Salon again

I ran into a Freedom Airlines pilot a week ago at Kennedy airport. We were standing in line together, catching a flight to Boston. He was a captain (four stripes), but looked about 17 years old. I was trying to figure out which company he flew for, but couldn’t make sense of the star-spangled logo on his I.D. badge. So I asked him.

“I fly for Freedom,” he responded.

I wasn’t sure if he was answering my question or making a political statement. I wanted to put my arm on his shoulder. “We all do, son. We all do.”

I am still laughing as I write this, this is an excerpt from one of my favourite columns, it is by Patrick Smith of Salon.com, check out this weeks episode from a career pilot.

Radi

Free flight sim!

Flight simulator in google earth! That was my expression when I hear it but then I had to try it out, it does control nicely although the controls are counter-intuitive and therefore I blew up a few aircrafts trying.

I couldn’t find info about it on the official site of google earth, but download version 4.2 and then try it out (ctrl-alt-a)

peace, out

Radi

Mars as big as the moon?

How can people be so gullible? I have received numerous e-mails talking about august 27th at 12:30 PM as a chance to see mars close enough to be as big to the naked eye as the moon and that this will only happen again in 2778 or something to that extent.

If that did happen it will probably pull the gravity of earth out of balance and probably derail the the earth off its orbit around the sun and maybe even cause it to burn up or freeze over when changing the proximity of earth to the sun.

I wasn’t shocked that NASA put up this page and the good news for me is the events they talk about in the in 2003, I witnessed them in Canada back then.

Radi

This is my 100th post

Recently -since febrauary- I have maintained a post every two days, on even days, even if posting about mundane things, it still means a whole lot to me to have reached the 1ooth post, and so I will dedicate this just for that, and for saying that I have nothing else to talk about.

My blog seems to not grow in audience, even thought I try to plug it in everywhere, I am enjoying more because of that fact, I can’t seem to care what people will comment, because hardly anyone does, and one day I know I will look at this post and say “Those were the days, my friend”

I will try to include -in every post from 101st upwards- a picture, and hopefully it will bring up this site.

Radi

New style -again

As Many of you have noticed, the website has been tampered with, and the old cool and hip design was removed. Darn, it doesn’t look right any more.

The thing is, i did it, and I like it, and I don’t care about the level of coolness that the blog has, really I don’t.

I added my picture in a PA-44, which is a piper seminole, and added the same line, and headline. New Additions:

1- Cogito, Ergo Sum: I think, therefore I am , which is part of Descartes Dubito, ergo cogito, ergo sum (Latin: “I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am”) is a philosophical statement used by René Descartes, which became a foundational element of Western philosophy. “Cogito ergo sum” is a translation of Descartes’ original French statement: “Je pense, donc je suis“, which occurs in his Discourse on Method (1637).

2-“In omnibus requiem quaesivi, et nusquam inveni nisi in angulo cum libro“ (I have searched for peace everywhere, but have not found it anywhere except for in a corner with a book). a quote by Thomas à Kempis

3-GeoVisite counter and tracker, which is fun to see, although most of my recent hits are from Jordan.

4-I also removed some spam comments, added the moderate comments feature, because it seems neccesary.

Radi

Edward Said Chair

I would like to congratulate Columbia University, they did a remarkable feat and won a great battle, they did not surrender their fate to people who call “foul” or “antisemitism” on every corner. Columbia University established an Edward Said Chair in Middle East Studies, it was 2002 and it was great. Forcing the pro-Israeli media to take note, campus watch said:

“Columbia is already known for the lack of balance in Middle East studies. The list of donors to the Edward Said chair only confirms the problem.

Particularly worrisome is the presence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) among the donors.”

They didn’t explain why a country and a university where so abhorrently labeled and attacked. Edward said was a great scholar and his books reached great fame and acclaim, nothing in his written (or spoken) history, can be scholarly refuted, he has actually rejuvenated how middle-east study should occur. His work “Orientalism” is considered the landmark study in this field.

It is ridiculous at this day and age that so many websites are attacking donors to study programs, and attacking universities for respecting the wishes of non-disclosure by patrons of academia.

Columbia didn’t at first disclose the names of donors but later did:
Yusef Abu Khadra
Abdel Muhsen Al-Qattan
Ramzi A. Dalloul
Richard and Barbara Debs
Richard B. Fisher
Gordon Gray, Jr.
Daoud Hanania
Rita E. Hauser
Walid H. Kattan
Said T. Khory Munib R. Masri
Morgan Capital & Energy
Olayan Charitable Trust
Hasib Sabbagh
Kamal A. Shair
Abdul Shakashir
Abdul Majeed Shoman
Jean Stein
United Arab Emirates

After the list was disclosed “The list of donors to the Edward Said chair only confirms the problem.” campus watch and other pro-Israeli groups said. From what I know, most of the people above are business people and philanthropists. Nothing is wrong if they want to sponsor certain areas of study.
The UAE was attacked but Dick Chenney didn’t seem to mind visiting them yesterday, also the compairision is not valid but this donation and Harvard’s, this was done by the government, not by the late ruler Sheikh Zayed, which is quite different.

Radi

Donations to the suffering

A lot of people I know and talked to about the current situation in the occupied territories have always seemed ready to help, usually monetarily to ease down the suffering, the theme that seems all the people have agreed on is that the money won’t reach to the people.

Trust me, I know what that means, my father for years had a sizable portion of his paycheck cutoff to support the PLO, and many people like him did the same, eventually the PLO and it’s leaders are rich and have millions of dollars worth of assets known to the public, while the Palestinian public is living under extremely impoverished condiions.

77% of people in Gaza are in poverty, 23% are in deep poverty, the can’t even reach the poverty line after aid, the was 22% DECREASE in income for Palestinians in the occupied territories. To remedy it, everyone who can help is encouraged to, I researched a few programs and realized the safest bet is the Welfare Association’s special appeals. Give them a visit and check it out

Radi

A world without America

I googled “A world without America” and I might say it is not what I expected, I thought the leftists, the libertarians, and the political minds of the world would probably get the first hit. I mean, it did seem that way to me.

I found this video which seemed to imply that the Russians would win WWII and therefore “liberate Paris”, that polio would not have a cure or a vaccine by 1969 and that Israel would not find support in staying in the Middle East and that by 1979 it would be wiped out and refugees will be sent to the seas. Saddam would be a tyrant, still holding Kuwait and holding nuclear weapons. It also claimed that the world would be poorer, less advanced and less educated.

It seems that their claims are irrefutable at first-site. Russia did win World War II and their Armies where about to catch Nazi Hitler. But the UK would have intervened and with their and the French’s Empire, (remmember De Gaulle was based in Algiers from 1942) would have not sit idly.

Polio like any illness is bound to have found vaccine, just like Insulin was discovered in Canada, and just like the first organ transplant was done in South Africa. Israel was almost founded by the Balfour declaration which was drafted by Arthur Balfour, who was the Foreign Minister at the time and his Grandchildren still are Earls of Balfour. The Soviet Union recognized Israel just as soon as it was Declared a state, and would probably have rather have it as a satellite or ally because it was very skillfully managed. It’s all political. I support your friends’ enemies and you support my friends’ enemies.

Saddam was a military man who rose in the ranks of the Baath again supported by Britian, where it not for the French fear of King Faisal and the British support of Baath, Saddam would not have been able to continue, also, the US supported Saddam in his war against Iran and therefore if the US was not there the world might have to deal with an Islamic empire, or wait, maybe the Shahanshah wouldn’t have been ousted by Khomeini. It is too hard to tell because the CIA was involved in many programs.

Money is produced as a direct result of human effort, which would still be here without the US, and since a big chunk is concentrated in the US, the world would probably be richer since the money would be spread over many people.

Radi

New style

I have realized that the labels or categories I am using are far too numerous and do not relate to my blog so a little reorganization is in order, there are now a few categories to put a post in:

Books
Business
Cars
Entertainment
Environment and Nature
Freedom
Online
Personal
-Career
-Liverpool FC
Politics
-Middle East
Random Thoughts

This system seems fragile still but may be worth my effort, I mean, I have 21 posts in Random Thoughts and 16 under Personal. I will continue to improve it when a trend emerges.

This is a published copy for the blog on http://headwindblows.blogspot.com/ when I realized that I am too google dependant and that wordpress has its own merits.

I also have an intention to blog on odd days in another blog which has to relate to a project I am doing. More on that later on

Radi

Transtitioning

This is the first post I will write with the new wysiwyg editor provided courtesy of Blogger, I stuck to old blogger editor although I was early on moving to Blogger beta, I didn’t want to change the old feel I had when writing blogs, but since I have started adding pictures, the effort seemed tiring and repetitive.

I like using many fonts in writing and I think it’s empowering to have a choice. Thanks Blogger, your efforts are appreciated. I’m thinking of changing the banner at the top of my blog to include this picture and possibly some other symbolic items.

Radi