Not only is the man several light years away from what a diplomat should be, he has also proven to most sane Americans that he is indeed on a “crusade” - to ruin their reputation abroad. I received the following interesting bit of information in an e-mail from my friend Yoda. This was taken from Time.com, published under “The Five Key Mistakes of Bush’s Middle East Policy”. I do not know the exact date of it:

1. Bush ignored the Palestinians.

Up until the week that Bill Clinton left office in January 2001,
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were still trying to work out an
ambitious end-of-conflict agreement. True, Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat had unleashed an intifadeh, and the Israelis were on the verge
of electing Ariel Sharon — an avowed enemy of the Oslo peace process —
as prime minister, but the two sides were still talking. When Bush
became president, he ended crucial American mediation, repudiated
Arafat and backed Sharon, who proceeded to expand Israeli settlements
in the occupied West Bank. With the conflict becoming bloodier than
ever, Arafat died, and Hamas, the fundamentalist party that adamantly
refuses to even recognize Israel, much less negotiate with it, ousted
the late Palestinian leader’s party from power. Besides angering Arab
opinion, the lack of an Arab-Israeli peace process that would also
address Israel’s occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights has encouraged
mischief-making by Damascus, which is suspected of aiding anti-U.S.
insurgents in Iraq and committing political assassinations in Lebanon.

2. Bush invaded Iraq.

After 9/11, Bush became convinced that Saddam Hussein was seeking
nuclear weapons and represented a mortal threat to the West. He also
came to believe that ousting Saddam would turn Iraq into a democracy
that would become the model for the rest of the Arab world. Saddam
turned out not to have nuclear weapons, and Iraq turned out to be more
prone to civil war than democracy. It runs the risk of becoming a
failed state from which terrorists run global operations, and/or
breaking into ethnic mini-states that inspire secessionist trouble
throughout the region.

3. Bush misjudged Iran.

Just after Bush became president, Iranians reelected moderate
President Mohammed Khatami, who had reached out to the U.S. and called
for a “dialogue of civilizations.” Bush not only refused to extend the
olive branch cautiously offered by the Clinton Administration, he
declared Iran part of an “axis of evil.” Khatami left office under
fire for the failure of his conciliatory approach, to be replaced by
hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who proceeded to promote
Iran’s nuclear ambitions and call for Israel to be wiped off the map.
Despite Bush’s tough talk against Iran, the Iraq war has dramatically
expanded Iran’s influence in the country. To make matters worse,
Iran’s Lebanese ally, Hizballah, withstood Israel’s month-long
onslaught last summer and is poised to topple the U.S.-backed Lebanese
government.

4. Bush hurt Israel.

If protecting Israel had been a key goal of the Administration’s
policies, it is hard to see how they have helped make the Jewish State
better off today. Having gotten rid of Arafat, they have instead to
face Hamas. And continuous rocket attacks from Gaza have highlighted
the limits of what Israel can achieve through its plans to
unilaterally redraw its borders. The confrontation in Lebanon over the
summer and the messy engagement in Gaza also highlight the limits on
the deterrent capacity of Israel’s military advantages. Spreading
instability in the region is not in Israel’s long-term interests; nor
is a nuclear Iran.

5. Bush alienated Muslims.

It was an honest misstep, but the problem began when Bush promised to
wage a “crusade” against al-Qaeda after September 11, effectively
equating his war on terrorism with an earlier Christian invasion of
the Middle East that remains etched in the collective memory of
Muslims. Since then, the Bush Administration’s involvement in or
perceived support of military campaigns against Iraqis, Palestinians
and Lebanese heightened Muslim anger at the U.S. and undermined the
political position of moderate, pro-American Arabs, including old U.S.
allies like Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of
Saudi Arabia — and, of course, King Abdullah II of Jordan, the host of
Bush’s Middle East visit this week.

I am much less than thrilled to receive Bush Jr. in Amman. Some argue that this step is an admission of some sort that his administration’s policies in Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East have not been successful and that, as such, this trip should be celebrated. Well think again, “I say not unto thee, ‘Until seven times; but until seventy times seven.’ ”

Since he’s in the vicinity, why doesn’t he pop up in Abu Ghraib and see how the torture dogs are doing?

What I dislike the most about this visit are the heightened security measures. Scaring people out of their wits by stationing police and helmet-wearing, machine-gun-bearing army people all over Amman is not a healthy sign. Maybe Jordanians and the American Embassy alike could learn something from James Bond and work undercover for once and not make all this uncalled-for fuss. It’s irritating and it certainly is not stylish anymore.

Honestly though, who would be bothered to check if the person in that 74′ Toyota at the traffic light is George W. Bush?

I had intended for this post to have more “weight” but because I am a good girl I will take my parents’ advice and not post anything too “out there”. I will keep the explosives for my research papers, where I know who my audience is.

P.S: The other day I was browsing bumper sticker designs and one read: “Clinton screwed an intern. Bush screwed us all.”

I love her. I have been thinking of ways to repel my brother from driving her and this is what I have come up with so far, all in line with my intimate preferences, of course:

1- Get a Tololy.com bumper sticker.
2- Change the color of the beige interior textile to fuschia or red. A Zebra pattern would also be stunning. This bit here has a double function; it will make the car a unique ride and will protect the original textile.
3- Glue fake little diamonds all around the driver’s mirror. Those will be a challenge to remove if I ever intend to sell her to a non-female person.
4- Paint her red - this will happen eventually.
5- Get a matching cover for the steering wheel. I know this is “7afartali” and very un-hip but I don’t think I can resist.

I fancy non-standard objects. Très original. Oui.

Growing up watching Bond continuously entertaining and pumping adrenaline levels up, it is no wonder that the latest Casino Royale has climbed up to the top of my ‘urgent lust’ list. Wonder no more on my tardiness; I am yet to see this Blonde Bond perform simply because the fates have conspired against me once again.

In simple English, watching the movie is as challenging as a stunt involving Russian spies on bikes balancing on a chopper. On Thursday, I literally roamed - somewhat aimlessly- Amman’s movie theatres hunting for Bond. It was not at all a pleasant surprise to find that the one theatre that was showing the movie was fully booked by the time my friend and I arrived. Less appealing was the discovery that the two other theatres we popped at were showing mostly Egyptian movies (no offence but my understanding of comedy is really different) and no Bond. I was heartbroken, utterly lost, and my morale was harmed beyond repair.

A cinema packed with 13 year old kids playing ultra-hip will not rain on my parade, I am determined. There is nothing more pressing now than watching Connery’s successor struggle to drive a manual gear Austin Martin.

In a book I have, I read:

The following “Rules for Female Teachers” were posted by the school board of one town in Massachusetts:

1. Do not get married.
2. Do not leave town at any time without permission of the school board.
3. Do not keep company with men.
4. Bet home between the hours of 8 P.M and 6 A.M.
5. Do not loiter downtown in ice cream stores.
6. Do not smoke.
7. Do not get into a carriage with any man except your father or brother.
8. Do not dress in bright colors.
9. Do not dye your hair.
10. Do not wear any dress more than two inches above the ankle.

Zinn, Howard. A People’s History of the United States: 1492 to present. New York: HarperPerennial, 1995

It seems there happen to be some similarities between these rules, dating back to the early 20th century, and some still active today. I make no guesses as to how proper these rules are, I follow some but break most myself, but what I find most interesting is that American women actually lived by these rules at some point in time. Fascinating!

I promised my friend (shown in the video below) to acknowledge his magical skills and so I am publishing one of his “shows” found at Metacafe. There’s more of him there if you get hooked! Somehow I cannot stop wondering at the strangeness of this situation…Oh well.

Tear & Repair Revealed! - video powered by Metacafe

Character trash bin:

Sexy clock:

Red lantern:

Foot bears:

Velvet Adiga dancer sticker:

Do you think that students must never appear to be smarter than their teacher, even if they are? Convince us.

Tsuki-san, my cat, has been upsetting my mother lately since my brother brought him in at two days of age. She has a theory about what she calls “Thief Cats”; those are usually slim, long, and highly intelligent cats who steal food.

Sometimes when I take kittens in, there are no indications that they will develop into Thief Cats. They’re chubby, short-legged, and generally dumb. There really is no telling if your kitten will morph into a Thief Cat before it turns at least three months old, and I say this as a result of a long history with cats.

Naturally, if you get a pedigree kitten, you know what you’re investing in. I am talking about random street kittens turned domestic.

Tsuki-san is a picky eater. He hates certain types of cat food and even those he likes he does not eat that often. Recently, he developed a passion for stealing food from the kitchen, much to my mother’s displeasure. He likes to take food that is not given willingly to him and that makes him true to his physical endowments. His tail is excessively long, the longest tail I have ever seen, but he looks nothing like a regular Thief Cat. I reckon he’s a Thief Cat in disguise.

He stole some chicken skin from the sink this morning. My mother offered it to him earlier but he wouldn’t have it, until he stole it. I have raised a morally corrupt feline.

For all those who ask me about my hosting plan, SiteGround is the real deal