"Once in a blue moon" = every 19 years. And whaddya know, that crazy number 19 appears again and is associated with celestial events i.e. objective/empirical world events. Nineteen of course, is the common denominator number in the Quran. How amazing. We already know that the metonic cycle is 19 years plus/minus a smidge...but this is a new one for me i.e. that it has coordinates besides those that can be seen through a telescope.
Allahu ahkbar, Allah is Great.
"A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month — a blue moon — occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028"
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091230/ap_on_sc/us_sci_blue_moon
30.12.09
11.12.09
The Noble Experiment
..or the charming, darling quite alarming Moon Shine (the sparkly word that sparkles and dazzles almost as much as Chappaquiddick does). What in tarnation* do I mean?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/miami/peopleevents/pande06.html
""If anyone wants to go to hell in a hurry," a distressed minister told the "New York Times" in 1925, "there are greased banks aplenty in Miami." During Prohibition, Miami Beach joined many American cities in openly flouting the 18th Amendment. "
The symposium** continues at Ron Silliman's house as to the social tragedy of the legend of the artist drunkard. It is an interesting discussion wherever one encounters it and one encounters it almost everyday and not just amongst artists and writers. I've little doubt that airline pilot lounges and teacher's lounges and sheesh even Catholic parishes (where wine is elevated not only to a sacramental element of the ritual but to the level of being the actual blood of GOD) are just chock full of the party line.
The workplace in America.
I work with a variety of people in a relatively large institution (for a small town). My boss drinks, her administrative assistant drinks and her star pupil (for now) drinks...all heavily. The finance lady drinks also and all four of them pepper their speech each and every day with splendid talk about getting TO a drink once they get home and sometimes it even veers into getting absolutely GASSED. (I also work with a few people who drink occassionally and one who never drinks at all and an older woman who never did and a nurse whose son is a chronic and suicidal.) It is amazing to me that the level of this problem in this country is so underwhelmingly underestimated when in fact I am certain that I am not unusual in my experience. If anything, I probably work in a LOW INCIDENCE population when it comes to this thing popularly referred to as "addiction". That is probably because we work at a HEALTH INSTITUTION where in fact we are all supposed to be...er..healthy.
In contrast, I smoke. Although it is very harmful to one's health, smoking is not associated with as many characteristics which could be called matters of one's missing ethical piece i.e. extramarital sex is never a result of smoking too many cigarettes but drinking tee many martoonis definitely can and does land people in the wrong bed at night sometimes. Therefore, smoking can never lead to syphillis, HIV or unwanted/unplanned pregnancy which I think is a real selling point even if my lungs probably are as black as tar. I have the stats to prove it because I collect stats for a living. Ninety percent of all those whom I test for HIV and STD admit to having sex while intoxicated. Of course that may mean with their spouse but that would take a bit more time to come up with how many people that I test who are actually married which is not that many as most people are only getting tested between partners or when they suspect infidelity or have been unfaithful plus those who choose to have sex before they get married to someone (most of our teens).
I'm not justifying it but making a comparison between one "habit" or "choice misbehavior" and another.
Coffee...I drink way too much coffee also. Hasn't really done me wrong but my teeth are probably not as white as they should be and my breasts are probably more likely to develop tumors. As well, coffee has never landed me or anyone I know in the hooskow even though I am absolutely certain that some car accidents are directly related to either spilling a cup of joe or dropping a fag in the wrong place.
I bite my nails. I'm actually a binge biter and can get down to my nubbins in a matter of minutes but only on occassion.
What I find truly fascinating about America is the campaign that has been waged and won against cigarette smoking. This society is successful in transitioning from one of encouraging and advocating the use of tobacco to one that is not only intolerant of it but is working on OUTLAWING it. Just like intoxicants were outlawed in early Islamic society when it eventually became a punishable offense (some say).
If it works for tobacco (even if it hasn't worked for me proving that the law isn't always on my side) why hasn't it been tried with alcohol?
Oh...I forgot...it has. It ended up in class/gang warfare and is now known nostalgically in movies and history books as THE PROHIBITION DAYS.
It literally has it's own word and is glamourized in movies ya see? (that's my best Cagney impersonation).
..or the charming, darling quite alarming Moon Shine (the sparkly word that sparkles and dazzles almost as much as Chappaquiddick does). What in tarnation* do I mean?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/miami/peopleevents/pande06.html
""If anyone wants to go to hell in a hurry," a distressed minister told the "New York Times" in 1925, "there are greased banks aplenty in Miami." During Prohibition, Miami Beach joined many American cities in openly flouting the 18th Amendment. "
Sumptuary Law from Wiki:
"The first written Greek law code (Locrian code), by Zaleucus in the seventh century BC, stipulated that "no free woman should be allowed any more than one maid to follow her, unless she was drunk: nor was to stir out of the city by night, wear jewels of gold about her, or go in an embroidered robe, unless she was a professed and public prostitute; that, bravos excepted, no man was to wear a gold ring, nor be seen in one of those effeminate robes woven in the city of Miletus." (Quoted from Montaigne, see below.) It also banned the drinking of undiluted wine except for medical purposes."
The symposium** continues at Ron Silliman's house as to the social tragedy of the legend of the artist drunkard. It is an interesting discussion wherever one encounters it and one encounters it almost everyday and not just amongst artists and writers. I've little doubt that airline pilot lounges and teacher's lounges and sheesh even Catholic parishes (where wine is elevated not only to a sacramental element of the ritual but to the level of being the actual blood of GOD) are just chock full of the party line.
The workplace in America.
I work with a variety of people in a relatively large institution (for a small town). My boss drinks, her administrative assistant drinks and her star pupil (for now) drinks...all heavily. The finance lady drinks also and all four of them pepper their speech each and every day with splendid talk about getting TO a drink once they get home and sometimes it even veers into getting absolutely GASSED. (I also work with a few people who drink occassionally and one who never drinks at all and an older woman who never did and a nurse whose son is a chronic and suicidal.) It is amazing to me that the level of this problem in this country is so underwhelmingly underestimated when in fact I am certain that I am not unusual in my experience. If anything, I probably work in a LOW INCIDENCE population when it comes to this thing popularly referred to as "addiction". That is probably because we work at a HEALTH INSTITUTION where in fact we are all supposed to be...er..healthy.
In contrast, I smoke. Although it is very harmful to one's health, smoking is not associated with as many characteristics which could be called matters of one's missing ethical piece i.e. extramarital sex is never a result of smoking too many cigarettes but drinking tee many martoonis definitely can and does land people in the wrong bed at night sometimes. Therefore, smoking can never lead to syphillis, HIV or unwanted/unplanned pregnancy which I think is a real selling point even if my lungs probably are as black as tar. I have the stats to prove it because I collect stats for a living. Ninety percent of all those whom I test for HIV and STD admit to having sex while intoxicated. Of course that may mean with their spouse but that would take a bit more time to come up with how many people that I test who are actually married which is not that many as most people are only getting tested between partners or when they suspect infidelity or have been unfaithful plus those who choose to have sex before they get married to someone (most of our teens).
I'm not justifying it but making a comparison between one "habit" or "choice misbehavior" and another.
Coffee...I drink way too much coffee also. Hasn't really done me wrong but my teeth are probably not as white as they should be and my breasts are probably more likely to develop tumors. As well, coffee has never landed me or anyone I know in the hooskow even though I am absolutely certain that some car accidents are directly related to either spilling a cup of joe or dropping a fag in the wrong place.
I bite my nails. I'm actually a binge biter and can get down to my nubbins in a matter of minutes but only on occassion.
What I find truly fascinating about America is the campaign that has been waged and won against cigarette smoking. This society is successful in transitioning from one of encouraging and advocating the use of tobacco to one that is not only intolerant of it but is working on OUTLAWING it. Just like intoxicants were outlawed in early Islamic society when it eventually became a punishable offense (some say).
If it works for tobacco (even if it hasn't worked for me proving that the law isn't always on my side) why hasn't it been tried with alcohol?
Oh...I forgot...it has. It ended up in class/gang warfare and is now known nostalgically in movies and history books as THE PROHIBITION DAYS.
It literally has it's own word and is glamourized in movies ya see? (that's my best Cagney impersonation).
And let's not forget that one Moonshiner in particular created a political dynasty that exists to this day and in fact, got one of his son's elected to be the Head Counsel for the country and whose name we all know by heart.
JFK...not to mention all the hardship that family has had to endure and let's just not go there because by now it ought to be pretty much lodged in our archetypical and mythological natural history as a nation.
*The word tarnation is rooted in the word ETERNAL and is a colloquial term my mother used all the damn time and one of my favorite words which I used to think had something to do with negroes.
**Symposia often were held for specific occasions. For example the most famous symposium of all, the one immortalised by Plato, was being hosted by the poet Agathon on the occasion of his first victory at the theater contest of the 416 BC Dionysia, but was upstaged by the unexpected entrance of the toast of the town, the young Alcibiades dropping in almost totally drunk and almost totally naked, having just left another symposium.
Nothing like the blind and perhaps naked and also drunk leading the same.
10.12.09
The Hypocrisy of Sobriety
-Certainly, you will understand it after some time. (Qur'an, 38:88)
I was thrilled to see Ron Silliman taking on the issue of chemical use/abuse in the art world. By all means, go there and read his plea to those in his orbit...it takes guts sometimes to stand up to those who would and will, obliterate a person for opting to stand up and clearly acknowledge the problem of chemical use/abuse in a typically chemical friendly group of artists and friends.
"Why are the relapse rates so low? (the author obviously meant to say "high" relapse rates)
You have probably heard some of the statistics for how many people stay sober, or for how many people stay clean after leaving treatment. These statistics are shockingly low, and can really be quite depressing to those who are interested in sending a friend or a loved one to treatment.
One reason that relapse rates are so bad is that the pool of possible recovering addicts is so large, and many of them are being “forced” into the statistics. In other words, many of the people who go to treatment centers do so in order to avoid a jail term, and they have no intention of staying clean and sober when they get out of rehab. This type of rehab visit is extremely common, and probably makes up a fairly large percentage of all the people in treatment. Therefore, the statistics are skewed a bit because there are so many people who do not truly want to get clean."
As the world takes new paths and learns more about Islam and the reason so many people adhere to the so-called strict regimen known as submission, it will certainly be interesting to see what research will be produced in countries like Iran who also have their share of chemical abuse problems and associated disorders of the human condition like sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and poverty/malnutrition.
Here is a relatively well written article that describes the overhaul that the prophet Mohamed successfully conducted in the early Islamic society when he eliminated chemical use from the list of what society ought to consider "normal" and "tolerable".*
The Islamic Plan To Combat Alcoholism
It is well known that alcoholism was wide spread all over the Arab Peninsula. The acceptance of the people for alcohol use was at its acme. Literature especially poetry reflects this fact. The deleterious effects of alcoholism was manifested on the social life conducting the tribes to continuous conflicts and wars
The main approach to the problem by Islam, was to adopt gradation in forbidding alcoholism. This was carried out side by side with improving the social conditions of the people. Faith played a major part in these two approaches. The time estimated from the beginning of the campaign to its end was about 15 years. The personality of the leader, "The Prophet" was revolutionary affecting this change. The model he gave, as 1st step was the true example adopted by him and all his near followers and so they were respected and their pieces of advice were accepted, absorbed, well learned and maintained denoting absolute response:
"THE PROPHET GAVE TRUE EXAMPLE TO BE FOLLOWED" (S.33: V.21)
The 2nd step was disseminating knowledge about the evils of alcohol that it is deleterious and detrimental:
THE BELIEVERS ENQUIRE ABOUT SPIRITS AND GAMBLING. INFORM THEM THAT THEY HAVE THEIR EVILS AND USES FOR PEOPLE BUT THEIR EVILS OUTWEIGH THEIR USES. (S2: V.219).
Thus drawing the attention to the deleterious effects of using spirits and gambling.
The 3rd step was rather decisive, it says blankly.
YOU BELIEVERS DO NOT APPROACH PRAYING WHILE YOU ARE UNDER THE EFFECT OF ALCOHOL. (S.4: V.43)
Thus minimizing the abuse during most of the day, as the five prayers extend from dawn time until nightfall. The 4th step came when the people had matured enough to accept it through the penetrating model, the persuading orientation and the partial legislation. It was related that one of believers namely "Omar Ebn El Khtab" said in a meeting in the mosque "Oh Allah give us a decisive say about alcohol". At this time of real faith and maturation the last step was declared by the verse saying:
YOU BELIEVERS, SPIRITS, GAMBLING. IDOLS AND FORTUNE TELLING ARE ALL EVILS WHICH YOU SHOULD ABANDON THAT YOU MAY PROSPER. (S.5: V.90)
These vita steady steps treating the social and the spiritual side were the two pillars upon which the plan of combat rested.
History states that since the last verse the majority of the abusers abstained and the people lived without alcohol and did not drink or touch or sell or buy or sit with abusers or even carry it. This picture is unique in history and is a witness of the success of the campaign. From the above stated example we can deduce the items of the Islamic approach.
1. The model of the leader.
2. The dissemination of information about the evils of abuse.
3. Legislative steps were gradual hand in hand with these approaches and the change was to the better of the social life of the people.
4. The law of prohibition and imposing punishment for abusers came last.
Secondly, here is an important paper from WHO which outlines the approach of the Iranian government whose HIV epidemic is quite different from the HIV epidemics elsewhere in the world which, according to a 2005 study was found to be characterized by over 60% of all HIV infections in the Republic of Iran attributable directly to IV drug abuse.
http://www.emro.who.int/asd/pdf/hiv_review_iran.pdf
I think people would be surprised to notice that the Iranian plan is pragmatic and not at all the "fire and brimstone" approach that they might have suspected due to their social bias against "Islam" that has been exploited and manipulated by so many media and government alliances in the name of power and money.
*I am obligated to note that the first article presented by a muslim physician in the field is obviously a Sunni standpoint and most likely attributes something falsely to one of the leaders that the Sunni sect habitually inserts into the "doctrine" without actual evidence of same. Omar ibn Khatab was most likely not the speaker in that instance and in fact, one of the first three Caliphs to stand at the helm of Islam and was responsible for appointing a heavy drinker to the pulpit who literally fell from the pulpit during a famous episode that had been prophesied by the prophet during his lifetime.
May Allah be pleased with the Prophets, Imams, Companions and Believers and have mercy on those who found reason to lie about so many vastly important details.
-Certainly, you will understand it after some time. (Qur'an, 38:88)
I was thrilled to see Ron Silliman taking on the issue of chemical use/abuse in the art world. By all means, go there and read his plea to those in his orbit...it takes guts sometimes to stand up to those who would and will, obliterate a person for opting to stand up and clearly acknowledge the problem of chemical use/abuse in a typically chemical friendly group of artists and friends.
http://www.spiritualriver.com/drug-addiction/
"Why are the relapse rates so low? (the author obviously meant to say "high" relapse rates)
You have probably heard some of the statistics for how many people stay sober, or for how many people stay clean after leaving treatment. These statistics are shockingly low, and can really be quite depressing to those who are interested in sending a friend or a loved one to treatment.
One reason that relapse rates are so bad is that the pool of possible recovering addicts is so large, and many of them are being “forced” into the statistics. In other words, many of the people who go to treatment centers do so in order to avoid a jail term, and they have no intention of staying clean and sober when they get out of rehab. This type of rehab visit is extremely common, and probably makes up a fairly large percentage of all the people in treatment. Therefore, the statistics are skewed a bit because there are so many people who do not truly want to get clean."
As the world takes new paths and learns more about Islam and the reason so many people adhere to the so-called strict regimen known as submission, it will certainly be interesting to see what research will be produced in countries like Iran who also have their share of chemical abuse problems and associated disorders of the human condition like sexually transmitted diseases, HIV and poverty/malnutrition.
Here is a relatively well written article that describes the overhaul that the prophet Mohamed successfully conducted in the early Islamic society when he eliminated chemical use from the list of what society ought to consider "normal" and "tolerable".*
The Islamic Plan To Combat Alcoholism
It is well known that alcoholism was wide spread all over the Arab Peninsula. The acceptance of the people for alcohol use was at its acme. Literature especially poetry reflects this fact. The deleterious effects of alcoholism was manifested on the social life conducting the tribes to continuous conflicts and wars
The main approach to the problem by Islam, was to adopt gradation in forbidding alcoholism. This was carried out side by side with improving the social conditions of the people. Faith played a major part in these two approaches. The time estimated from the beginning of the campaign to its end was about 15 years. The personality of the leader, "The Prophet" was revolutionary affecting this change. The model he gave, as 1st step was the true example adopted by him and all his near followers and so they were respected and their pieces of advice were accepted, absorbed, well learned and maintained denoting absolute response:
"THE PROPHET GAVE TRUE EXAMPLE TO BE FOLLOWED" (S.33: V.21)
The 2nd step was disseminating knowledge about the evils of alcohol that it is deleterious and detrimental:
THE BELIEVERS ENQUIRE ABOUT SPIRITS AND GAMBLING. INFORM THEM THAT THEY HAVE THEIR EVILS AND USES FOR PEOPLE BUT THEIR EVILS OUTWEIGH THEIR USES. (S2: V.219).
Thus drawing the attention to the deleterious effects of using spirits and gambling.
The 3rd step was rather decisive, it says blankly.
YOU BELIEVERS DO NOT APPROACH PRAYING WHILE YOU ARE UNDER THE EFFECT OF ALCOHOL. (S.4: V.43)
Thus minimizing the abuse during most of the day, as the five prayers extend from dawn time until nightfall. The 4th step came when the people had matured enough to accept it through the penetrating model, the persuading orientation and the partial legislation. It was related that one of believers namely "Omar Ebn El Khtab" said in a meeting in the mosque "Oh Allah give us a decisive say about alcohol". At this time of real faith and maturation the last step was declared by the verse saying:
YOU BELIEVERS, SPIRITS, GAMBLING. IDOLS AND FORTUNE TELLING ARE ALL EVILS WHICH YOU SHOULD ABANDON THAT YOU MAY PROSPER. (S.5: V.90)
These vita steady steps treating the social and the spiritual side were the two pillars upon which the plan of combat rested.
History states that since the last verse the majority of the abusers abstained and the people lived without alcohol and did not drink or touch or sell or buy or sit with abusers or even carry it. This picture is unique in history and is a witness of the success of the campaign. From the above stated example we can deduce the items of the Islamic approach.
1. The model of the leader.
2. The dissemination of information about the evils of abuse.
3. Legislative steps were gradual hand in hand with these approaches and the change was to the better of the social life of the people.
4. The law of prohibition and imposing punishment for abusers came last.
Secondly, here is an important paper from WHO which outlines the approach of the Iranian government whose HIV epidemic is quite different from the HIV epidemics elsewhere in the world which, according to a 2005 study was found to be characterized by over 60% of all HIV infections in the Republic of Iran attributable directly to IV drug abuse.
http://www.emro.who.int/asd/pdf/hiv_review_iran.pdf
I think people would be surprised to notice that the Iranian plan is pragmatic and not at all the "fire and brimstone" approach that they might have suspected due to their social bias against "Islam" that has been exploited and manipulated by so many media and government alliances in the name of power and money.
*I am obligated to note that the first article presented by a muslim physician in the field is obviously a Sunni standpoint and most likely attributes something falsely to one of the leaders that the Sunni sect habitually inserts into the "doctrine" without actual evidence of same. Omar ibn Khatab was most likely not the speaker in that instance and in fact, one of the first three Caliphs to stand at the helm of Islam and was responsible for appointing a heavy drinker to the pulpit who literally fell from the pulpit during a famous episode that had been prophesied by the prophet during his lifetime.
May Allah be pleased with the Prophets, Imams, Companions and Believers and have mercy on those who found reason to lie about so many vastly important details.
9.12.09
Iran Gets Approval to remove Israeli land mines from South Lebanon
South Lebanon no longer hides the fact that it is part of the Iranian Empire. It's simply amazing to me to live in a time when one empire is falling and another is rising. Not many people in history get to do that because empires tend to last for at least a thousand years if not more. Sometimes, old empires return as is the case with the Persian Empire albeit with a few changes. This time around, it's a Shia Muslim Empire. In the book below "The Devil We Know", I couldn't help but notice the curiosity and intellectual courage of the author who in no way is to be considered "pro Islam", who states quite aptly that the new Iranian Empire appears to have an attitude of frank "manifest destiny". I have to chuckle a bit when non believers notice something and still assume that even though the proof is right there and out in the open, there must be some catch, some missing piece or even, a case of Messianic Mistaken Identity going on in the minds of the leaders of Iran proper. He got it right even if he cannot possibly accept it for himself. Iran possesses true manifest destiny and we Shia know that. The nation of Shia who really don't have as much allegiance to "countries" as they do to a philosophy and a select group of people (the Twelve Imams).
While in South Lebanon and with this profound book in the forefront of my thoughts, I visited a park that was built by Iran in a little town just above Bint Jubail which is known as Maroon. I searched on the internet to see if I could find a news story about this amazing little park but could find nothing....so I have to write my own.
Bint Jubail is a moderately large city by Southern Lebanese standards where most villages are relatively small and dispersed throughout the area with less than one or two kilometers between towns. Bint Jubail used to be the center of trade for South Lebanon until it was occupied by Israel for way longer than I care to remember. During the 2006 Israeli invasion of sovereign and then liberated South Lebanon, Bint Jubail became a key factor in the defeat of the world's fourth largest military power by a small group of civilian resistance fighters. It was as Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah promised it would be, the Israeli Graveyard. The defeat of Israel in Bint Jubail is and will be considered by future historians as the turning point in the destiny of many nations throughout the world if not all of them.
Maroon is a tiny village that sits above Bint Jubail in the valley below and to the southeast, a northern Israeli town. It is not only beautiful but incredibly strategic in the military sense of the word. This is where Iran has constructed a modern, solar powered picnic ground that truly is the finest park I've ever seen. On weekends it is nearly impossible to get a spot (no fees are charged) unless you show up at the crack of dawn.
The Iranian flag flies and is clearly visible to those in Israel who spend their days most likely in a state of incredulous angst at what is happening to a strip of land they thought they could steal and occupy as they did to the whole of Palestine. I've little doubt they know or at least suspect that the end of the story is quite near. I also feel a sense of sympathy for them because if I had been a party to the war crimes of Israel, I guess I'd be more than a bit fretful.
Ironically however, I don't think they ought to be so afraid. It isn't going to end the way they think and I am certain no one is going to be exterminated or driven into the sea. Not at all.
South Lebanon no longer hides the fact that it is part of the Iranian Empire. It's simply amazing to me to live in a time when one empire is falling and another is rising. Not many people in history get to do that because empires tend to last for at least a thousand years if not more. Sometimes, old empires return as is the case with the Persian Empire albeit with a few changes. This time around, it's a Shia Muslim Empire. In the book below "The Devil We Know", I couldn't help but notice the curiosity and intellectual courage of the author who in no way is to be considered "pro Islam", who states quite aptly that the new Iranian Empire appears to have an attitude of frank "manifest destiny". I have to chuckle a bit when non believers notice something and still assume that even though the proof is right there and out in the open, there must be some catch, some missing piece or even, a case of Messianic Mistaken Identity going on in the minds of the leaders of Iran proper. He got it right even if he cannot possibly accept it for himself. Iran possesses true manifest destiny and we Shia know that. The nation of Shia who really don't have as much allegiance to "countries" as they do to a philosophy and a select group of people (the Twelve Imams).
While in South Lebanon and with this profound book in the forefront of my thoughts, I visited a park that was built by Iran in a little town just above Bint Jubail which is known as Maroon. I searched on the internet to see if I could find a news story about this amazing little park but could find nothing....so I have to write my own.
Bint Jubail is a moderately large city by Southern Lebanese standards where most villages are relatively small and dispersed throughout the area with less than one or two kilometers between towns. Bint Jubail used to be the center of trade for South Lebanon until it was occupied by Israel for way longer than I care to remember. During the 2006 Israeli invasion of sovereign and then liberated South Lebanon, Bint Jubail became a key factor in the defeat of the world's fourth largest military power by a small group of civilian resistance fighters. It was as Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah promised it would be, the Israeli Graveyard. The defeat of Israel in Bint Jubail is and will be considered by future historians as the turning point in the destiny of many nations throughout the world if not all of them.
Maroon is a tiny village that sits above Bint Jubail in the valley below and to the southeast, a northern Israeli town. It is not only beautiful but incredibly strategic in the military sense of the word. This is where Iran has constructed a modern, solar powered picnic ground that truly is the finest park I've ever seen. On weekends it is nearly impossible to get a spot (no fees are charged) unless you show up at the crack of dawn.
The Iranian flag flies and is clearly visible to those in Israel who spend their days most likely in a state of incredulous angst at what is happening to a strip of land they thought they could steal and occupy as they did to the whole of Palestine. I've little doubt they know or at least suspect that the end of the story is quite near. I also feel a sense of sympathy for them because if I had been a party to the war crimes of Israel, I guess I'd be more than a bit fretful.
Ironically however, I don't think they ought to be so afraid. It isn't going to end the way they think and I am certain no one is going to be exterminated or driven into the sea. Not at all.
8.12.09
Back from two weeks in the Levant just in time for a (hopefully) nice big snow storm and two weeks of the wholly joyful look that I always take this time of year at the world and the Christians and non Christians and just about everyone else who all go a little beserk with gadgets and outdoor lights. It's a precious time of year to just about everyone on the planet and the way I got to Islam was through Jesus (may Allah be pleased with him) so I guess it all makes some type of odd sense for the Christmas season to remain a very special one to me as a muslim.
I read an absolutely stunning book while I was down in South Lebanon. Couldn't put it down. Quite literally the best book thus far written about the trouble with Iran and the US.
I highly recommend this to everyone and have to say...you don't have to like political history books to get into this one...truly. Very straight forward and hits the high points of this cautionary tale in a style that is well paced and not that over your head type of political gibberish.
To get a taste of The Devil We Know/Dealing With The New Iranian Superpower go here:
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