For Christmas Of 2014.

To: My Relatives, Christian Friends And Christian Readers Of This Website,

I wish you all a very merry and enjoyable Christmas of December 25, 2014.

Sincerely,
Sodium

Netanyahu: " Israel Is A Jewish State For Jews ( Only ) "

By Sodium

According to some Internet 's news reporting, Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel and the majority of  the members of his government, have already approved and declared that Israel is a Jewish State for Jews only. The voting results amongst the members of his cabinet were 14 votes for such a declaration and 6 votes against it.

Mr. Netanyahu intends to submit what his government has approved, with regards to the Jewishness of the State of Israel, to the Parliament for approval and consequently making it a law. If the Israeli Parliament approves it by simple majority, it will become a law.

A question: If the Israeli Parliament approves such a fascist declaration what will happen to Israel 's citizens who are not Jewish ?

Answer: they will become more and more second class citizen, since they have already been treated as second class citizens by Ziofascists of Israel.

The writer of this blog has written in earlier essays, which have already been published on this website, that the current Zionist leaders in the current Israeli government are nothing more than a bunch of fanatical Ziofascists with distinction, Netanyahu and the majority of his government 's members have just given more credence to what the writer of this essay has already written and published on this website about them.

Since the actions of Netanyahu and the hard core Zionists in his government are louder than their words, no further comments and proofs are needed to prove, once more, that they are, indeed, a bunch of  Ziofascists, with distinction.

END.  

Some Interesting Information, Unknown To Most People Of The Globe.

By Sodium

While cruising the Internet, hoping to find a used book about Ibn Al-Haytham, as the first scientist in the recorded human history, I stumbled on a website, by sheer accident, to be caught in a complete surprise to read the following unknown information to me and, most likely, to most people of the world:

The Information:
================
" The total weight of all ants of the world is the same as the total weight of all Humans. "

My Response:
===============
It would be very interesting to know the methodology that was used for reaching such an incredible information.

The Information:
================
" Lighting strikes Earth 8 millions times a day. "

My Response:
================
The technology which was used to reach such a statistical conclusion must be revealed. Otherwise, I have to put a question mark, (? ), about such an formation.

The Information:
=================
" Only 20 percent of Americans have passports. "

My Response:
=================
That one is easy to believe, since all what one has to do is check with the Department of State of the Executive Branch of the United States of America.

The Information:
==================
" China produces more pigs than all other countries combined. "

My Response:
==================
One must check with the Ministry of Agriculture of China; and then collect all statistics available from the 196 countries which are members of the United Nations, to test the validity of such information.

The Information:
==================
" Whether you walk or run, you burn 100 calories per mile. "

My Response:
=================
I occasionally do some walking, but I have never known how many calories I have burned per mile, let alone knowing how many calories I burn if I can run.

The Information:
=================
" The Effel tower, (in Paris, France ), becomes 6 inches taller in the Summer."

My Response:
=================
Consult physics books on heat of metals, especially iron. 

The Information:
=================
" 97 %  of world water is undrinkable. "

My Response:
=================
If the operative word, " undrinkable, " means that the availability of the water in the world is really drinkable, (seas and oceans water ), but the human race has not made enough efforts to make it drinkable, that is just fine and I see no problem in the information given. But, if the operative word, " undrinkable " means that 97 percent of water in the world is so contaminated unfit for humans to drink, then and only then, the human race  is heading to disasters. Let us hope the former meaning applies, not the latter.

The Information:
=================
" The world consumes 2 liters of gasoline, ( Petroleum ), per person per day."

My Response:
=================
To test the validity of such an information, one must check with the OPEC countries, or with the Department of Energy of the government of the United States of America and then obtain a reliable information about the world 's population.

The Information:
=================
" Dolphins sleep with one eye open. "

My Response:
=================
Most likely, divers in the man-made pools for Dolphins, in Florida or California, have reported such an information. Ask them.

The Information:
=================
" Almost half of the people in Manhattan, ( part of the city of New York ), live alone."

My Response:
==================
Check with the office of the city government, ( Mayor 's Office ), of  the city of New York. They should have the statistics.

The Information:
===================
" Black cats are bad luck in the U.S.A., but good luck in Japan. "

My Response:
====================
Black cats are also considered bad luck in most countries of the globe. Japan seems to be the exception

The Information:
=====================
"Only 11% of the world 's surface is being used to grow crops."

My Response:
=====================
Perhaps, such an information is correct, if the suraces of the seas and oceans are included.

The Information:
======================
" Americans consume 120 apples per year. "

My Response:
======================
That is equal to only 0.33 apple per day. Not really much of consumption of apple per day, at all.

The Information:
======================
70 % of the red meat eaten world wide is goat meat."

My Response:
=======================
Perhaps, and only perhaps, checking with certain offices of the United Nations, or the U.S. Department of Agriculture may attest tlo the validity of such information.

The Information:
=======================
" The sun comprises 99 % of the total mass in our solar system. "

My Response:
======================
Ask some professional astronomers who work for NASA. They may confirm such a piece of most interesting information. Mother Earth must be extremely minute in comparison.

The Information:
======================
" People do not sneeze when they sleep. "

My Response:
======================
This piece of information can be attested by having a good recorder next to your bed when you sleep.

The Information:
======================
" Turtles can breath through their rear-end. "

My Response:
======================
A Knowledgeable zoologist can confirm such a piece of information or dismiss it

The Information:
======================
" Your heart beats 100,000 times per day. "

My Response:
=======================
Please ask your cardiologist, ( heart specialist )  He or she can confirm or dismiss such a piece of very interesting information.

The Information:
=======================
" Flamingos got their distinctive color from the food they eat."

My Response:
=======================
Since their distinctive color is pink or rather an orange color, perhaps and just perhaps, they eat a lot oranges, or probably mangos. I am guessing, here, because I really do not know .

The Information:
=======================
" Human brain is made up of only 2 % of human body, but requires 20 % of your oxygen and calories. "

My Response:
========================
A physician specializing in neurology may be able to confirm or dismiss this piece of information. If you know a person specializing in that field, ask him or her.

The Information:
========================
" Women blink twice as often as men."

My Response:
=========================
If such a piece of information is true, one may ask " why ? "  Perhaps a professional and knowledgeable psychologist can answer the " why ? ", with a degree of acceptability that makes sense.

Final words
========================
The list of information I have accidently encountered, on the Internet, is much longer than I have listed in the above list. I could not copy more information because each statement of information appeared only for few second on the screen of the computer. I took hand written notes as quickly as I possible could to share them with the readers of this website. That was the best I could do.

END
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       .

Why Describing The Hard Core Zionists As Ziofascists ?

By Sodium

Although I have recently provided an explanation, in the comment section of this website, as to " why " I have started calling the hard core Zionists in Israel as Ziofascists ? " I will provide, in this essay, more reasons to the " why. "  In other words, there are several justifications that are telling that they deserve such a negative description. I do so in response to some of my close friends who contacted me and expressed their displeasure in my reverting to name calling, because of what the Israeli Zionists had done to the civilian population of Gaza, during the July-August War of 2014. My good friends have held the view that two wrongs do not make the situation in Gaza right. Although I have explained to my good friends the reasons, I feel that it is incumbent upon me to recite those reasons to all readers of this website, just in case they might have held similar views to my friends views. I will not burden the readers with all the reasons known to me for many years, but will provide the interested readers with the following reasons I do consider paramount:

(1) An Italian academic thinker, by the name of Umberto Eco, is considered an expert on fascism. He has provided detailed descriptions of fascism and called them the " Eternal Features " of fascism. Those " Eternal Features " of  fascism comprised 14 features. In order for a country or society to turn fascist, it takes only one feature of the 14 features to start the road to fascism, since other features of the 14 features eventually COAGULATE around it to end-up with a full-pledged fascist country or fascist society. The apartheid nature of Israel, as a country and society, fits Umberto Eco's descriptions. Any reader who is interested in reading Eco's " Eternal Features " of  fascism can do so by Googling the following words or something similar to the following words:

Umberto Eco's " Eternal Features " of  Fascism.

(2) When the vast majority of the Israeli Zionists supports the criminal war of July-August of 2014,
 conducted by their government whose members are mostly radical right wingers, the whole country and society have already been engulfed by fascist behaviors.

(3) When some academic Israeli elites recommend to the Israeli soldiers to rape Palestinian women, as a weapon of war, the fascist and criminal tendencies have already overwhelmed the fabric of the Israeli society, especially when a university administration defends such a recommendation, instead of firing the academic who has made the recommendation, in the first place, or at least dismiss it as incompatible with the university policy.

(4)  When the Israeli military murdered, in cold blood, Palestinian children who were playing on one of the Gaza beaches, during the criminal war of July-August of 2014, fascism had already ruled the mental capacity of the vast majority of the people in the Zionist societies of Israel.. Some Zionist Rabbis had called for the complete destruction of Gaza and its entire population, during the war of July-August of 2014. A genocide call ?  You can bet it is !
(5) The hard core Zionists, in the U.S.A, have called the Muslims as Islamofascists and Islam as Islamofascisim. Such rude and racist calling of Muslims and Islam have been going on for at least a decade. Although those Zionists who called Muslims and Islam by such ugly and rude name callings, were well known to me for many years, I had refrained from calling them Ziofascists, ( Zionist-Fascists ), until I witnessed, on the Internet, what they had done to the civilian population of Gaza, especially to women and children and disabled old people, during Benjamin Netanyahu 's criminal war of July-August War of 2014 against Gaza. That is when I could no longer refrain from calling them Ziofascists.

Final Words:
==============
If these reasons, as listed above, are not good enough reasons to call the hard core Zionists of Israel and elsewhere, who support them, as Ziofascists, I simply do not know what else would be good enough.

END.            
 

On Eid Al-Adha Holiday: Still Arabs Are Killing Arabs And Muslims Are Killing Muslims.

By Sodium

I have been reluctant even to touch, in a remote way, Eid Al-Adha and I have felt that as much as I want to wish my Muslim friends and readers good wishes for the Eid, it may sound shallow and meaningless, when I examine the map of the globe and see Arabs are killing Arabs and Muslims are killing Muslims. At the top of all that, not a single house has been rebuilt in Gaza after the Ziofascists of Israel had committed war crimes, in their hatred and barbarity and destroyed it almost totally and completely. Although I do feel that Israel must be forced by the international community to rebuild what it has destroyed and pay compensation to every Gazan civilian it murdered or injured, ( either pay or we will de-legitimize you ), I do blame as much the wealthy Arabs and Muslims for lack of compassion for Gaza and its suffering people.

Under such enormous human sufferings and tragedies, would my best wishes make any difference ? I think my wishes would have sounded superficial and empty. Hence, I refrain from offering my best wishes, at this time. I do hope to offer them on the next Eid, providing the killings stopped and rebuilding Gaza materialized.

End. 

Israel's Ziofascists Have Advocated Rape, As A Weapon Of War In Gaza.

By Sodium

NOTE: [ This essay is being written as a record of what the hard core Zionists of Israel had advocated to do to Palestinian women during the invasion of Gaza in July-August war of 2014. ]

The well known fascists of the world, especially in the Western World, had advocated all sorts of ugly practices against certain groups of minorities they did not like and wished to get rid of. So had done the Nazis of Germany, particularly against the Jews of Germany and the rest of Western Europe. To my knowledge, neither fascists nor Nazis had advocated the usage of Rape as a Weapon of War. That was precisely what the Ziofascists, ( the hard core Zionists ), in Israel had advocated to be done by the Israeli soldiers who invaded part of Gaza in July-August, 2014. To me, this is the lowest of all lows. And because of that, I have taken the responsibility to record it, here, for the whole people of the world to see and read; and then reach their own conclusions about such a criminal advocacy :

( 1 )  In a radio interviews in Israel, Mr. Mordechai Kader, an expert on the Middle East at Israel 's Bar Ilan University, had advocated raping Palestinian women as a weapon of war, and I quote, here,  of what he had advocated: " Nothing could deter Palestinian terrorists except the knowledge that their sisters or mothers will be raped. "

Sodium 's  Comments For ( 1 ):
===============================
What kind of an appropriate response such kind of a criminal advocacy deserves except calling the advocators the scums of the humanity and deserve to be hung by their balls until they die. as a just punishment ?. The real terrorists are not the Gazan resisters to Israel's brutalities and barbarity, but those who advocated the criminal acts of rape as a weapon of war.

( 2 )  A group of women had written to the President of Bar Ilan University in Israel, protesting the advocacy of raping Palestinian women, as a weapon of war, and rejecting providing a legitimacy to Israeli soldiers to rape Palestinian women. The response they had received from the university was astounding in backing Mr. Mordechai Kader' s advocacy of raping Palestinian women; and I would quote it, here, for the whole world to see and read and for the records: Kedar had simply described " the bitter reality of the Middle East. "

Sodium 's  Comments For ( 2 ):
================================
" Bitter reality of the Middle East " is my foot....etc.....
If  an Arab expert on the Middle East, at an Arab University, had made similar advocacy of raping Israeli women, as a weapon of war, the whole Western world would have jumped in the arena in support of Israel 's "  right for self-defense ? " which would have provided Israel with more pretext to murder more Palestinian women and children. In Kader' s case of advocating raping Palestinian women, as a weapon of war, not a single Western leader or politician or public figure had once, just once, condemned such a criminal advocacy, in spite of the news of the advocacy had been transmitted through out the globe. Double Standard ?  You bet it is.

END.          

Zionism And The Gaza Wars.

By Sodium

The evidence resulting from all the criminal wars Israel has waged, so far, against the Palestinian people, especially against the civilian population of Gaza, has become glaringly clear, at least to me:

The Ziofascists of  Israel want to slaughter as many Palestinians as they possible can. And the fundamental reason behind such an inhuman barbarity has to do with the undercurrent demography that has been shaping up in the entire mandated Palestine, which includes Israel itself, West bank and Gaza Strip. Such a trend is beyond Israel's ability to overcome, in spite of the unprecedented Uncle Sam' s generosity, ranging from military, financial, diplomatic and geopolitical generosities. In short, the demography in the old mandated Palestine is developing in the Palestinians favor for two major reasons:

(1) In recent years, more Jews have already migrated from Israel to other countries such as U.S.A., Western Europe, Canada, or Australia than the number of Jews who have settled in Israel or in the settlements built illegally on stolen Palestinian lands. In fact, more than one million highly educated and professional Israelis have already left Israel and settled in the countries that were just mentioned.

(2) The birth rate among the Palestinians inside Israel itself, West Bank and Gaza Strip is greater than among Israeli Jews.

Such a trend Israel cannot possibly win. In fact, it points to a bleak future for Israel. Hence, the most intelligent Israelis have observed the writings on the wall and have already migrated from Israel to other countries, for good.

No power on Earth can help Israel from such a trend. Only the Ziofascist leaders of Israel can, when they recognize two basic facts:

FACT ONE:
=============
Zionism is the product of late nineteenth century Europe. So were the ideologies of Fascism and Nazism. There is a parallel there between Zionism on one hand and Fascism and Nazism on the other hand. Both Fascism and Nazism were destructive ideologies that caused the slaughter of millions upon millions of innocent human beings. So is what Zionism doing right now in its endless wars against the Palestinian people. Only the Ziofascists of Israel can change that and save themselves, when they reject the destructive ideology of Zionism and just be good conscientious Jews.

FACT TWO:
=============         
The Ziofascists of Israel must be aware of the fact that their existence happened to be in an Arab neighborhood, stretching from northern Syria in the East to the Atlantic Ocean shores of Morocco in the West, with a total population of more than 320 million. Israel cting as the Bully in such a neighborhood has not worked and it is not working as the recent war in Gaza has proven and it is not going to work in the future. And sooner or later, the bully is going to be shocked what such an enduring neighborhood can do to the bully. The Ottomans tried it and they lost. The French tried it and they were kicked out. The British tried it and they were kicked out too.

Final Words:
============
The writer of this essay has refrained from calling the Israeli Zionists as "  Ziofascists " for so many years, in the hope that they would wise-up and de-Zionize themselves from such a destructive ideology and walk humbly with the Palestinians to the alter of peace. What the hard core Zionists in Israel, led by the right wing Likud Party, had done to the civilian population of Gaza, especially to women, children and disabled old people, in the war, they waged against Gaza, in July-August, 2014 had compelled me to start using the term, " Ziofascists, " as a fitting term that is compatible with their criminal behaviors in the war--fascist and Nazi behaviors which all humanity had endured in the last century, until both fascism and Nazism were defeated on the ground. So must Zionism and its Ziofascist adherents.

END.





























                                                                                                                                                                                                  
   

A Note To the Readers Of This Website.

Dear Readers Across The Globe,

This note is being addressed to you to let you know that I am still alive and breathing and doing okay health-wise. And the reason behind the fact that I have not written any essay since July 13,2014 has been my profound interest in the recent Gaza War. I have followed it hour by hour on the Internet and at the same time I have tried exposing the barrage of the shameless lies, fabricated by the hard core Zionists of the current Israel's government of Benjamin Netanyahu, to the American public as much as I possibly could, by posting certain commentaries on three different websites which were/ are more read by American readers than this website, which was fundamentally designed for global readership, not merely for American readers. Besides, I have tried to keep this website intellectually stimulating for those global readers interested in genuine knowledge about religions, international geopolitics and its tail, " The International Diplomacy."

At the moment, I am closely following the temporary Hudna, ( temporary cease fire ), of the Gaza War; and the subsequent indirect negotiations that have been going on in Cairo, Egypt, under the leadership of the Egyptian government.

As you may see that the reason has nothing to do with health, or technical difficulties, or ignoring my profound feeling of obligations toward everyone of you, but this immoral, barbaric and savage war being waged against women, children and the rest of the civilian population of Gaza.

Sooner or later, I shall return to writing the usual weekly essay on this website. And I will certainly write about the Gaza War of 2014. Meanwhile, try to catch up on reading the essays that have been published on this website and, for one reason or another, you have, somehow, missed reading.

May the future be kind to the victimized and agonized people of Gaza. I do feel that I am one of them; and my empathy toward them all is limitless.

And shame and more shame on the current criminal government of Israel and shame on every country that has tried to defend the indefensible and criminal acts committed by a bunch of fascist adherents to the destructive ideology of Zionism.

Pity the nation that claims that Israel has the right for self-defense, ( although Israel has started the war ), and dares not say a single word about Palestinians rights for self-defense, out of fear of the powerful and destructive Zionist pressure group, (Lobby ), called the American Israel Public Relations Committee, or ( AIPAC ), for short, in Washington DC.

AIPAC practically controls the Halls of Congress of the United States of America and dictates, on Congress, what American policies Israel wants the United States to follow and apply in the Middle East. Whether such dictated policies are detrimental or unhelpful to the global interest of the United States, especially in the Middle East, is un-important, as long as Israel's interest served first. Period. Only an enlightened American public can change such detrimental activities for the best interest of the United States. And that is precisely what I am trying to do, however small my attempts might have been. The most important is to continue the attempts and hope for fair American policies towards the genuine victims, the Palestinian people. One day, I do trust that America will do the right thing. It is just a matter of time. And that requires supreme human patience.      
Sincerely,
Sodium. 

Balfour Declaration & Sykes-Picot Accord Are Roots Of Violence / Wars In Middle East.

By Sodium

What one sees chaos, violence and wars in the Middle East, these days, is fundamentally due to political criminal acts committed by certain Western powers which had publicly or secretly made the following two documents, during World War One, ( WW 1, for short ):

( 1 )  Balfour Declaration.
( 2 )  Sykes-Picot Accord.

In order to provide the interested readers of this website with a clear picture of what was going on, during WW !, it is imperative to show how each of the two documents, specified above, has been developed and eventually signed and made official documents, serving only the interest of two colonial powers, namely Great Britain and France, without taking into considerations the welfare and humanity of the people of the Middle East:

( 1 ) Balfour Declaration:
===========================
Such a declaration has been expressed in a letter signed by Mr. Arthur James Balfour, the British Foreign Secretary, ( Minister of Foreign Affairs ), addressed to Lord Rothschild, a wealthy Zionist Jew who had promised the British that he would deliver a reluctant America into WW 1 The text of Mr. Balfour' s letter addressed to Lord Rothschild is quoted below:

Quote
========

 FOREIGN   OFFICE ( Of  Britain. )

November 2nd, 1917

Dear Lord Rothschild,

I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of his Majesty Government that following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved, by, the Cabinet.

His Majesty 's Government view with favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavors to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.

I would be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist federation.

Yours Sincerely,
Arthur James Balfour

Unquote
==========

It must be pointed out that Mr. Balfour had written the above quoted letter to Lord Rothschild, after obtaining the formula for the synthesis of Acetone, ( a chemical compound that could be used in the manufacturing of Chemical Weapons ), from  Dr. Chaim Wiseman who was well known Organic Chemist and who discovered Acetone. In addition of being a well known Organic Chemist, Wiseman was also a well known Zionist leader. It is so obvious to the writer of this essay that Wiseman could not have given Balfour the formula for the synthesis of Acetone without getting " something " from Balfour, in return. That " something " was the letter signed by Balfour and addressed to Lord Rothschild and quoted above. Ever since, it has been known as The Balfour Declaration. What really had taken place between Balfour and Wiseman resembles, in a way, a typical " Horses Trading " which, in the real business world, simply meant: " I am willing to trade my horse with yours."

Wiseman' s " horse " was the formula for the synthesis of Acetone and Balfour' s " horse " was The Balfour Declaration, as quoted above. Since those two men have " Traded Horses," the Palestinians have suffered ever since and to a lesser degree the Jews have suffered also, ever since.

Question: Since it is only a letter, why it is called a Declaration ?
Answer: Because Mr. Balfour himself had called it a Declaration twice, within the text of  his letter, addressed to Lord Rothschild. The word " declaration " appears in the beginning and last sentences, respectively, of the text of the letter quoted above.

As Israel was created in May of 1948, Chaim Wiseman became the first President of Israel, although he was not the first choice for such a position. The first choice was Albert Einstein who wisely and politely had declined accepting the offer, because he wanted Arabs and Jews to live side by side, together in the land called, then, Palestine. It seems to the writer of this essay that the brilliant Einstein knew, or at least had envisioned, what would happen, after Israel was created at the expense of the Palestinian people: endless wars between Arabs and Zionists over Palestine. If the hard core Zionists were smart enough, they could have learned from Einstein' s wisdom/envision. They were ( and still are ) arrogant zealots and paranoid; because of which they had/have been unable to realize that the project of Zionism had/has already failed, so far, in bringing to them peace, but endless wars and bleak future, in spite of all military, financial political and diplomatic assistance Israel keeps fleecing and abusing the great institutions of the United States of America, through the destructive power of its AIPAC, the political pressure group, well known, in Washington DC and in the Halls of Congress as the " AIPAC  LOBBY. " 

And because of the unlimited and endless American support, at all levels, Israel has become an arrogant and intoxicated with its own power; the consequences of which has been total abuse of the fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people, and at the same time it has ignored the fact that its shaky existence will always be in an Arab neighborhood whose population in the streets resents its abusive practices against the fundamental human rights of the Palestinian people and resent also its obvious arrogant intoxication with the unlimited and endless support of  the American vast powers. And because of all of that, Israel has ended-up being an Apartheid State.

In short, Apartheid States cannot possibly have a bright future, but a bleak one. The cycle of history says so.

( 2 ) Sykes-Picot Accord:
=========================
This accord was established secretly, during WW 1,  between Sykes, a British diplomat and Picot, a French diplomat. The whole purpose of the accord was to divide the whole Middle East, after the demise of the Ottoman Empire between Britain and France. In fact, after winning WW 1,  Britain and France had ended up dividing the whole Arab world between themselves. Under the Ottoman Empire, one could travel  from the Turkish city of Istanbole, in the East to the Moroccan city of Casablanca in the West, without encountering any serious handicap or rather hindrance, such as Passport Controls and Customs Controls. The British and French have divided the whole Arab world into 22 countries and colonized them as they saw fit. Each one of the 22 countries has its own puppet government, identified by geographical borders; and each one of the 22 separated identities has created its own Passport Control and Customs Control. In short, both Britain and France had applied the ugly policy of " Divide and Rule, " in order to rule the resentful Arab population.

In fact, France, at one point in history, had considered Algeria as an integral part of France. It took the Algerian people a long struggle and sacrificing more than one million martyrs to get rid of the French rule. Similarly, the British had practiced the policy of  " Divide and Rule, " notably in India, Egypt, Iraq, Palestine, Cyprus and Yemen. The British Empire of 1917 biggest and ugliest political crime has been what it had done in Palestine: helped creating Israel on the expense of the Palestinian people who were the genuine and true owners of the lands of Palestine. What one can expect from an Empire whose policy was to " Divide and Rule " for keeping the population of its vast colonies under control ?  The most tragic consequences of such a policy was after the Empire was forced to withdraw from some of its colonies. Samples:

~  After the British Empire withdrew from India, the stage was set for Indian Hindus fighting Indian Muslims over Kashmire, an Indian region whose vast majority of people were/are Muslims. Such a fight has been going on ever since the withdrawal, and continued till present time
~  After the British Empire withdrew from Palestine, Zionist Jews started fighting Palestinian Arabs. Such a fight has been going on ever since the withdrawal, and continued till present time.
~  After the British Empire withdrew from Cyprus, a fight had/has started between Greeks and Turks. Such a fight has been going on ever since the withdrawal, and continued till present time.

Any reader who is interested in the meticulous details of the Sykes-Picot Accord must conduct his own research via good libraries and the Internet. This website can only provide you with an outline or a brief review of it, free of charge.

Final words:
=================
It is so obvious that neither Britain nor France had any right to do what they had done to the people of the Middle East and every place else they conquered by sheer military forces. Who, in Palestine, had given the authority to Arthur James Balfour to author a declaration to Lord Rothschild, or making a " Horse's Trading " with Chaim Wiseman, on the expense of the Palestinian Arabs and Palestinian Jews who were innocents of the crimes committed against the European Jews?  In fact, Palestinian Arabs and Palestinian Jews used to baby sit for one another, as their daily circumstances had dictated to do so. Therefore, what one sees, these days, of bloodshed and apparently an endless chaos and violence, have its roots in those two horrible documents, authored by two Western colonial powers, during World War One. It must be said again and again and again, and an endless again, that those two Western colonial powers had no right, whatsoever, doing what they had done to the colonized people of  the Middle East and North Africa. An apology will not be good enough. They should pay financial reparations to the people of that region of the world, through the International Court of Justice.



END.                     

" What ( does ) Tysir Mean In Arabic ( ? ) "

By Sodium

Please notice that the whole title of this essay has been deliberately placed between quotations. This is so because the writer of this essay has not raised the question himself, but has found the question written as " what tysir means in Arabic " without the question mark " ? " and without  the word " does. "  They were added by this essay's writer who has no idea who has risen the question. As it has happened more than once in the past, some one had tried to reach me, to address the question to me, but some how could not reach me. As always, it is always a pleasure to extend a helping hand to the person who had left the question on Google's feed back to me. And below is the answer:

Tysir and also can be written as Tyseer, simply means " Making Easy. "  or it means also " Making Smooth " or " Making Less Difficult."

The above definitions remind me of the four monumental volumes authored by the late Shaykh Ibrahim Qattan who authored the four volumes before he died and titled them as spelled below:

Tysir al-Tafsir, also written as Tyseer al-Tafseer. Let us define the two words of  Tysir and Tafsir separately and then combine the meaning of the two words to get the net result of the two definitions::

We have already known the definition of Tysir which means, "Making Easy. "
al-tafsir, also written as al-afseer, means simply " The Interpretation "

Well, The Interpretation of what ?  Answer: The Interpretation of the verses of the Qur'an. That was what Shaykh Ibrahim Qattan had achieved, when he had authored and published the following monumental volumes, all interpreting the verses of the Qur'an:

*  Tysir Al-Tafsir  Volume One.
*  Tysir Al-Tafsir  Volume Two
*  Tysir Al-Tafsir  Volume  Three
*  Tysir Al-Tafsir  Volume Four.

All four volumes are in my home's library and they are the ones I consult first, when I need help in any interpretation of any verse, as written, in the Qur'an.

Therefore, the net result of the definitions is the following title for the four monumental volumes:

Tysir al-Tafir also written as Tyseerr al-Tafseer simply means " Making Easy The Interpretation."

Brief Comments About The Late Shaykh Ibrahim Qattan:
==================================================
Shaaykh Ibrahim Qattan was a Jordanian citizen who, in his younger years, had attended Al-Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt, for several years. After graduation frm Al-Azhar, he returned to Jordan and worked for the Jordanian government. He served as " Wazeer Al-Ma'arif " meaning, " Minister of Education " several times, in different governments, headed by different prime ministers. The last appointment he held and served honorably very well in it, before he died, was "Judge of the Judges, " roughly equivalent to the position of the. Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States of America.
 
Final words:
===============
The interpretation of the verses of the Qur'an has never been easy. Shaykh Ibrahim Qattan had chosen such a title, in my view, to encourage other Islamic scholars to dig into Ijtihad, meaning relentless researches; and come up with their own interpretation of the verses of the Qur'an. Unfortunately, some Islamic scholars had spent a life time in Ijtihad and died before they could finish their hard work, let alone publishing it. Shaykh Ibrahim Qattan was an exception, indeed, because he was fully backed by Prince Hassan, the youngest brother of the late King Hussein of Jordan. Prince Hassan was, then, the Crown Prince of Jordan when he had commissioned Shaykh Ibrahim Qattan to do the interpretation of the verses of the Qur'an.

END

Welcoming A New Follower Of This Website-Reviews By Sodium.

By Sodium

A website called " Reality Zone " has lately joined the team of followers of this website. Although I know nothing about " Reality Zone, " I do extend a welcome to " Reality Zone, " since the accompanied picture of the person who is  responsible for running " Reality Zone " has looked very decent to me.

If " Reality Zone " reads this welcome, I will appreciate knowing a brief outline about the mission, if any, of " Reality Zone. " Such a request can be respond to on the commentary section of the latest essay being published on this website. Example: this welcoming note is considered by me the latest essay or blog of this site. Hence, " Reality Zone " can leave an appropriate and brief outline about what the blog's interest, intent and mission are. If this is done, I shall be most appreciative and will try to respond to their interest as much as possible.

Again, welcome " Reality Zone " to Reviews By Sodium.

END.    

How To Discover The Personality Of A woman.

By Sodium

Beautiful women are fascinating, especially if they possess beside the beauty of their physical well being, the beauty of the spirit. Beside knowing the personality of my wife, I have little or no knowledge at all in understanding the personalities of women as equal human beings the way I understand the various personalities of men as a whole. That is, perhaps, why I was immediately attracted to an article which appeared on page 20 of a monthly newspaper called " Profile News. "

Before start digging in the how to discovery the personality of a woman, it is only appropriate to give an idea about " Profile News: "

*  It is a newspaper being published for serving mainly the Arab American community in the United States of America.
*  The first half of the newspaper is published in English and the second half is published in Arabic.

My interest in " Profile News " is concentrated mainly in what it publishes in Arabic, since what it publishes in English I can get from other English resources. Hence, the following is my own translation of what " Profile News " has published on page 20 of April, 2014, on how to discover the personality of a woman from the WAY SHE CRIES, ( the questions raised in this essay are all mine ):

A Woman Cries While Her Head Is Down: What Does That Tell About Her Personality?
===========================================================================
~  It means that she is compassionate and emotional.
~  It means that she likes to have someone setting next to her.
~  It means she is afraid of loneliness.
~  It means that she likes her lover to be setting next to her.
~  It means that the reason for her crying stems from losing her lover.

A Woman Cries While Covering Her Face By Her Hands: What Does It Tell About Her Personality?
==========================================================================
~  It means that she is very sensitive and shy.
~  It means that she has many pain times but loves life.
~  It means that she gets hurting easily and recover easily as well.
~  It means that she has transparent and good heart.
~  It means that she  pays attention to the way she looks externally.
~  It means that she hates injustice and has ambition for goodness and happiness.

A woman Cries With An Agonizing Sound: What Does That Tell About Her Personality?
============================================================================
~  It means that she is extremely sensitive but exaggerates her feelings.
~  It means that she is ambitious.
~  It means that she does not like to have problems in her daily life.
~  It means that she has propensity for sadness.
~  It means that she likes to be alone.
~  It means that she does not like to be the first one for choosing anything.
~  It means that she escapes, sometimes, from her actual life.
~  It means that she likes to see people listening to her and make them feel her sadness, when she cries.

A woman Cries While She wipes Her Tears: What Does That Say About Her Personality?
=============================================================================
~  It means that she is a strong woman and has confidence in herself.
~  It means that she does not like anyone to think she is weak or needs pity.
~  It means that she likes to choose or determine how her life must be.
~  It means that she is ambitious and does not like to be a follower.
~  It means that she does not like weakness.
~  It means that she is courageous with her own words.

A Woman Cries While Keeps Talking: What Does That Tell About Her Personality?
===============================================================================
~  It means that she likes to hear an apology when one makes a mistakes.
~  It means that she does not like to be blamed for anything.
~  It means that she has a transparent heart and good nature.
~  It means that she is very sensitive.
~  It means that she likes blaming others.
~  It means that she cries a lot and does so for the slightest reasons.

Final Words:
==================
I do feel a kind of helpless, here, and refrain from making any comment because the subject sounds and seems intriguing and too intricately complex to me. But I have one single question:

What kind of personality a woman has when she does not cry at all, regardless of the pains and agonies she might have encountered ?

A friend of mine has answered the question off the cuff, by saying that such a woman, if exists, is no longer a human being, since her normal human feelings and human senses no longer exist. For one reason or maybe for many reasons, her normal human feelings and senses were completely wiped out.

As I recall how Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy, wife of President John Kennedy, behaved publicly during his assassination in 1963 and during his funeral, I wonder if my friend is correct in his comments. I am a witness of  how Mrs. Kennedy behaved in public, with no tears at all, but her human and great agony was so apparent to me on her lovely and dignified face, as I watched her, then, on my black and white television.

END
      

Vladimir Putin Must Tame His Russian Nationalistic Feeling Lest He Sounds Like A Fascist.

By Sodium

I have been one of the few persons, in the West, who have declared publicly and in writing on the Internet, that Crimea, in the Ukraine  region, had belonged to Russia until 1954 when Nikita Khrushchev, the boss of the entire Communist Empire then, gave it to Ukraine, while he was drunk, but mainly because of his passionate feeling toward Ukraine and Ukrainian people. That passionate feeling of his has to do with his up-bringing and roots that stemmed from the Ukrainian region.

Therefore, Vladimir Putin, as President of the Russian Federation, has full rights to claim Crimea back. His insistence on secret voting by the people of Crimea, whether they wanted to be part of  Russia or not, was a civilized act deserved  my admiration. The result of such a consensus was a resounding yes, meaning that the vast majority of the citizens of Crimea wanted to be part of Russia again. The Western countries, which objected to that civilized act which was insisted on by Putin, appeared to me as a bunch of hypocrites, practicing double standard, meaning: it was wrong of Putin to do that, but it was right of them when they had done it, in other parts of the globe. A shining proof of such a hypocrisy has been what the Western Powers have done to Iraq in the year of 2003: a total destruction of Iraq, based on lies. You need not take my word on this, but the interested readers can check what the self-respecting and well known and highly respected American and European writers, authors and historians have already written on the immoral and illegal war waged against Iraq by the West, led by the United States of America. The difference between what Vladimir Putin has currently done on and in Crimea and what the West has done on and in Iraq in 2003 is profoundly huge, like the difference between day and night, and in that order, meaning DAY and NIGHT, respectively. 

So far, it has been good for Vladimir Putin, winning the political game on his own terms.

However, Putin's first visit to Crimea for the occasion of commemorating the victory of World War Two, ( WW II, for short ), and making a Russian nationalistic speech there, was a mistake and certainly unnecessary, under the current international political environment. Reasons:

(1)  WW II was won by the military efforts of several countries, mainly the military efforts of the United States of America, Great Britain and Communist Russia.

(2)  It is a recorded historical fact that Russia lost 22 million people who were killed during the war . The Russian estimate put the figure at 26.5 million Russian killed during the war. Either number, human history has already recognized that for Russia.

(3)  It is also a recorded historical fact that the rest of the countries which fought the ugliness of Nazism had also lost millions of people during that horrible war, just as Russia did.

(4)  In short, there is nothing wrong for Putin to express his Russian nationalistic feeling, but not to a point of sounding like a new fascist  for the 21st Century. Chancellor Angela Merkel  of Germany, had commented on Putin's first visit to Crimea to commemorate the victory of WW II as " most unfortunate. "  I believe she was right.

(5) Only constructive relationship with the United State of America, and rest of the international community can serve Russian interest and the interest of peace in the world.

Final Words:
============
Although I have wished to stay away from writing about politics and religions, for a while, to provide my spirit with some fresh air, it seems to me that some actions being committed by some strong political leaders like Vladimir Putin of Russia continue to deprive me from breathing enough fresh air, for a while, because of a simple reason: I am badly and terribly hocked up to politics since I was a teenager, in high school. Please do not get me wrong, meaning: I am not blaming Vladimir Putin or anybody else for interrupting my enjoyment of the fresh air my spirit needs, but my own human weaknesses. Vladimir Putin, his unnecessary visit to Crimea and his speech for commemorating  Russian victory in WW II have been merely a reminder of the contaminated air of the world of politics and its tail, the world of diplomacy.

END.













(1)   

Some Interesting Statements Made By Some Famous Persons.

By Sodium

While cruising the Internet, trying to find reasonable prices for couple of books I wished to review, I had stumbled upon the following sayings which at once felt that they were worth publishing at this website for the benefits of those who are dedicated readers of this site:

By Cicero:
===================
" A room without a book is like a body without a soul. "

My Comment:
===================
I may add, such a room is also without a mind and heart. before it has lost its soul.

By Frank Zappa:
===================
" So many books, so little time. "

My Comment:
====================
No need to complain. Just use the little time you have, as efficiently as humanly possible, because that is the only alternative available.

By Friedrich Nietzche:
====================
" Without music, life would be a mistake. "

My Comment:
====================
Not so for the deaf, excluding Ludwig van Beethoven.

By Oscar Wilde:
====================
" Always forgive your enemy, nothing annoys them more. "

My Comment:
====================
Jesus Christ said, indeed, to forgive your enemy, but not for the sole purpose of annoying them.

By Oscar Wilde:
=====================
"  To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. "

My comment:
=====================
Perhaps, Oscar Wilde had experienced both " to live" and " to exist " and as a result he was able to know the difference between " living " and " existing. "  And I wonder how many people of the world's population of almost Seven Billion human beings enjoy the pleasure of  living and how many just exist-perhaps in misery.

By Robert Frost:
======================
" In three words, I can sum up everything I have learned about life: it goes on.

My Comment:
======================
Yes, indeed, life keeps going on, except Robert Frost has perhaps forgotten to add another three additional words: with constant changes. Proofs: birth itself is a change, death itself is a change and what happens in the period between them is also a change.

By Mahatma Gandhi:
======================
" Be the change you wish to see in the world. "

My Comment:
=======================
What Gandhi was saying to his listeners: stop your lousy bad habits and start doing some good for your own sake and the sake of humanity.

By Mahatma Gandhi:
========================
" Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever. "

My Comment:
========================
I have been living by the second part of  Gandhi advice, but I have failed to live by the first part of  his advice, made of pure gold.

By Martin Luther King, Jr.:
========================
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. "

My Comment:
=========================
And yet, Martin Luther King, was assassinated in the early1960's, in the city of Memphis of the State of Tennessee of the United States of America, because he was active in preaching his beautiful thoughts.

End

Away From Politics And Religions, For A Change.

By Sodium

As I reviewed a monthly newspaper called " Profile News " dated January 2014, published in Ohio, U.S.A. I was struck by some unusual human behaviors which at once appeared to me as colorful and complex as a mosaic I saw more than 30 years ago on one of the floors of an old church, in the city of Madaba, located not too far, south of Amman, capital city of the The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. And I have felt that it is worth publishing such unusual human events here, to remain as a reminder about the complexity of the human behaviors, at least, for some of the times:

From India:
================
Because the bride-groom had failed to show-up for his own wedding, the bride picked up one man to be her husband from the huge crowd, made up of relatives and friends who were mere guests for the wedding.

My Comment:
================
The bride must have a lot of daring and spirit of gambling, or at least, a spirit of adventurism. Wish her a lot of luck. she needs it. That is for certain.

From Russia:
================
A passenger airplane was forced to land in Siberia, because of a fight between two men over the usage of the Rest Room, ( Toilet ) in the airplane.

My Comment:
===============
Perhaps, both men had suffered from an illness called diarrhea, or both men suffered from frequent urination, or both men had suffered from diarrhea and frequent urination. If so, they both deserve my empathy, because I had experienced both problems. I would not wish my enemy, if I have one, to go through either the diarrhea or the frequent urination.

From Italy:
================
An Italian man Put On Fire the bank which had refused to lend him money.

My Comment:
===============
It seems to me it was a vengeance, Italian style.

From Turkey:
================
Arab travelers to Turkey are not allowed to enter Turkey, each accompanied with several wives. Only Arab travelers, each one of them is accompanied with only one wife, are allowed to enter Turkey.

My Comment:
================
Perhaps, and just perhaps, Turkey is trying to tell the European Union something, not all people can guess what it is.

From Kenya:
================
A 28 year old young man has committed suicide in Nairobi, capital of Kenya, because Manchester United team was beaten, in a soccer game, by New Castle United team.

My Comment:
================
President George Washington was correct when he warned, in his farewell speech, his fellow Americans of the danger of " Passionate Attachment " to any foreign country. I wish he warned them also, excluding their loved ones, against a " Passionate Attachment " to everything else, including soccer's teams..

From Japan:
==================
The Japanese Police Arrest A Woman For Calling Them 15,000 times.
The official police said: " She did not make up story that required us to respond-it was just total nonsense. We visited her place about 60 times before arresting her, trying to persuade her not to call us again. I wonder if she was just lonely."

My Comment:
=================
Even " if she was just lonely " it is crazy to call anybody 15,000 times regardless of how important the reasons were behind such thousands of calls-that was 15,000 of them. Crazy acts done 15,000 times.

From China:
=================
A restaurant called,  " Five Loaves and Two fish , " named for the story of Jesus feeding five thousand people by so little loaves of bread and fish, lost in the first two months of its opening 250,000 yen equivalent to $ 41,000. Its big sign says: " Pay-What-You-Like. "  It seems that so many people LIKED NOT to pay anything for the food offered in good faith. One of the rules in this restaurant was that every customer must wash the dishes and silverware he or she had used in eating their hot meals.

My Comment
================
Perhaps, washing the dishes and silverware they used in eating their meals was considered by the stingy customers who did not pay for their meals, as the pay-off for their meals.

I wonder as to how many millions, or even billions, of people who like to get something without paying some kind of price for. Just wonder !!

END.                                                 



    

Five Arrogant Lies In A Speech By Netanyahu Of Israel.

By Sodium

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee, ( known as AIPAC for short ), a Zionist political pressure group ( Lobby ) had held its annual convention in early March, 2014, in Washington DC. In such a convention, one may amazingly and amusingly witness a hoard of American Congressmen who are willing to bend too much down to this pressure group in order to win its approval and money needed for their re-election campaign. So, one may be astonished at the wave after wave of American politicians, making speech after speech, all expressing their phony loyalty to, and dishonest praises for Israel which is, in the real world, has been isolated politically because of its disregards to international laws and international norms in Palestine.

How all those American Congressmen and politicians can maintain self respect, after cheapening themselves to AIPAC, is beyond my ability to comprehend !!

In this year AIPAC's convention, Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, addressed the conventioneers by a lofty speech full of arrogance and sheer lies. It has happened that one free soul by the name of Dale Sprusansky of " The Washington Report On Middle East Affairs " a highly respected magazine of its kind in the United States, has recorded the speech and responded to the five lies embodied in it, with real facts on the ground, in the May 2014 issue of the magazine. An outline of the five lies and the corresponding responses are given below:

Lie Number One:
===================
" In the Middle East bludgeoned by butchery and barbarism, Israel is humane; Israel is compassionate. Israel is a force for good."

Fact Number One:
===================
"If you are facing persecution in your homeland, Israel cares deeply about your plight and wants you to seek refuge within its borders-assuming of course you are a Jew.

The 50,000 to 60,000 non-Jewish African migrants who have come to Israel fleeing violence in Sudan and Eritrea since 2006 have learned the painful lesson that they are not welcome in Netanyahu's " humane " and " compassionate "  Israel.

Netanyahu has called the beleaguered asylum-seeking Africans " infiltrators "and warned that yhey threaten Israel Jewish identity."

Lie Number Two:
===================
" [ Israel has ] values that moves us to treat sick Palestinians, thousands of them from Gaza. They come to our hospitals. We treat them despite the fact that terrorists from Gaza hurl thousands of rockets at our cities. "

Fact Number Two:
===================
" An estimated 9,000 rockets have been fired at Israel from Gaza in the last seven years,   while in 2005 and 2006 alone, Israel fired more than 15,000 shells at Gaza-one of the most densely populated areas in the world.

Israel military bombardment of Gaza has had predictable results. Since 2008, Israel has killed 1,867 Gazans. During the same time period, 30 Israeli civilians have been killed by Palestinians. "

" Bottom Line: offering medical care to a small number of people you have bombed, blockaded and poisoned makes you [ Netanyahu ] no hero."

Lie Number Three"
====================
" Israel is the nation-state of the Jewish people, where the civil rights of all citizens, Jews and non-Jews alike are guaranteed.

Fact Number Three:
=====================
" Adalah, The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, offers ample evidence on its website to refute this claim.The organization has documented more than 50 Israeli laws that " discriminate against Palestinian citizens of Israel in all areas of life, including their rights to political participation, access to land, education, state budget and criminal procedures." "

Lie Number Four:
=====================
" Israel, the one country in the Middle East that protects Christians and protect the right of worship for everyone. "

Fact Number Four:
=====================
" This statement would have been accurate if Netanyahu ended it with "except Palestinians. "  Both Muslim and Christian residents of the West Bank cannot travel to the holy sites in Jerusalem unless they receive a permit from Israeli authorities. Even if they are successful, they must endure humiliation and long lines at the separation wall. Invasive Israeli security measures turn a Palestinian pilgrim's seven mile journey to Jerusalem into a seven-hour trip."

Lie Number Five:
====================="
" [ Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon ] would open up a Pandora's box of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East and around the world. "

Fact Number Five:
=====================
Israel has long been the sole nuclear power in the Middle East. Israeli American scholar Avner Cohen has described Israel;s nuclear weapons program as " the worst kept secret. " In other words, it is  not a secret at all.

 "It must also be noted that- unlike Iran- Israel has refused to sign the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty ( NPT ) and does not allow international inspections of its nuclear facilities. This further delegitimizes its ability to cretize other nations nuclear program. "

Final Words:
====================
The above quoted facts are only the tip of the iceberg of so many facts that Dale Sprusansky has embodied in his outstanding responses to Netanyahu's contemptuous lies. Any reader who is interested in reading the full details provided by Dale Sprusansky, in responses to the five lies of Netanyahu, should read pages 36 and 37 of March 2014 issue of the Washington Report On Middle East Affairs magazine. You may find a copy of May 2014 issue of the magazine in your local public library. If you wish to subscribe to the magazine or you wish to request for sample copies, you can contact the subscriptions, sample copies and donation department of the magazine at the following address:

Washington Report On Middle East Affairs
P. O. Box  91056
Long Beach, CA 90809- 1056
U.S.A.

Telephone:  ( 888 ) 5861
Fax: ( 714 ) 226- 9733

Should you need to contact the magazine's Editorial Office and Bookstore, you can do so at the following address:

Washington Report On Middle East Affairs
P. O. Box 53062
Washington, DC 20009- 9062
U. S. A.

Telephones: ( 202 ) 939- 6050  or  ( 800 ) 368- 5788    

 Fax: ( 202 ) 265- 4574

E- Mail: wrmea@wrmea.org

Website: http://www.wrmea.org

Good Luck.

END.









:   

Two Unusual Book Titles.

By Sodium

I lately have come across two books whose titles have attracted my attention to a point I had found myself being compelled to purchase them both. The titles of the two books are as follows:

The Book of Useless Information, ( Hard Cover )
Published by
Publication International, Ltd.

The Book of Unusual Knowledge, ( Hard Cover )
Published By
Publication International, Ltd.

Each book contains more than 700 pages of the regular size. Because of shortage of time and possible interruption due to poor health, it is not convenient to me to provide a full and complete reviews to the two books. What I can do is to provide a selection of topics I may find interesting to read, and at the same time, hoping that the dedicated readers of this website will find interesting to read too.

Samples From The Book Of Useless Information:
===========================================
" Earth is the only planet not named after a god."

" It is a very sad thing that nowadays there is so little useless information "  By Oscar Wilde.

" Twelve Best Selling Books Repeatedly Rejected By Publishers. "  The twelve books are specifically named and briefly discussed and some were translated to foreign languages.

Samples From The Book Of Unusual Knowledge:
===========================================
" It took thirty million hours for Stone-Age workers to build Stonehenge. "

" There is no desire more natural than the desire for knowledge."  By Michel de Montaigne.

" The average life span of a rat is less than three years, but one pair can produce 2,000 offspring in a year."

Some of the knowledge in this book, are so hilarious which had compelled me to laugh loudly, such as the following newspaper headlines:

"Absentee Votes Can Be Made in Person."
Or,
"Man Found Dead in Cemetery."
Or,
" Deaf College Opens Doors to Hearing."

Final Words:
===============
Stay tune for occasional selections which will be made, in the future, from each one of those amazing and amusing two books. You may be just as surprised as myself, when I provide you with some of the information / knowledge embodied in the content of those two books. The idea behind the occasional selection of topics from the two books is to stay away from politics and religions, for a change. It is good for the soul and mind to do so, once in a while.

END.     

Vladimir Putin And The " Invasion? " of Crimea In The Ukraine.

By Sodium

Please notice that the word " Invasion ? " in the Title of this essay has been put between quotations and accompanied with a question mark. Please notice also, in the Title, the usage of " In The Ukraine " instead of " Of The Ukraine. " All of this has been done deliberately to convey to the readers that the writer of this essay does not believe that President Putin has military invaded a Ukrainian territory, but has occupied originally a Russian region. Reasons:

(1)  The region that the Russian troops have occupied lately is called Crimea was not really part of the Ukraine. It really belonged to Russia until 1954.

(2)  In 1954, it was Nikita Khrushchev, The First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union then, ( the highest ranking position in the Soviet Union ), who gave Crimea to Ukraine which was itself an integral part of the Soviet Union. That is why Khrushchev's act of enormous generosity had not been challenged at that time by anybody. However, since the demise of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has chosen to be independent of the new Russia that has resulted after the collapse of the Soviet Union and Ukraine has succeeded in achieving its goal of independence. The problem has started with the new Russia when certain groups of people in Ukraine, (one political analyst has described them as a bunch of Nazis ), started pushing for closer relationship and clear propensity to join the European Union, ignoring all the historic, linguistic and cultural ties with Russia. No genuine Russian leader could put-up with that, let alone a strong leader like Putin. That is the real reason that has compelled President Putin to make his move and occupy Crimea by Russian troops. Putin's message to Ukraine's new leaders was clear: you go ahead and abandon your historic, linguistic and cultural ties with us, but there is a price for all of that you must pay in return and that price is the Russian territory called Crimea and will leave it to Crimea's Russian-speaking population to decide, through secret ballots of voting, whether or not they want to be part of Russia. So, it has passed and Crimea has returned back to its " Mother Russia." 

(3)  As one researches further the act of such a Khrushchevian generosity, one may find that Khrushchev's generosity was not based on ideology, nor was it based upon some kind of geopolitical strategy that should have been necessary in order to protect the Soviet Union's future interests, but was based on personal passion and emotion toward the Ukraine and its people because Khrushchev had " deep root " in the Ukraine. Such a deep sense of root had expressed itself by Khrushchev himself when he had chosen to spend his retirement, meaning the rest of his life, in the city of Kiev, the capital of the Ukraine, after he was purged from the highest ranking office in the entire Soviet Union.  Of all the great and vast land of " Mother Russia, " he had chosen a city in the Ukraine to spend his final days and years until he died in 1971. This is truly an attestation to the fact that his act of generosity to give Crimea to the Ukraine was solely based on his emotions and passion and nothing else.

(4)  President Putin's younger years were spent working as an intelligence officer in the KGB. Such intelligence officers are generally known to be professionally detached from personal emotions towards anything else except total and complete dedication in serving their great "Mother Russia." Hence, one may conclude that what Vladimir Putin is trying to do is simply making amend to what was done by the element of passion and emotion of Nikita Khrushchev.

(5)  Since some groups of people succeeded in claiming nearly a whole country as theirs, because they clamed that their ancient ancestors lived there, once upon a time, and amazingly more than 2000 years ago, WHY not the Russians have also the right to claim Crimea that was theirs in 1954. That is only 60 years ago. The difference between 2000 years and 60 years is huge indeed. This what actually happened in Palestine in which the real indigenous population which was made mainly of Palestinians were violently forced out of their homes, farms, villages, cities and country, at the point of GUNS. Without the political intrigues of certain Western powers, the Zionists and their destructive project could not have succeeded in Palestine. What has happened to the Palestinian people is the shining proof of the HYPOCRISY of the major Western Powers.

If the West continues to claim what Putin has amended is an invasion, it is strongly suggested that the West start looking in the mirror long and hard to see itself as it should be seen, without make-up for beautification or propaganda. Some samples of what some Western powers had done wrongly to some countries in the world and especially in the Middle East:

(I)  Sykes-Picot Accord which was secretly signed, during the First World War, by Mr. Sykes, a British diplomat and Mr. Picot, a French diplomat. Through such an accord, the whole Arab world was divided into more than 20 identities and each identity has its own passport control and its own tariff and customs control. By British and French military occupations, they ruled their colonies by way of " Divide and Rule. " At least, Putin has asked for consensus to be determined by secret ballots through direct voting by the population of Crimea. Fair-minded human beings can easily give him credit for his own fair-mindedness.

(II)  Balfour Declaration: Please just Goggle the two words " Balfour Declaration " and the Internet will provide you with what Britain had done wrongly in Palestine because of this declaration. Or, if you prefer, you can read an essay titled, " Thoughts On Edward Said and T. E. Lawrence " published on this Website on March 19, 2010. The essay has also included an outline, however brief, about the secret accord, ( which is no longer secret ), known as " Sykes-Picot Accord " that is being mentioned above in this essay. See above..

(III)  Kuwait was an integral part of Iraq before the discovery of petroleum in it. In fact, Iraq used to send foods and supplies, by way of camel caravans, to the impoverished Kuwait which would have encountered starvation without the Iraqi genuine help and care. After the discovery of oil in it, a British military officer curved Kuwait as a separate identity from Iraq. No consensus whatsoever. At least, President Putin has acted in a civilized manner, as he insisted that he wanted a direct voting whether the residents of Crimea wanted to be part of Russia or not.

(IV)  France brutally ruled Algeria for many decades by stationing there 500,000 French troops and considered Algeria as an extension of France and many French people moved from France to Algeria and started claiming Algeria the way they claimed their France. The Algerians had to scarify more than one million of its youths to force France out of Algeria. That is why Algeria is described by many, nowadays, as the country with the one million martyrs. Putin has not declared a foreign country to be an extension of Russian, as France had declared Algeria as an integral part of France. He has only taken back what rightly belongs to his own country, " Mother Russia. "

(V)  The destruction of the infrastructure of Iraq in 2003 by the West, led by the United States of America and then followed by land invasion and occupation of Iraq may well be recorded in history books as the most horrible foreign policy blunder that has been committed by the United States of America The sad result of all of this was the fact that Iran had become the real power in Iraq through mainly an American troops occupation. One may not see more complex and foolishness than what happened in Iraq since it was destroyed as a functioning human society. In addition to the immorality of this war, Kofi Anan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations had publicly declared then that the War in Iraq was ILLEGAL Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, is claiming what legally was an integral part of his country, called lovingly by all Russian nationalists:" Mother Russia. " .

(VI)  What the West has done in Afghanistan are well known and no need for elaborations. Putin has not used pilotless airplanes, known as, DRONES, to kill indiscriminately innocent people on the ground, whether they were terrorists or not, under the pretext of the endless war on terrorism, as the West had/has done in Afghanistan.

Final Words:
=============
Some observers say that Putin will eventually fail in all what he is trying to do in Crimea. The writer of this essay believes that Putin will be the ultimate winner, in the finality of it all. Reasons:

(A)  Russia has recovered from its economic and financial crisis that had hit so badly in the 1990's. It is in much stronger economic position that allows it to put up with all the sanction's debris the West is capable of bombarding against it. Thanks partly to its huge natural sources such as gas, petroleum and gold.

(B)  All sanctions against Russia have no chance of being adopted by the United Nations' Security Council for the obvious veto power both Russia and China possess. Of course, the West will not go that rout.

(C)  Because Russia, in its entire dealing with the West, has never really been accepted by the West as a partner, it will always look beyond the West for its independence in finding its own geopolitical alliances that serves its global strategy. Its entire rich history says so.

(D)  Countries like China, India , Brazil, Iran and Egypt and some other Latin American countries, even some Eastern European countries may not follow what the West want to do with regards to sanction. Each of these countries has its own problems and its own trade interest to protect. Most likely, Putin will strengthen Russia's relations, in all fields of interest, as much as possible, with those countries, as well as with several countries in Africa. In short, many countries of the world will ignore whatever sanctions the West throws against Russia and its leaders.

Based on taking all of the foregoing into considerations, it seems to the writer of this essay that Putin will end-up the winner, as the Ukrainian drama reaches its ultimate climax, since he really possesses the highest cards in this game of political poker-perhaps, a "straight flush " of the highest kind.

The Ukraine Crisis and Body Language of Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany.

By Sodium

Through watching the global news on the Internet, I have been accustomed to seeing Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany so admirably engaging in her diplomatic efforts whatever was of interest to her country and its trading partners. Because of this fact, I was struck by watching her calm face so un-interested in, or even totally detached to, what the newly appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine was telling her, as both of them were walking side by side, rather slowly, toward a conference to be held by the members of the European Union in which Germany belonged. In fact, her calm face, as it appeared to me, had a touch of " glassy boredom ", by what she had heard from the tall and slim and bald-headed and talking NEW Ukrainian Prime Minister. In short, the spirit of engagement and interest that I had sensed in Chancellor Merkel, in so many global diplomatic events, was simply not there, as she walked, side by side, with the Ukrainian Prime Minister.

At one point, during their walk, she raised her head upward to examine, with her calm face, without saying a single word, the face of the talking Ukrainian, ( he was much taller than her ), as to diplomatically saying to him: " I just wonder how much truthfulness has really existed in what you have just finished telling me ! "

They both eventually had arrived to the place where the conference was supposed to be held. At this point, and right at the entrance of the conference hall, did she smile broadly, as she was received by an official of the host country in which the conference was held. After the apparently pleasant handshake with the host of the conference, she disappeared inside into the conference hall.

As the conference was over, the news came out that members of the European Union could not form one single position with regards to Russia's military occupation of the semi-island called Crimea which was supposed to be part of Ukraine. Some members, especially the Baltic countries, ( Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia ), wanted the European Union to take tough measures against Russia, while some other members did not want to go that far. Germany and United Kingdom, ( Britain ), were among those members who did not want to inflame an already inflammable situation with Russia. It seems to me that both, Britain and Germany have a lot to lose, if tough measures against Russia materialized. Based upon this reality, no wonder I saw, on the Internet and after the conference was over, Chancellor Angela Merkel shared a small table, in a friendly setting, with David Cameron, Prime Minister of United Kingdom, ( Britain ). However, their faces looked like not exactly pleased by the outcome of the conference because, perhaps, they had been considered by the bellicose members of the European Union as couple of outcasts, even perhaps coward, of which I believed they were not either, but wisely political and diplomatic REALISTS.

Finally, I must admit that I look forward to see, on the Internet, in the near future, the engaging and caring Angela Merkel I have been accustomed to watching and learning from, especially from her positive and constructive gestures, in the world of political leadership and diplomacy.

END.

        

Sh'iah-Sunnah Split: Understanding How it has Developed.

By Sodium

The following book is a must read by anyone who is interested in understanding how the Shi'ah-Sunnah-Split has occurred and developed to what it is today:

After The Prophet
By
Lesley Hazelton.

If you are fond of the writings of Karen Armstrong, as the writer of this essay, you will love the style of writing of  Lesley Hazelton.

I have just finished reading " After The Prophet " and I must say that I have enjoyed every minute and hour I had spent in reading it, because of the style in which the book was written. Although most of the historical events in the book have been known to me, I could not stop reading the book because I felt like reading an interesting and fascinating novel.

Lesley Hazelton has divided her outstanding book, " After The Prophet " into the following three parts:

Part One: Muhammad.
Part Two: Ali.
Part Three: Hussein.

The content of each part, of the three parts cited above, is profoundly touching in the style of writing and fascinating in the historical events that had taken place in the way Hazelton had presented them

The book has made it clear, in meticulous details, that the reason for the split has been fundamentally political since day one, as Prophet Muhammad had fallen ill and was obvious he was about to die.

The political nature of the split had to do with the fact that The Prophet did not name a successor of his to be Caliph after his death, although he thought very highly of his son-in-law, Ali bin Abi Talib. It seems to me that The Prophet had refrained from naming a successor of his to be Caliph, after his death, was to avoid a possible Fitna; and he wanted to leave it to a Shura amongst his closest companions, including Abu Bakr Al-Sidiq, Omar ibn Al-Khatab, and Uthman ibn Affan, in addion to Ali and others.

I must admit that by the time I finished reading the book I have developed a sense of compassion to what had happened to Ali and his Son, Hussein, and at the same time I had developed a sense of rejection towards Muawiya bin Abi-Sufian who stole the Caliphate to himself  by sheer political tricks after political tricks, through his wealth and operatives like Amr, the conqueror and governor of Egypt.

Muawiya bin Abi-Sufian was the founder and the First Caliph of the Umayad dynasty that ruled the Arab Empire from Damascus, Syria instead of Medina in ancient Arabia.

Final Words:
===============
The book, "After The Prophet " is now available in soft cover and its price is quite reasonable. I paid twelve American dollars ( $ 12 ), plus the cost of shipping to my home address. The total cost did not exceed fifteen U.S. dollars. I ordered it from Barnes & Noble book store. Buy it, if you can afford it and enjoy reading it. If not, try your local library and check it out and read it. If your local library does not have it, I just do not know what to tell you to help you out. Tough Luck.   

      

PART TWO: The Scientific Research Requirements and the Arabic Language.

By Sodium

Although the scientific research requirements, for any language to succeed in coping, with the scientific requirements, are well known in academia and research community through out the world, I have chosen to quote what Bradley Steffens has written about the requirements, because I have sensed genuine objectivity and admirable scientific integrity in his writing. In a well written and easy to understand article titled, " Who Was the First Scientist ? " Bradley Steffens has stated the following statements and cited the following list of requirements, as quoted below:

Quote
=========
Science is the study of the physical world, but it is not just a topic, a subject, a field of interest. It is a discipline--a system of inquiry that adhere to a specific methodology--the scientific method, In its basic form, the scientific method consists of seven steps:

1) observation;
2) a statement of a problem or question;
3) formulation of a hypothesis, or a possible answer to the problem or question;
4) testing the hypothesis with an experiment.
5) analysis of the experiment's result;
6) interpretation of the data and formulation of a conclusion;
7) publication of the findings.

One can study phenomena without adhering to the scientific method, of course. The result, however, is not science. It is pseudoscience or junk science.

Unquote
============

Bradley Steffens covers then what Aristotle, in ancient Greek civilization, had theorized about falling bodies to be challenged and proven wrong by the experiments of falling bodies which was done by Galileo Galilei of Italy. Because of that, " Galileo is considered by many to be the first scientist."  However, Steffens has also written the following statements to prove that was not the case:

" Galileo was not the first person to conduct experiments or to follow the scientific method, however, scholars had been conducting experiments for three hundred years, ever since a British-born Franciscan monk named Roger Bacon advocated experimentation in the thirteenth century. In part five of his Opus Magus Bacon challenges ancient Greek ideas about vision and includes several experiments with light that include all seven steps of the scientific method.

Part five of Opus Magus is not an original work, however. It is a summary of a much longer work entitled De aspectibus ( The Optics ). Bacon follows the organization of De aspectibus and repeats its experiments step by step, sometimes even word for word. But De aspectibus is not an original work, either. It is the translation of a book written in Arabic entitled Kitab al-Manazir ( book of Optics ). Written around 1021, Kitab al-Manazir predates Bacon's summary of it by 250 years. The author of this groundbreaking book was a Muslim scholar named Abu Ali al-Hasan ibn al-Hasan al-Haytham.

Born in Basra ( located in what is now Iraq ) in 965, Ibn al-Haytham--known in the West Alhazen or Alhacen wrote more than 200 books and treatises on a wide range of subjects. He was the first person to apply algebra to geometry, founding the branch known as analytical geometry.

By insisting on the use of verifiable experiments to test hypotheses, Ibin al-Haytham established a new system of inquiry--the scientific method--and earned a place in history as the first scientist."

My Views:
============
~ Since the scientific method has been performed, in the Science of Optics, a highly technical and difficult field, by Ibn al-Haytham who had written all his works in Arabic, as shown so clearly by Bradley Steffens, it would be hard to accept the claim made by some individuals that the Arabic language was/is incapable of coping with the technical modernity of the 20th and 21st centuries. The claim does not really make any sense, since the scientific method being used, in the 20th and 21st centuries for new scientific researches and discoveries, is fundamentally the same scientific method that has been used by Ibn Al-Haytham who wrote his book, " Kitab Al-Manather " meaning, " The Book of Optics " in the Arabic language from which the Franciscan monk, Roger Bacon, had based his published works in, " Opus Magus, " as shown by Bradley Steffens of present time.

~ The translation from the Arabic book, " Kitab Al-Manather " meaning, " The Book of Optics " by Ibn Al-Haytham to " Opus Magus " by Roger Bacon, is a solid proof that the Arabic language is just as capable as any other language being used in today's scientific researches. In other words, without the technical experimentations and scientific analyses described in Arabic language by Ibn Al-Haytham in " Kitab Al-Manather " Roger Bacon could not have succeeded in describing his scientific works in " Opus Magus. "

~ Taking into consideration all of the foregoing, along with what has been achieved in scientific researches in more difficult languages to learn than the Arabic language, ( Chinese and Japanese languages ), it has become clearer that the claim which says that the Arabic language cannot cope with technical modernity remains what it actually is: JUST A CLAIM.

~ Any reader who is interested in reading the whole article entitled, " Who Was the First Scientist ? " by Bradley Steffens, dated 2/23/2014, can do so by checking the following link on the Internet:

http://ezinearticles.com/?Who-Was-the-First -Scientist?&id=637076

Final Words:
==============
Bradley Steffens has recently written a book entitled, " Ibn al-Haytham: First Scientist. " I intend to obtain a copy of the book to review. If I find the whole content of the book worth outlining a review of it for publication, I shall be delighted to do so and offer the review for the benefit of the readers of this website-and as usual, free of charge.