John McCain's IQ is 138, Says Ad

"Are you smarter than the next president?"

I was surfing the internet today, namely the ABC News website, where I found this funny but rather disturbing fact. Apparently, the advertisement is about an IQ tests website. It seems that the advertisers have zero IQ to say something like that. First, McCain is not the next president... not anymore. Second, if McCain's IQ is that high, how high would Obama's IQ be? How high would my IQ be? The advertisement is probably outdated, but surely funny and worth sharing.

Obama, Palin to Feature in Video Game

That's the spirit! I think this could be the most effective advertising in our times. Having Mr. President featured in a video game as a playable character is surely captivating. This is where Obama and Palin could be tested for their true skills and show some real moves, not any of the politics cheap talk. I'd enjoy running around as Palin and getting killed over and over and over and etc. Or play as Obama to kick some Arab ass... just the usual day at the office for a guy like Obama. The game is called Merceneries 2. It's in stores now and getting the downloadable content with our heroes soon.

Mouth-Off: "Obama FTW" and "Go Obama" Don't Specifically Apply to Us, Arabs

Okay, I'm in lots of angst at the moment and I need to mouth off. That's dedicated to all Arabs who think Obama is cool... those who believe Obama leads a bright, promising future for America and the world, including the Arab World.

Well, that's partially true, though, because Obama does have promising plans for the future of the free nation of America, but to me, as an Arab, he offers me nothing. I have seen it everywhere. People jumping from joy all around me because Obama won the presidency... these people are neither Americans nor living in America, but still support an American president. The guys put up status messages on Facebook saying "Obama FTW" (FTW=For The Win) and "Go Obama". Yeah, I know it's cool to have a new president after eight years of Republicans ruling the world. But hey, I'm not American, so it's not cool.

I'd like to say first that I praise Obama for what he is. He is a really charismatic person with a lot of influence. He is not arrogant like Bush. He is educated and knows what he's talking about. If I was American, I would surely give my vote to Obama. But as an Arab, I refuse to support someone who has every intention of fighting Arabs, and especially Muslims.

As an Arab, and particularly (but not limited to) Muslim, I must take a stand against many of America's oppressive policies. I have to stress on the fact that I'm opposing the American policies, but not Obama in person, nor McCain or Bush. McCain seems to me more of an Arab-hater than Obama, but both follow the same American political agenda and work hard to achieve what's best for America. America's interests do not change with the president. It's the same country, but with a different face.

So Obama promised a lot of things, including ending the war in Iraq, improving health care and energy independence, which, at some point, Obama pointed out as his three main objectives. Again, I'm stressing that these are objectives that are best for America. They don't even benefit us in the least bit. He must end the war in Iraq because it's a major contributor to America's deficit.

Energy independence is actually not doable for a nation like America. America's energy comes from the OPEC countries (Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, etc.), Russia, Venezuela and Canada. In this speech, Obama promises that in ten years, America will end its dependence on oil from the Middle East. Although this is not doable, if it happens, that's a ban on Arab countries.

I believe this is impossible, though, because America depends largely on oil. American oil from the Middle East is 15% of its total oil imports. It cannot recover that amount by increasing imports from Russia or Venezuela, which do not seem very much under American control as much as Middle Eastern countries. The OPEC countries are also close allies to the United States, pretty much the same as Canada, so such move is not favourable for America. It does not seem to me as an environmental issue neither because 15% is still not enough to reduce our carbon footprint.

Plus, he is pro-Israel. So that doesn't change much from America's position in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Just the same way "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" goes, I could say "The friend of my enemy is my enemy". That's simple logic and sums the whole thing up.

Obama is There

Today, Democrats are celebrating Obama's win in the presidential race. It was expected. Throughout the past month, Obama was obviously ahead at the race. Obama has got the intelligence, charisma, funds, supporters and luck. He was able to energize his supporters through his promising speech. He told the people what they wanted to hear, making them a bright future. He criticized the Bush administration in the Iraq war, specifically, and promised change in other issues such as energy independence and providing universal health care.

One of the main reasons behind Obama's success is intelligence, which is lacking in Bush. His campaign won the votes of two groups from the very beginning - African-Americans and the youth. He always encouraged young people, who are not very much into politics, to vote and take part. They represent a large portion of the American population, so winning such a group is a very intelligent move, Mr. President.

Luck has played a major role in Obama's success. Luck? Yes, it is luck that very much contributed to Obama's win. One of the main points of strength in the Republican McCain's campaign is war against terrorism. No terrorist attacks have happened in the past months, so Obama kept support and people didn't rush to McCain seeking protection. Such events could really shift consequences, but for Obama's luck, it just didn't happen.

Sexual Harassment.. In Egypt?

Okay first of all, I am not surprised in any way that we have sexual harassment in Egypt, but I am in extreme disgust of the Egyptian people... my people.

This is not Egypt... at least not the Egypt I know and studied about. Sexual harassment (in Egyptian arabic, "mo'aksa") is forbidden in Islam, and is a taboo in the Egyptian culture. The man who harasses women is known to be a sissy. But it seems that the condition in Egypt has worsened very much that people no longer have ethics, nor follow their religion.

I am actually against the "I am this, because I'm poor... I do that, because I'm poor" idealogy. I am talking about those who blame "poverty" for the fact that he's unmannered, hot-tempered, greedy, impatient and dirty-mouthed/minded. I have noticed that as I described the (stereo-?) typical Egyptian, or most Egyptians, to be more specific, the (bad) traits have become more and more unrelated to poverty. Being unmannered and dirty-minded is not because you're poor. Egypt has had poor people all the time. In King Farouk's era, there were a lot of poor people, but they were not like this. Each and every Egyptian, whether rich or poor, was well-mannered and followed his religion.

So apparently, the problem we have in Egypt is not because of poor people being poor. It is because of almost everyone being unmannered. It is a problem... a serious problem. Based on surveys, 83% of veiled, Egyptian women reported that they have been harassed at least once in their lives. They are veiled, but still harassed. I have heard from many Egyptian youth that they harass women because they wear tight or seductive clothes. That's not even a reason to harass them. But here, the women are veiled, but are still harassed. It is more of a lack in manners than in wealth.

The reason why I'm writing about this is because of this article I ran through while surfing the web. It is about a tourist's experience in Egypt. She got into disgusting situations that really make you hate Egyptians.

One kiss on the mouth, and he'll give me the equivalent of a dollar. I am walking through a market in Cairo, Egypt, when I realize that sexual harassment has no limits here. - Quoted from the tourist

Kiss on the mouth? Seriously, this is getting ugly. Plus, he is going to pay 5 pounds. If he saves them rather than spend them on kissing tourists, he would've become wealthy. If he wants a kiss on the mouth, he should get married... Seriously! Read the article to see a more detailed description of the incidents. She suffered. If I were in her shoes, I'd hate Egypt and not want to visit the country again.

Another survey states that 98% of foreign women get sexually harassed on their tour in Egypt. This means less tourism in the country and eventually less foreign money going to the government. Now, can't you see that sexual harassment threatens tourism? These people are sick (not as in ill). They can pop up anywhere in Egypt and harass women just for the sake of it. They know they will be turned down, but they just do it. No wonder why they remain poor and God does not bless their money.

Just an advice to any potential tourists out there. If you ever come to Egypt, always stick with the guide on your tour. If you're female and without a guide in Egypt, your tour will turn into a nightmare. Egypt is a wonderful country, despite the criticisms. The criticisms are mostly true, but if you're joined with a guide, the tour will be great. Firstly, you'll get your time schedule organized so you'll be able to visit the best places in Egypt. Secondly, the guide will give you lots of information about the places and landmarks. Thirdly, the guide can tell you about prices and where to buy souvenirs. Last but not least, you will be protected from harassments!

Visit Egypt!

Obama: 57 States?

In the last 15 months, we travelled to every corner of the United States. I've now been to fifty... seven states? I think one left to go.

I have to say I got surprised at first. I mean... Obama? That's most expected from Bush, because as far as I know, Obama is not as ignorant as Bush. Will a series of Obamisms start just like Bushisms? I guess not. Obama is less likely to make linguistic or factual errors. He's human, so he's expected some mistakes. But 57 states? After all, it could be some sort of misunderstanding, or may be he was joking. A slip of tongue may be? It's funny anyway and needs to be shared. As for the fact that it's an old vid, I just found it yesterday and I think it's worth watching and sharing ;-).

Message to Readers

Sorry for the no sign of life. I'm short of time and ideas at the moment and I'm having exams in about one week. Wish me luck, pray for me, etc. I'll try my best to post in the coming days, but I'll be back to blogging very soon.

P.S. My friends can now follow my blog through Facebook!