President Obama Deserves Second Term.

Dear Readers,

I have followed President Obama's actions, and in-actions as well, since he has been elected President in 2008 presidential election, with a large margin against his Republican opponent, Senator John MaCain.

Although I have some disagreement with some of  Obama's actions and in-actions as well, I have tried to see the WHOLE FOR-EST of issues he has to deal with, instead of concentrating my sight on a tree or two or three. Yes, Obama has failed in delivering on some issues, or perhaps his hands were tied, and thus, he could not do much about them.

Therefore, my vote in the presidential election on November 6,2012 will be cast, once again, for President Obama. Reasons :

(1)  Obama has inherited from Bush-Cheney Administration  huge problems and extremely unfavorable circumstances in all fronts-internally and internationally.

(2)  To be specific,he has  inherited two wars : One in Iraq and the second one in Afghanistan. He withdrew the American military forces from Iraq. I wish he has done the same in Afghanistan, since Afghanistan is well known in recorded history to have been the grave yard for conquerors and empires. It seems to me that the pressure from certain power groups in the United States was so immense on him he just could not repeat what he had done in Iraq : military forces withdrawal from Afghanistan as well.

(3)  Obama has inherited horrible economic and financial  conditions America has not encountered since The Great Depression of 1930's : economic meltdown, bankrupt financial institutions and automobile manufacturers and accelerating unemployment and expensive heath care system most Americans could not afford, especially in an  environment of rising unemployment.

I can go on giving more reasons why I intend to vote again for Obama,but lest I burden the readers with more reasons,I would like to stress the fact that Obama has done splendidly, as one examines all of the above problems he has to deal with. He has improved the health care system for the majority of Americans,not as much as one might like,but good enough for a start. Yes,there is more to be desired in this particular issue.

As to the big problem of rate of unemployment, his administration has succeeded in decreasing it from 16 percent to 7.8 percent. Just to appreciate such an achievement, one has to remember that just two years ago the rate of unemployment was around 16 to 18 percent. Even some reports put the figure at 20 percent. Obama's and his team have done an admirable job, by any standard, on the unemployment issue.

In the international arena, President Obama initiated an International Conference on Nuclear Disarmament about two years ago. In my view, this is one of the most encouraging attempt to get rid of all nuclear weapons, world wide. Although the conference did not come up with concrete resolutions,the fact it was held and attended by most countries that has nuclear weapons is by itself encouraging. It seems to me that such a conference has a far reaching objective than the eye can see. It is only the beginning, if humankind  cares to save itself from total and mutual destruction by the nuclear arsenals it has in stores in thousands upon thousands of tons. I tip my hat, in due respect, to President Obama for making the initiative.

Final words : To those readers of this website,who have no idea who I am and what I stand for, I submit the following information, not because I must do so,but because I would like to help out as much as I can :

~  I am an INDEPENDENT AMERICAN VOTER, leaning slightly to the left. I have never been a member of the Democratic Party, nor the Republican Party. I vote according to what my conscience dictates. During my adult life, I voted for moderate Republicans nominees as much as I voted for Democratic Party;s nominees. In short, I cherish my INDEPENDENCE, and have no intent to change. Period.

As to voting to a third party, I did vote for Ralph Nader in the Presidential election of 2000. He received only 4 percent of the total votes. I will not vote to third party again, unless the third party is credible enough to have a fair chance of defeating the nominees of  the two major parties, meaning the nominee of the Republican Party and the nominee of the Democratic Party, as well.

Yes, I will adhere to the lesser evil idea, rather than throwing my vote away for a third party candidate who has no chance of winning whatsoever.

All the above outline is not to influence any voter. Not at all.

Please consider this essay as an attempt  to make it clear to the readers of this website where I stand on various issues, as they may read future essays that may touch some of the issues mentioned in this article.

Sincerely,
Sodium    

   

 
      

Chris Hedges Is At It Again With Another Excellent Column.

I must admit that I have been fascinated by the writings of  Chris Hedges. Therefore, I have always looked forward to read what he writes, whether in the books he writes or the columns he posts every Monday on Truthdig's website.

I have just finished reading his latest column, entitled :

" What Is Happening to Muslims Will Happen to the Rest of Us ", dated October 1, 2012.

In the above column of his, Heddges  is adhering firmly to the moral high ground, in connection to violation of the U.S. Constitution and justice system and one of the most cherished American ideals : innocent until proven guilty by a legitimate Court of Law.

I highly recommend to the readers of this website to take their time and read Chris Hedges' column specified as quoted above, at the following website :

www.truthdig.com

Happy reading...........  

  

An Outstanding Column By Chris Hedges,Against War

A Brief Outline About Chris Hedges:
============================

Mr. Chris Hedges is an author of several books,a columnist and journalist He worked for The New York Times and covered wars and crises in the Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe. He is a graduate of  the School of Divinity of Harvard University.

At the present time, he writes a column every Monday. His column appears on Truth Dig Website every Monday.

I have followed the writings of Chris Hedges for,at least, the last 20 years. Accordingly, I have reached the conclusion that his eloquence,honesty and broad knowledge are rarely matched by his American peers. No one needs to take my words. Just read his columns and books and reach your own conclusion.

My Own Essay About One Particular Column Written By Chris Hedges :
====================================================

On March 19,2012, Chris Hedges has written a column entitled, " Murder Is Not an Anomaly in War ".

I had read the above specified column when it was first published on Truthdig Website and I had reviewed it again last week and I thought it would be beneficial to the interested readers to share what I wrote then about the column entitled, " Murder Is Not an Anomaly in War " :

The whole column, from the beginning to the last word of it, is a gem. However, the most eloquent and genuine gems are the following brilliant quotations, constructed as an integral parts of the whole essay or column :

Quotation One :
==============
" I,too,belong to the species ( human being ) "  J. Glass Gray wrote of his experience in World War II. " I am ashamed not only of my own deeds, not only of my nation's deeds, but of  human deeds as well. I am ashamed to be a man. "

Quotation Two :
==============
" Force", Simon Wall wrote, " is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the second  it crushes, the second it intoxicates. "

Quotation Three ( A Poem By Catullus ) :
================================
" By strangers  coasts and water and many days at sea
I come here at the rites of your working,
Bringing for you, the dead, these last gifts of the living
And my words-vain sound of the man of dust,
Alas,my brother,
You have been taken away from me. You have been taken away from me
By cold chance, turned a shadow, and my pain.
Here the foods of the old ceremony, appointed
Long ago for the starving under the earth;
Take them; your brother's tears have them wet; and take
Into eternity my hail and farewell. "

End of quotations.

It is, indeed, a brilliantly constructed and eloquent piece against wars. I  have enjoyed reading it again and again and again. Beautiful !!

Notes To The Readers Of This Website :
===================================

Any reader who is interested in reading, " Murder Is Not an Anomaly in War " by Chris Hedges can dig in the archives of Truthdig Website and read it there:

www.truthdig.com

It is truly worth the time in digging it and worth the time in reading it as well.

Happy reading.......  
   




   

       

Body Language In International Diplomacy.

 

The Picture above shows Hussein Tantawi, Head of the Egyptian Military Higher Council, welcoming Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State of the United States of America, in Cairo Egypt.

Hilary Clinton, Secretary of State of the United States of America had made a diplomatic visit to Cairo, Egypt, just recently. She met first with Muhammad Mursy, the newly-elected President of Egypt and later on she met with Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, Head of the Egyptian Military Higher Council.

The Jordanian newspaper daily, Alarab Alyawm, has published the picture shown above, as Tantawi and Clinton were shaking hands. It is so obvious that the hand of Mrs. Clinton was holding the hand of Tantawi so strongly, while her eyes wide-opened and looking straight at Tantawi 's face, while Tantawi's face had a shy smile and his eyes were looking, somehow, down,not straight into the eyes of  Clinton. Please see the picture shown above.

It seems to me that Clinton was trying to tell Tantawi that by the strong hand-shake and looking straight into his eyes, the following unspoken diplomatic gestures: you might be the highest commander of the whole Egyptian military, but I, Hilary Clinton, represent the government of the United States of America that was / is showering your military with annual military aid. The body language in this case had said it all, and no words were necessary to be said by Clinton to Tantawi to get the meaning of her body language. By the same token, Tantawi's shy smile and gesture of obvious humility was telling Clinton that I got the hint and you are most welcome, Mrs. Secretary.

The whole Clinton-Tantawi 's encounter in body language has reminded me of the superb body language of the late King Hussein of Jordan. He was a master when it came to body language in international diplomacy. During my stay in Amman, Jordan, managing a technical business operations in the whole Middle East and part of North Africa, for an American multi-national corporation, in the 1970's and 1980's, I saw countless times the late King Hussein on the Jordanian television receiving visitors at his Raghadan palace in Amman. He always sat at the very edge of a big comfortable chair with his both hands in his lap. That was to show utmost respect to his visitors whoever they might have been: Heads of State, Prime Ministers, military Generals etc...I had never seen him moving his hands, while talking with his visitors. I had never seen him sitting on his comfortable royal chair crossed legged, or in any other manner except sitting always at the very edge of it and his both hands in his lap.

While mentioning the late King Hussein's body language, it may be of interest to describe his body language, as he received King and Queen of Spain at Amman Airport: He received them at the bottom of their airplane's stair. He had shaken the hand of the King of Spain as normally as could be, but as the Queen of Spain stepped forward, King Hussein bend his head down as he held her hand for the usual hand shake and kissed the Queen's hand. It was a touching sight in a profound way. I thought it was beautiful to see on Television the late King Hussein of Jordan kissing the hand of  a visiting Queen. I had made a point, that day, of  watching the news at 8:00 p.m. on the Jordanian Television, in order to see again King Hussein kissing the hand of Queen of Spain. I was so disappointed as the Jordanian Television omitted that part of the royal reception at Amman's Airport, due to protestations raised by certain groups of Jordanian citizens who did not like to see their king kissing the hand of a visiting queen. Most unfortunate !!

One might have some disagreements with the policies of the late King Hussein of Jordan, but one could not refrain from admiring the body language he mustered in receiving his visitors and guests-most outstanding in human conduct,characterized with splendid royal humility, rarely matched, indeed

Another well known world figure who knew how to win the profound admiration of people, and probably their votes as well, was President Dwight Eisenhower who was the President of the United States of America for two terms in the 1950's. His genuine and admirable smile could disarm voters, Heads of State alike.

In short, the body language in international diplomacy can have a profound effect, if used appropriately in the right time and place and circumstances.     

                                                                                                       

      

Eid Al-Fitr.

I wish all my Muslim friends and readers of this Website A Very Happy Eid Al-Fitr,full of joy and celebrations across the Islamic World.

May the future be kinder to all Muslims and the rest of the human race, And may the future bring genuine understanding and tolerance among all religions of the world.

Sincerely,
Sodium  

A Great Book About ISLAM.

For those human being who are genuinely are trying to understand Islam the way it should be understood,free of bias and prejudice,the following book is a must read:

What Everyone Needs To Know About ISLAM
By
John L. Esposito

Dr. Esposito is a Professor of Religion and International Affairs at Georgetown University in Washigton DC area. He is also" the Founding Director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at the Walsh School of Foreign Service.

I have just finished reading the above book. It is worth every penny of the $ 21.95 I paid for purchasing it(Hard Cover). It is absolutely fascinating in its categorical division of the topics and subject matters. And it is even more fascinating in the ease in presenting the subject matters to the readers through questions and answers teaching techniques.

The book is divided into the following categorical divisions:

(1)  General Information.

(2)  Faith and Practice.

(3)  Islam and Other Religion.

(4)  Customs and Culture.

(5)  Violence and Terrorism.

(6)  Society,Pollitics,and Economy.

(7)  Muslims in the West.

Each subject matter listed above is discussed in questions and answers technique. For example,let us take number (6) Customs and Culture,of the list given above. It covers 29 important questions for which 29 responding answers were immediately given beneath each question such as:

~  Why does Islam seperate men and women?
~  Are Women second class citizens in Islam?
~  What kind of roles did women play in early Islam?
~  Why do Muslim women wear veils and long garments?
~  Why aren't women allowed to work or drive in Islam?
~  Why do Muslim men wear turbans or caps?
~  Why do Muslim men wear beards?
~  Does Islam require circumcision?

The above questions should be enough to to give an idea about the kind of questions the book contained and immediately answered the question right below it. Let us take the first question of the above list of questions and give only the first paragraph of the detailed answer provided by the book:

Why does Islam seperate men and women?

"Many,though not all,Muslim societies practices some gender segregation-the separation of men and women-to various degrees, in public spaces such as mosques,universities, and the marketplace. Thus in many mosques men  and women have seperate areas for prayer or are separated by a screen or curtain. Unmarried men do not mix with unmarried women outside of very specific context, such as family gatherings or a meeting between two potential spouses that occurs in the presence of a chaperone. Seclusion, which differs from the public segregation of the sexes, is the practice of keeping women within the home so that they have no contact with public space. Although gender segregation and seclusion are practice in some Muslim societies, in many Muslim countries, from Egypt and Tunisia to Malaysia and Indonesia, men and women, especially in the cities and towns, increasingly study and work together. In our modern, globalizing world, where two incomes are often necessary to maintain a household, women are increasingly joining the work forcee and breaking down the gender space"

That is only the first paragraph of the answer given to the above question. Anyone interested in reading the rest of the detailed answer should get it directly from the book. The answer given above is only an example to make the comprehension of the content of the book easy to grasp.

The beauty of this book is centered in the fact that if you have one single question about Islam you need not read the entire book to get the answer,rather you need only to locate the question in the book and get the answer immediately below the question you are interested in. It is so beautifully easy.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND READING THE ENTIRE BOOK AND iF YOU CAN AFFORD BUYING IT,BUY IT TO HAVE IT AS A GOOD REFERENCE IN YOUR HOME LIBRARY.
             


           

What is Irony?

It seems that some writers have some difficulties in expressing themselves as they try to use the word "Irony" or "Ironic" correctly. Because of a bit of difficulty I encountered in understanding what they were trying to convey to me,as a reader of their posts when the word "Irony" or Ironic" was involved in a sentence or paragraph or sigment of their posts,I felt that an attempt must be made in explaining what I understood and how I used the word "Irony" or " Ironic" in an English sentence correctly. To do that there are requirements a blogger must know in order to use these two word correctly. The main requirements are the following two points:

~ The meaning of  " Irony".
~ Why it is necessary to use it in some specific cases.

As to the meaning of "Irony",it really means the opposite of what it is used to describe or define. Examples will be given later.

As to why it is necessary to use in in some writings has to do for being the only way possible to express literally two opposing,or rather contradictary meanings by one word. Or to make easier to understand its proper use,one may consider it as the connecting word necessary to use in order to connect two opposing or contradictory meanings of a situation or a description or a case. Anyone who is familiar with the 20 Figurative Speech Words can easily understand what has been outlined in the foregoing so far. I believe Irony is number 9 nin the list of the 20 words.

Examples For Understanding The Exact Meaning Of Irony:
============================================
In the early 1960's,I worked in a research department related to my field of formal training. One of my working colleges weighed at least 400 pounds,an intelligent and nice fellow in every aspect one could wish a college to be. Just imagine how a fellow weighing 400 pounds to be. He was just too fat or if one wish to be polite one may say that he was just obese. He has areal name but no one in the department called him by his real name. Instead,his co-workers called him "Tiny",instead of calling him "Fatty".  He had no problem,at all,in responding to the call as I and other co-workers called him," Tiny". In fact,I believed that he preferred to be called "Tiny" rather than "Fatty". I worked in that department several years and I had never knew "Tiny"'s real name. Now from this description of a real situation I can write the following sentence using the word "Irony" or "Ironic":

It is an irony that a man who is so fat and big is called "Tiny".

Or

It is ironic that a coworker who weighed 400 pounds was called "Tiny" by his coworkers.

Another Example:
===============
What one may call a person who does not practice what he or she preaches?

One may call him a " HYPOCRITE",but one may use ELEQUENTLY the word,"Irony" or "Ironic" ,instead of the word,"HYPOCRITE" ,such as follows:

It is an irony that the Preacher does not practice what he preaches.

It is ironic that the Preacher does not practice what he preaches.

===================================================================

Final words: I do hope that the above outline will prove helpful to the readers of this website and to those who are interested in the topic.