Last month, North Korea conducted a nuclear test. How does the US respond: banning iPods (which are probably manufactured in China, which is alright by China since it is the biggest lender to the US war on Iraq).
The US is now targeting the lifestyle of North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-il and the families of his […]

An excerpt from Chuck Palahniuk’s novel “Haunted” that I found quite telling of the human condition…

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To be fair…this is one WMD that hurts like hell.

NY Times video of Saddam testing out WMDs like Molotov Cocktails and something that looks like an AB exercise device that I swear I’ve seen on late night infomercials.

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A follow up to the post: “How To Get a Girlfriend in Amman”
I think I’m in love…

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Bush isn’t the only one in town this week. If you’re in Amman, be on the lookout for famous news anchors and journalists covering the Bush-al-Maliki summit including CBS’s Katie Couric, ABC’s Charles Gibson, CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Fox News’ Shepard Smith. [source]
Good luck with the traffic!

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While sectarian violence is at a high point in Iraq, fueled by many elements that have caused the death of about 120 people a day, everyone seems to be engulfed in the terminology. Is it a civil war? Should it be called a civil war? Does admitting it’s a civil war frame it as a […]

The national campaign to make Petra one of the new seven “Wonders of the World” has reached my email inbox lately. As I am not in Jordan I was surprised to see that the cell phone service providers such as Fastlink, Mobilecom and Umniah are in on the campaign as well (although their respective websites […]

The news world seems a bit abuzz with HM King Abdullah’s reference to the possibility of three civil wars emerging in the region, yesterday on “This Week” with George Stephanopoulos. I find it a bit odd since the international media is treating this like the King has just discovered a problem no one knew about […]

The word I love these days is “Naturally”. It’s a much better replacement for words like “Obvious” and “Cool” and it’s root “Natural” is just as stimulating to use. Commonly used phrases “Everything is natural”, “Pretty natural”, “It’s natural man” or just plain lovely “Naturally”. So yeah, I’m bringing ‘naturally’ back (beat that timberlake).
The word […]

Not Blogging…
Is the New Blogging.

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Let me say this right off the bat: I don’t blog for the sake of hits, views and/or statistics. My blog’s numbers are nothing to write home about but nevertheless I have a personal obsession with constantly checking the stats everyday. I’ve had several conversations with several bloggers and non-blogging civilians, all of who tell […]

One of my closest friends lives a few hours north of me in Ottawa and is doing a masters in electrical engineering. During a recent conversation where a lot of reminiscing about old times took place, we discussed the job market in Jordan. He asked me if I knew of any innovative things in the […]

When Nabeel Al-Jaourah shot at a group of tourists last September and killed a British man, he was questioned and the main reason given for his action was his desire to avenge his brother’s death who was killed in an Israeli air strike years ago. And although he pleaded innocent (I don’t know how one […]

So Prime Minister Bakhit reshuffled his cabinet bringing in 9 ministers to the fold. I know, it’s not the most exciting piece of news. They’ve been described mostly as technocrats and/or diplomats.
An interesting (and a bit rare) move was bringing in a previous member of the opposition, Mohammad Oran as Minister of Political Development. One […]

In a room without a pardon
I bounce delicate words
At the white powder cinder block
Only to watch them break like China cups
And gather at the foot of these stone walls
So that my hands, half expecting
Embrace nothing in return
But so much silence can slip between sweaty palms
The spider web cracks beneath the windows
Hint of iron rust and […]

According to international law all Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal, but (prepare to be shocked) the Israeli group Peace Now has said that according to a leaked 2004 survey by the Civil Administration, as much as 40% of those settlements are built on Arab land and are thus “effectively stolen” from Palestinian […]