , no preparation before. You can only go there if you already knew your destination . No street sign can direct you to it. We are talking about a few kilometers or separation from what sounds like heaven and hell. Civilization and decivilization. 

As I struggled reaching the school , I finally found a building in the middle of what seemed like a graveyard . They are trying to make it look like a livable place by putting attractive colors and friendly drawings, thought to myself with a mockery attitude  . How can people survive such a hole of obvious segregation. A few meters up is the great walk through of the best part of jerusalem, and yet, the people of the place live as if they are a part of an interactive scene that tourists can look at from above. 

But as in everything with the people of Palestine , we are survivors by all mean. 

I entered the school and an inspiring feeling took over me . The way this school works with the students. The friendly atmosphere that is capturing the walls and classrooms, proves that there is still a place for hope despite the ugliness of life under a surrounding suffocating occuaption .    I will leave the rest to the pictures ….. Sometimes , as in the case of living in jerusalem reality is impossible to be explained but needs to be seen by the eyes to grasp the impossibility of living for a Palestinian …




Here’s How Breitbart And Milo Smuggled Nazi and White Nationalist Ideas Into The Mainstream

Long and not a barn burner but good background on the new evil empire. Here’s How Breitbart And Milo Smuggled Nazi and White Nationalist Ideas Into The Mainstream:

justsomeantifas:

In August, after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville ended in murder, Steve Bannon insisted that “there’s no room in American society” for neo-Nazis, neo-Confederates, and the KKK.

But an explosive cache of documents obtained by BuzzFeed News proves that there was plenty of room for those voices on his website.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, under Bannon’s leadership, Breitbart courted the alt-right — the insurgent, racist right-wing movement that helped sweep Donald Trump to power. The former White House chief strategist famously remarked that he wanted Breitbart to be “the platform for the alt-right.”

التحرش: متى تبدأ المسؤولية ومتى يجب التصدي بالكشف؟

التحرش: متى تبدأ المسؤولية ومتى يجب التصدي بالكشف؟

 

يبدو ان شعوب الفيسبوك تحتفل اليوم بما يسمى (ربما) بيوم مؤازرة المرأة (وعلى ما يبدو (المتحرش بها) .

منذ ايام وقامت هوليوود ولم تقعد بعد على فضيحة احد المنتجين الكبار في قضايا تحرش مع نجمات، بدى وكأن عالم هوليوود مبني على التقوى وحسن الاخلاق. ولم يكن هناك حاجة للتفكر كثيرا ، فعالم هوليوود شبيه بعالم السياسة، فيبدو ان زمن هذا السفيه قد انتهى فصار وقت التخلص منه بفضيحة تاريخه مليء بأفعال مثلها . والامثلة كثيرة على سقوط شخوص من عروش السلطة بسبب قضية كهذه ، فما حصل برئيس اسرائيل مثل ضمن امثلة كثر.

وقبل الخوض بموضوع المنتج تساءلت حينها ، كم من الظلم يقع على الممثلة التي تحاول ايجاد فرصة للنجومية؟ وهل خضوعها او سكوتها في حينه يبرئها ؟ وما الذي يسكتها كل هذا الوقت لتخرج وتعترف ؟

وكم من الصعب كان على شابة مرؤوسة من قبل وزير او ضابط صار رئيس دولة بالخروج الى الملأ لمحاسبته؟

والبحث عن جواب لا يحتاج الى الكثير من التفكير ، فالضحية كالخروف الذي تقع رقبته على حد السكين ، فقط ينجو عندما ينجو بالفعل بحياته. ولكن علينا التوقف للحظات امام مساءلة حقيقية امام انفسنا نحن معشر النساء . متى بدأت المرأة منا بكونها الضحية ومتى انتهت الى تكون الجلاد؟

هل يصبح الرجل متحرشا بمجرد ان تقرر المرأة ان تحجم عملية الملامسة التي يود الرجل ان تنتهي الى جماع ؟

في كل لحظة تمر من حياة النساء على هذا الكون يتم التعرض لأنثى ، الاغتصابات التي نسمع عنها بالهند تقشعر لها الابدان ، ما يتم تداوله من اغتصابات علنية في حافلات وفي اماكن عامة في مدن كالجزائر حيواني بجدارة . ما يحصل وراء ابواب المؤسسات المختلفة بشتى اشكالها واحجامها مخجل في كل مرة نرى كيف يتم استخدام السلطة على الموظفة. ما يحصل في جامعاتنا وما يدور في اروقة المدارس. قضية يجب مواجهتها دائما وبحسم ومع الاسف مسكوت عنها دائما .

ولكن هل  تقع المسؤولية بالمطلق على الرجل ؟

هل تبدأ المسؤولية وتنتهي بقول “لا” ؟

هل بالفعل تتحمل المرأة مسؤولية لباسها كما يحدث في بلاد العالم الذكوري كما في السعودية كحد اقصى لمجرد شكلها الانثوي يظهر وكما يحدث بهامش حياة المرأة المصرية كما رأينا في قضية المرأة التي تم صفعها من قبل متحرش قبل سنتين وقام مؤخرا بالتعدي عليها وايذائها؟

هل تتساوى هكذا امرأة بمسؤوليتها كما تتساوى امرأة في ملهى ليلي عارية الملبس تتراقص وتتمايل وتسعى لللمس وتساهم به ، او امرأة تذهب مع رجل تعرف تمام المعرفة بأن نيته تجاهها ليست نية طيبة وتدخل الى بيته او تمشي الى مرقده بعيون غازية؟

بين المثالين تضيع قضية المرأة الضحية ، فتتساوى الضحايا كما يتساوى الجلاد.

لا يوجد ادنى شك اننا نعيش في مجتمعات سلطوية تعزز سطوة الرجل . وتبدأ المسؤولية في تنشئتنا كأمهات لابنائنا الذكور ، وكذلك الاناث؟ كم نربي بناتنا على الا يكن ضحايا ؟ وكم نربي ابناءنا على الا يكونوا جلادين؟

كم منا تربي بنتها على ان جسدها مسؤولية ؟ وكم منا يربي ابنه على ان العبث ليس بالرجولة ؟

وتكبر هذه المسؤولية معنا كنساء بالغات راشدات . لان منا من هن قادرات على الوقوف امام انفسهن والرجل ايا كان وصده قبل ان يفكر بالمحاولة . ومنا من لا يستطعن حتى الدفاع عن انفسهن امام متحرش قد يكون اقرب لها من وريدها .

وفي الحالتين الموضوع ليس بالسهل ، لانه وبالعادة ذلك المتحرش رجل قريب ، تستأمنه المرأة . فالصديق والقريب والزميل رجال تأمن المرأة لهم في مجال حراكها . وتكون الصدمة في اغلب الحالات هناك . ومن اجل هذا تسكت ربما المرأة لان الحرج ليس مجرد حدث عابر ، بل مع شخص عليها التعامل معه او تعاملت معه عن قرب. تصبح مسؤولة عن ما بدر منه ولو لم يصدر منها اي اشارة او تصرف . الا انه بجبروته يظن انه لا يمكن صده . لانه تربى على ان يكون الجبار.

هل تتكلم المرأة ام تسكت ؟

فكلامها فضيحة ، وسكوتها مشاركة بجريمة ستتعرض لها اخرى .

وبين هذا وذاك تبقى حقيقة واحدة تجعلنا نتخلص من هكذا انتهاكات اذا ما قررنا التعامل مع انفسنا بصدق اولا كنساء .

وقد أقدم شهادتي على نفسي كمحاولة في تحمل مسؤولية ما يجري . فبالرغم من ضعفنا لمجرد وجودنا ضمن سلطة ابوية محكمة ، وهذا لا يتعلق او يقتصر بمجتمعاتنا هذه بل بكل العالم . الا ان مساهمتنا جزء من هذا الانتهاك ، سواء بالسكوت او السماح .

اعترف بأنني تعرضت لمحاولات متعددة للتحرش في سنوات عملي ، لمجرد كوني امرأة ” منفتحة”، ” غير محجبة” ، ” مطلقة” طبعا . ووجدت نفسي في احيان اسكت ، وفي احيان استكين كقطة بلا مخالب. الا انني لم اسمح ابدا لاحد بالمساس بي وحتى لمس شعرة مني في هكذا مواقف ، لسبب واضح بالنسبة لي ، لان كوني منفتحة وغير محجبة ومطلقة لا يقلل مني بل يزيدني اصرار على كوني من انا ، وبالتالي لم تفلح اي محاولة بأن تخرج من نفس صاحبها ، الا انها وبلا شك اثرت بي وخدشتني. بل اكثر عشت في لحظات كثيرة خوف لقمة العيش وخوف اتهامات المجتمع.

الا انني وفي المقابل وفي مواضع اخرى خارجة عن اطار العمل وبما يندرج تحت حياتي الشخصية ، كنت متهورة في موقف بخروج ومجموعة ذات مساء ، وكنت على علم بأن احدهم كان يريد التقرب مني لغرض بنفسه ، ولأن ذاك الشخص صاحب منصب ومكانة ما ، قبلت بتلك “آلخروجة ” ومجموعة من الرفاق . في اللحظة التي حاول بها ذلك الرجل التحرش بي شعرت بالاهانة ، وللحق ، لم اشعر بالاهانة منه بقدر ما شعرتها من نفسي ، لاني كنت اعرف ان نظرته وما يريده مني لم يكن ما اردته منه . وتغاضيت عن هذا وخرجت ، وكأنني متحكمة بالوضع . بالمحصلة كان مجرد قبولي الدعوة اشارة له بقبولي . وعلى الرغم من تصرفي اللبق وتأكدي بانني لم اضع نفسي في موقف محرج ، الا انه لم ير ذلك . ومجرد محاولته بلمسي والتي لحسن حظي لم تحصل ، ليس لانني قوية ولكن لكوني ضمن مجموعة استطعت “آلاختباء” والجموع لاتحاشاه حتى اصل الى بيتي.

للحظة فكرت ان اخرج من هذا الموقف بلومه وسبه وصب غضبي على معشر الرجال الذين لا يفهموا ابدا ما تريده المرأة ، ولا يروا الا ما تناديهم به غريزتهم .

الا انني  راجعت نفسي بلحظة تالية ولم استطع الا لوم نفسي على ذاك الموقف ، ليس لاني اردت جلد الضحية بداخلي ، ولكن لاني بلا ادنى شك كنت مسؤولة عن وجودي بمكان لا يناسبني مع شخص كنت على علم بعدم حسن نيته في هذا الصدد.

ومن هنا انهي كما بدأت بسؤال : متى تبدأ مسؤوليتنا تجاه ما نتعرض له من تحرش وانتهاك ، ومتى يتوجب علينا التصدي لهكذا انتهاك او تحرش؟

Vintage Photographs Document Iranian Women Protest Against the Hijab Law in March 1979

Hengameh Golestan is a pioneer among Iranian women photographers. She has been documenting live in Iran for twenty-eight years. She has photographed vast numbers of women and children, instances of family life, traditional wedding and everyday life in Iran.

During the revolution, she captured moments of rebellion on the part of women. She photographed the last day for Iranian women without the hejab(veil), when group of women from every profession – nurses, students, theathers – took part in an enormous demonstration which ended with them being attacked and stabbed in the streets of Tehran.

These photographs below document the day in March 1979 when more than 100,000 women gathered on the streets of Tehran to protest against the new Islamic government’s hijab law, which ordered women to wear a headscarf to leave the house.

“This was taken at the beginning of the demonstration,” Golestan told The Guardian. “I was walking beside this group of women, who were talking and joking. Everyone was happy for me to take their picture. You can see in their faces they felt joyful and powerful. The Iranian revolution had taught us that if we wanted something, we should go out into the street and demand it.

“I wanted to join in all the protests during the revolution, but I knew I had to go as a photographer. My first thought was: “It’s my responsibility to document this.” I’m rather small, so I was ducking in and out of the crowd, constantly taking photos. I took about 20 rolls of film. When the day was over, I ran home to develop them in my dark room. I knew I had witnessed something historic. I was so proud of all the women. I wanted to show the best of us.”

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