Stop Getting So Offended

Ah, just another boycott, this time against Alghad newspaper. I woke up today to find several invitations to a facebook group calling for the boycott of Alghad for publishing the Imad Hajjaj cartoon shown here.

[Cartoon shows Abu Mahjoob welcoming and baptizing Tony Blaire with filthy water in the baptism site, with the minister of water on the other side announcing that the contaminated waters did not affect the drinking water and were rerouted to the Jordan River.]

The cartoon spurred the catholic union to send a letter to Alghad's editor denouncing the cartoon because of the "hurtful insinuations it carries that offend not only Christians, but every good-willed citizen", also mentioning that this isn't the first time they've been offended by a Hajjaj cartoon.

This in turn caused Hajjaj to post a clarification on his website, that the caricature was not in any way a mockery of Christians or their traditions, but a sarcastic commentary of how the minister of water and irrigation announced that the water contaminated by Israel was disposed of in the Jordan river just a few days after the opening of the baptism center with Tony Blair attending the ceremony.

هذا الرسم لا يستهدف من قريب أو بعيد الإساءة للديانة المسيحية وأتباعها. ومن المهم هنا التأكيد على القضية الأساسية التي يبرزها الكاريكاتير وهو إعلان وزير المياه أن جميع المياه الملوثة قد تم التخلص منها في نهر الأردن بعد أيام من تدشين معمودية مغطس نهر الأردن بحضور السيد توني بلير. أي أن حل مشكلة التلوث كان بتلويث النهر المقدس الذي يتعمد فيه الحجاج المسيحيين من كل العالم، وهذا ما يرفضه رسام الكاريكاتير شكلا وموضوعا.

The cartoon was posted yesterday and already 3 groups have been created calling for boycotting the newspaper and Imad Hajjaj, created by people who, I'm sure, have no idea of the underlying meaning of the cartoon. The sensitivity of people when it comes to anything bordering religion is unbelievable. You do not object the fact that what you regard as a holy site is being pumped with sewage but a cartoon offends you? Seriously save your energy and outcries for bigger things, like oh I don't know, drinking sewage and radiation infested water.

[On a completely unrelated note, this is the 100th post on this blog!]

Mother of Six Gives Birth to Octuplets

Octuplets as in 8 children. No seriously, what the hell is wrong with people?

" The mother of a woman in California who gave birth on Monday to octuplets said her daughter already has six children at home and was undergoing fertility treatment.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Thursday that Angela Suleman said her daughter had the embryos implanted last year, resulting in the eight births.

Suleman said she was concerned about her daughter's homecoming because her husband, a contract worker, is due to return to Iraq. "

[Source]

So you have six kids, your husband is getting deployed to another country and you implant yourselves with multiple embryos? Yes, I realise I'm being judgemental here but this is insane!

Some Professor Claims Revealing Clothing Leads to Breast Cancer

Check out this ridiculous piece in today's Alghad. Some professor (professor, NOT doctor) is claiming that there is a direct relationship between the type of clothing and breast cancer, and that women who wear revealing clothes (who knows what's his definition of revealing clothes), are more prone to breast cancer. According to him, cells in the breast area receive more energy than other cells (huh??) which would lead to cancer. How this relates to clothes in any way is not mentioned.

But hey, I'm no doctor, so to give him the benefit of the doubt I did a little googling, perhaps I will find something that will remotely support his claims. Nothing. But a little googling about Mr. Professor reveals that he studied mechanical engineering (yes, not medicine) in the Hashemite university (no not any German university anywhere, for whoever wrote this sad excuse for an article), then went on to study biomedical engineering (again, not medicine) and is very-religiously affiliated to say the least.

He unveiled his revolutionary findings in a lecture that he gave yesterday at the Jordanian Society for Scientific Research, which is quite ironic (and pretty sad) given the fact that he made no research nor came up with ANYTHING to support whatever theory he has to scare women into dressing conservatively in a shameless attempt to get women to blame themselves for contracting such a terrible illness.

Who allows these people to lecture? Can anybody just come up with a piece of junk theory and go preach to ignorant people about it? (just check comment 2 to see how they can have an impact). And then we go reporting it as actual facts? This is downright infuriating. If this is our idea of scientific research, then boy are we in over our heads.

Bab El 7ara Mania

Silly me, I thought it couldn't get any worse than the obsession with the notorious Noor and Muhannad. But we sure take our entertainment very seriously.

Attempting to recreate the famous show, a group of youngsters renamed two areas in Tla'a il Ali, Amman into "7aret Shaker" and "7aret al Bostan" after the tv show Bab il 7ara, and then ignited a fight between the two "7aras" that was broken up by the police.

Now I understand the show's popularity with the older demographic: the nostalgia towards old values and traditions in a modern society now, but I really wonder why so many young people find it appealing. I mean, even my 11 year-old cousins were avid followers of the show.

But like Noor, this show's popularity will also remain a conundrum that baffles me. Oh well.

We're Never Going To Be Civil, Are We?

Almost a week after the Tafileh Tech tribal violence, which put the university's president in the hospital, and involved a party of 16 firing bullets at a former MP's house, another incident of tribal violence rears it's ugly head, only this time in Kerak. After a ferocious fight between two families, the parties ended up at the SAME hospital causing the fight to reignite, and about 100 people started using knives, batons (ganwat), sticks and rocks to assault each other. Patients in the hospital had to be taken out for their safety and a lot of damage was done to the hospital's emergency department. The police eventually controlled the disturbance and took the second batch of injuries to a different hospital this time.

And now the same, old ridiculous play will repeat itself, when "distinguished leaders and academics" of one tribe will ask the other for a truce (most likely forced by someone), and the whole thing ends with no consequences for those who initiated the fight. Not as long as you know a guy who knows a guy. Nobody would have the guts to get in a fight if they didn't know a bigshot in the first place.

And so the vicious cycle continues. Doesn't matter how modern we seem, we really still have a mentality from the middle ages.

Members of the Parliament Receive a Raise

That's right. Our beloved parliament members have received a JD500 raise. The MPs' original salary included a basic salary of JD1500 a month, in addition to about JD466 for expenses making their total salary JD1960 a month. The raise introduced a new "hospitality" allowance, as well as an extra JD150 for phone expenses, bringing their grand total to JD2460 a month.

The new raise was granted after the members filed a top secret memo demanding a raise. Gee, I wonder why the memo was top secret. Maybe because they didn't want the general public to realise what hypocrites they are. Notice how this comes a day after a number of MPs demanded the cancellation of the Jordan Festival due to the "extenuating financial circumstances" that Jordanians are going through.

So let's recap on their accomplishments so far. I mean they must have done something to earn their raise. Anything?

12 Parliament Members Demand Cancelling Jordan Festival

Yesterday, the Lower House of the Parliament was scheduled to discuss legislation on transportation, maritime authority and rights of people with disabilities during their session. So what do they end up doing? They propose cancelling the Jordan Festival scheduled for next July due to the "economic and financial circumstances" Jordanians are going through.

The proposal was filed by none other than Nariman Roussan, who was surprised at her colleagues' hesitation to sign the memo, which she describes as 'normal'. This whole incident comes after several complaints about the organizing company, a French company suspected of supporting Zionism for organizing events celebrating 60 years of Israel's existence.

Now if they had objections to the company, which is perfectly okay, then why not suggest changing the company instead of cancelling the whole event. But not during a parliamentary session that was supposed to discuss more pressing issues, and not under the excuse of "economic circumstances". Trust me if Roussan or any of the other signing members really cared about impoverished Jordanians they would've donated some of their lifelong monthly JD1500 salary. If people don't want to go, they won't, but you do not get to decide for them.

Enough with the BS. And someone has GOT to stop Roussan from talking. Seriously.

Legacy of a Nutjob: George W. Bush

“ U.S. President Bush claimed Wednesday that he had no regrets about the decision to invade Iraq and topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Asked about Iraq, Bush said that "substantial" progress had been made in helping the country, adding that efforts in Iraq would "change the Middle East for the better."

"Removing Saddam Hussein made the world a safer place," Bush said. ”

[Source]

Other stupid Bush quotes:

"Too many good docs are getting out of the business. Too many OB-GYNs aren't able to practice their love with women all across this country."

"Rarely is the questioned asked: Is our children learning?"

"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."

Favorite Bush moments:

So regardless of who gets elected for president next, I don't think anybody can surpass the stupidity of George W. Bush. It's just not possible.

The Funwall/Superwall Stupidity

If you have a facebook account, i.e. if you're living in the 21st century, then you must have come across the superwall or funwall, applications which allow you to send a picture, a video or a message to a number of people. I have mine disabled, but every once in a while, when I'm in the mood for a good laugh, I check other people's posts, which almost always fall into the following categories:

1. The "help the kid dying from cancer/separated from twin at birth kid" posts: even if the story were true, do you honestly believe facebook will be donating one cent every time you forward this? If you do, then please go live in a Disney movie.
   
2. The "I'm holier than thou" posts: send this prayer to all your friends and you will receive 998 blessings or if you don't send this then you don't love God. Makes you wonder how people went to heaven before facebook, huh?
   
3. The slutty posts: which are basically either videos or pictures of half-naked girls, surprisingly sent by the same people who send the category 2 posts. Nah, who said we were a hypocritical society.
   
4. The "forward this and see what happens next" posts: how long will it actually take you to realize that nothing ever happens, you wont see who views your profile the most nor will the hot girl in the picture take her top off. Get over it already.
   
5. The funny posts: then occasionally you find some nice posts like this video from Britain's got talent:
   

HAHA