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Archive for February 2006

Exotic spectacles at the U of J

In Jordan, Picturesque on February 28, 2006 at 6:18 pm


Paying the campus of the University of Jordan a visit today was a refreshing, although exhausting, trip.

I had some paper work to do and for that cause I suffered in the heat of this dog day, and I walked too much while entertaining a splitting headache and a case of severe blues (I bought a book and even that did not help. This is how grave the situation was).

Nonetheless, as I was making my way from point A (being one of the portals of the campus), to point B (being some centre of some sort located, conveniently, at the other end of the globe) to have my year book picture taken, I encountered the most eccentric thing. An old black train on display, permanently, on campus. Look at the pictures provided for a visual account of the meeting.

With today’s too much sun, and the conditions aforementioned, I did not bother to change the settings of the camera. Therefore, do pardon the awkward coloration of those shots.

There were two lovers seated right behind the beautiful black train and, respecting their privacy, I opted for the funny positioning of the tree to the left to “conceal” their “identities”. One never knows who is reading one’s blog, and I would hate it if someone gets shot as a consequence.

Finally, the jewel of this post, and evidence of my (only?) act of public property vandalism. A street light base with my name carved into it using a wooden stick that had fallen from a nearby tree. It was a regular morning where I was going, again, from point A to point B, and I noticed that this base of cement is still fresh and accepting of any artistic additions. Now Tololy will forever remain in the U of J, the picture is proof of this romanticism.

Mysterious Petra

In Bits & pieces on February 27, 2006 at 11:29 am

Such joy! I logged on today to Webshots, to download a new wallpaper, and I found glorious Petra featured right on the main page. It felt good seeing that this beauty is appreciated worldwide.

“Located in Jordan and dubbed the “treasure of the ancient world,” Petra is a city hewn from living rock. “

Impersonal jotting down of thoughts

In Personal on February 27, 2006 at 12:58 am

I was just browsing the archives of my Box, and I often do that to return to former times when the experience of blogging was different from what it is now. I return to my previous blog, too, sometimes, to find out how my way of expressing myself has changed over time. It is an eye-opening journey, definitely.

You’d be surprised if I told you I debate shutting down the Box, on a daily basis. It’s this pressure of life in general that makes me think such “horrible” things, these things that are both crazy and perfectly logical. Do I hear you tagging that as a crime against humanity? Nay, that is just my imagination.

Why I debate shutting down the Box, every single day, is quite a complicated deal. It is true that many a time I meet a very nice muse who guides me from darkness to light, and that this self same muse helps me generate the very interesting concept of the term “original content”, but I get bored of this muse quickly, too. Creating this blog was, in principle, a challenge of commitment, with what difficulties I face with the latter word and,now that I have reached the point I desired, this motivation is growing thinner by the minute.

I have had some people contacting me about the quality of my entries, and their content. Be their comments positive or negative, I thank them sincerely for slicing out some minutes of their days to voice their opinions, which I hold nothing but respect for. This said, I should have formed some alternative sources of motivation to keep the Box up and running. Maybe I have, I am not sure, maybe I just do not know it yet.

I believe the nicest part about this Box of mine is the chance it offers me to really pick my brains. This is a tedious task, rest assured, and it is time consuming. Particularly when you have two jobs, two projects,a family you wish to be with, friendships to maintain, languages to polish, study programs to search for, a cat to trick into a shower, a book to write, and yourself to worry about. I was reflecting on the frequency of posting, perhaps publishing an entry every other day, but that could absolutely murder my thoughts. My brains operate in a funny way that I do not expect others to understand, you see.

Sitting here, with my yellow blouse and pants, a detail you did not ask for, I am asking myself “Why am I telling the world all of these things?”. Good question. Because I can, and because I feel it is my readers’ right to be informed about the happenings in Tololy’s Box. I think I am not flattering myself when believing that there are some minds out there who enjoy reading some things I write at times, I think I would be endlessly honored if I found out that some smart and totally uncalled-for remark here or there made someone smile, and that is part of the reason why I made this Box public. I respect my readers, therefore I want them to learn what is going on in here.

This is such a depressing entry. I never intended it to be so, believe it or not. The answer could be “doing less”, and yet that seems very difficult. The other day I decided I wanted to cut down on the length of posts in the Box, but to satisfy my insatiable appetite for letters, I created UTN. So much for less work. Now I have two blogs to look after, it’s nobody fault, really, don’t blame it on anyone. The funny bit about UTN, in comparison with Tololy’s Box, is that the author over there never mentions this place. UTN is somewhat like the family secret everybody knows and yet nobody wants to talk about, but that’s what makes it special. I want it to be that way.

It is getting late, I should end this entry and, what better way to terminate it but by delivering mushy, yet very honest, thanks for the support from the supporters, and the demolition squad’s efforts to turn the Box into nothing but a wrinkled paper in a trash can. I am indebted to all of my readers, and the “my” is too posh, don’t you think?

Allah, God, etc

In Opinion on February 26, 2006 at 1:00 pm

Notwithstanding one’s religion, or the lack thereof, sense dictates that people should try to live in harmony. Perhaps not all of them, that would be putting it too naively.

The rush that has been spreading faster than avian flu, is the combat between the so-dubbed “good”, and the so-dubbed “evil”. A rather dangerous battle but interestingly, a must in this age. I am not precisely the most timely person, therefore I realize that the news are now old concerning Ed Callahan, a random individual, trying, and failing to, register with Yahoo for an e-mail account due to the absolutely shameful inclusion of the word “Allah” in his last name.

Perhaps Yahoo had, and they did have, plausible reasons to try to explain the absurdity of the whole situation. But the problematic bit about this, as far as I can perceive, is that there are hundreds of thousands of people who so happen to have the word Allah in their names. The catch here is that they are not all Muslim. Quite a point, no?

Mr.Callahan, whose religious inclinations cannot be possibly derived from his last name, eventually managed to register for an e-mail address, with Yahoo. Commenting on the crooked policy, he noted “The war on terror is becoming a war on Muslims”.

For the sake of casual argument, suppose the word Allah exists only in names of Muslims, and that this unmistakable combination of letters only coincides with Muslim names, that should be a sight; to see whether or no large e-businesses, and some faces of the world, would show some decency and/or respect.

Should you wish to read the full story, kindly follow this link.

Arabic/English entry: Be a sport

In Opinion, عربي on February 25, 2006 at 11:24 am
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??? ????? ???????? ?????? ???????? ??? ???? ???????? ???????? ?? ????? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ??????? ?? ????? ?? ???????? ???????? ??????? ?? ???????? ????????? ??????? ?? ?????? ???? ????? ??????? ?????? ?????? ??? ????????. ????? ????? ??? ???????? ??? ???????? ?? ????? ???????? ??? ????? ??? ??????? ??????? ???? ???? ??????? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ???? ??????? ?? ?????? ??????? ??????? ???? ?????? ????????.

Sport ought to be well away from political upheavals, or so one would imagine. Quoted above is an article from Emirati Al Bayan newspaper for today, Saturday February 25th.

The article speaks of the Egyptian Boxing Federation and their turning down of an invitation from Denmark to participate in some international championship to take place next October. The rejection came as centered on the issue of the notorious cartoons portraying prophet Mohammad, peace be upon him.

There is no sense in forcing sport into this labyrinth. People can survive with what political and cultural upsets this crisis generated, and with the now-constant talks of religious conflicts and gaps but, one would imagine “something” is left out of the equation. It is enormously distressing to see a totally irrelevant aspect of life sabotaged with the leftovers of a, hopefully, passing glitch.

Weblog ethics

In Metablog on February 25, 2006 at 9:20 am

I have just stumbled upon a quiz concerning weblog ethics and etiquette, and I previously had no idea such a game existed. Nevertheless, taking the quiz was interesting enough for me to dedicate an entry for it. It relates to several aspects of blogging that one sometimes seems to miss out on, such as linking, commenting, proper discussion policies, and so on.

If you would like to try it out, and I suggest you do, click here. Oh and I scored 90%, is that not something to be proud of?

My brother’s pants

In Picturesque on February 24, 2006 at 10:15 pm


Metablog: Boss friendly content

In Metablog on February 23, 2006 at 11:37 pm

Blog-related tales have it that a decent number of individuals have been fired due to keeping blogs about their bosses. The why and how behind such stories are not what this entry deals with.

How does one post boss-friendly entries, and at the same time prove one’s ability to criticize one’s boss? I make no claims that I have any clear solution but I say, avoid mentioning names or, alter names if you have to.

If your blog runs under your birth certificate name (also known as a real name, as opposed to an alias), then you might want to cut down on excessive blog URL sharing with colleagues, particularly when your superior is not exactly nice.

Let me be a bit democratic here for this instance, I would like to learn of readers’ views and suggestions about boss-friendly content; how does a blog author deliver sharp observations and not get sacked? What do you think?

Useful links:

Metablog: Exposure

Metablog: Up close and business-like

Metablog: Blog fashion

Unveiling Metablog


The power of good offers

In Life on February 22, 2006 at 9:09 am

… is that they make you buy things you did not plan on buying. Many a time did a decent offer intrude on budgets and helped accumulate product upon product of no daily use in the collections of buyers.

But isn’t that the point of marketing? To make you feel absolutely in need for something you probably can do as perfectly well without, and to lure your purse into generating the cash to purchase this item or that? Most people, myself included, fall for things just because they’re “new”, add to that a nice slice out of the price and the offer is irresistible.

It often happens that one tries to prioritize on monthly spendings, and to set a definite limit and a rule on what to buy, and how much to invest in shopping crusades and outings. But more often than that, one is faced with an attractive 70% or a “buy one get two free” bright sticker on some display window that renders it impossible to ignore and to move on with life, and with one’s agreed-upon budget plan.

After an incident of this sort, the buyer may feel exalted at first, for having gotten the same item for less, but then he or she might feel a bit guilty for having contradicted their budget plans. I am not sure why this feeling is sometimes present, shouldn’t thrill and a sentiment of I-am-money-smart prevail? Perhaps it should, I make no guesses.

Should we blame the magnet of an offer, the salary that does not afford us everything, or the self that just cannot say No ?

Personal Entry: The ATM ate my money

In Life on February 21, 2006 at 8:26 pm

How upsetting! I tried to withdraw some money today (A nice chunk) from a certain ATM, and, well, the machine ate my money! I waited for the sum to come out and then to adorn my purse to no avail.

I, naturally, freaked out. Then I instantly called my personal advisor who assured me all is well and that this sometimes happens (Why?) and is generally solved the next day once the technicians open up the machine and such.

I must say this lady from the bank is very pleasant, I can imagine anyone’s reaction at hearing my voice through the phone with that sharp tone, almost about to burst out of the receiver and to have a nice bite of the other end’s ear. Yet she was composed herself, and that is probably the best face of this bank I have come to explore.

Adiga Xabza

In Bits & pieces on February 20, 2006 at 6:39 pm

After such a break, one would think that Adiga Xabza series are dead and gone. Untrue, I bring you the third entry on the subject of Adiga (Circassian) traditions and customs, this time inspired by my friend Zaid Dodokh.

Much like in other cultures, unique customs apply to Adiga girls’ ways of dress, manner, and habits. An intriguing tradition that I recently learned of is the absolute ban of spirits to unmarried girls.

An Adiga girl may never drink and, if offered a glass of the prohibited stuff she should voice her gratitude and then pass the glass on to whoever male of her people is present. Dodokh quotes an ancient saying that states ” A drink can be in the girl’s hand, but only on the lips of a man”.

I am not precisely aware of the reasons behind this policy, but I find it preciously interesting. You may wish to check previous Adiga Xabza entries here, and here.

3arabi mkassar

In Opinion on February 19, 2006 at 12:12 am

This entry is relevant, albeit not identical, to previous posts titled “Bil 3arabi”, and “Bil 3arabi:Kaman marra”. Like those two just cited, its aim is to examine the state of the Arabic language in specific circles of society, and, although this sounds too bright a venture, poses questions in relation to that stance. At one stage, it will employ the transliteration of the Arabic language into Roman characters, reflecting the Amman-Jordanian dialect, to accent the edges of the paradox.

This matter of the Arabic language has been one not easily dismissed from my thoughts, I love my language and I cherish it deeply. I am most positive many others share the same affection for the antique, fabulously artistic tongue. I am equally certain many feel an ambiguous sense of guilt for not being able to utilize the language that is their birthright and a duty often unfulfilled, in their daily lives.

Feeling incapable of self-expression in one’s alleged mother tongue is, at the very least, tragic. I remember smiling when I bump into fresh learners of Arabic who strive to utter every word the correct way, and to compose the riddles of complex sentences in line with the formulas of Arabic, and not their own languages. It is this battle that astonishes me, as opposed to the often all too defeatist abandonment of language by “native speakers”. Those learners speak standard Arabic, and they take pride in showing it, unlike many, many Arabs who take every possible measure not to speak in Arabic and to abolish any ties with the culture it carries.

That broken form of pure Arabic, employed in earnest attempts at grasping the methods of the rich linguistic system, is what came to be called “3arabi mkassar”. Yet it is fully justifiable for foreigners to miss a proper tense here or there, or to use the wrong pronoun, or even to pluralize the should-be-singular in their course of learning. But is it justifiable for an Arab to use 3arabi mkassar as well? Ino, iza ba7ki 3arabi mkassar, badalni 3arabeyyeh, wella sho bakoon?

I am eager to expand this debate further, Arab talk show style: Perhaps there is an inferiority complex within the collective frame of Arabs, or, here’s another hypothesis for you, perhaps they are easily influenced by exterior trends, easily impressed, that is.

Quite honestly, I find it enormously odd that Arabs seem to hop on any chance that would feature them as being “westernized”, rather than adherent to their heritage. Since that first image offers glittering opportunities of being glued to open-mindedness, education, and the rest of your choice of terms as opposed to that “uncivilized” Arab civilization (and I use the term “westernized” loosely). Could this linguistic hiccup, much celebrated by the elite, usher self-annihilation? What is the point of being identical with another culture via language? Does that not abort any identity, or whatever is left of it, and does it not leave one a miserable incomplete replica of a glory that never was?

To bring this to an end, it is not accurate to propose that people who do not wish to employ foreign languages needlessly in their speech are trying to shrink themselves to fit unopened cocoons, nor it is fair to judge the competence of an individual as based on usage of fancy words belonging to any language other than Arabic, or even to infer that this self same individual is incapable of going with the flow of modernization by fault of his/her usage of his/her mother tongue. Even modernization preaches logic sometimes, let us not forget that.

Fatima by Lord Tennyson

In Literature on February 18, 2006 at 12:28 pm
O LOVE, Love, Love! O withering might!
O sun, that from thy noonday height
Shudderest when I strain my sight,
Throbbing thro’ all thy heat and light,
Lo, falling from my constant mind,
Lo, parch’d and wither’d, deaf and blind,
I whirl like leaves in roaring wind.
Last night I wasted hateful hours
Below the city’s eastern towers:
I thirsted for the brooks, the showers:
I roll’d among the tender flowers:
I crush’d them on my breast, my mouth;
I look’d athwart the burning drouth
Of that long desert to the south.
Last night, when some one spoke his name,
From my swift blood that went and came
A thousand little shafts of flame
Were shiver’d in my narrow frame.
O Love, O fire! once he drew
With one long kiss my whole soul thro’
My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.
Before he mounts the hill,
I knowHe cometh quickly: from below
Sweet gales, as from deep gardens, blow
Before him, striking on my brow.
In my dry brain my spirit soon,
Down-deepening from swoon to swoon,
Faints like a dazzled morning moon.
The wind sounds like a silver wire,
And from beyond the noon a fire
Is pour’d upon the hills, and nigher
The skies stoop down in their desire;
And, isled in sudden seas of light,
My heart, pierced thro’ with fierce delight,
Bursts into blossom in his sight.
My whole soul waiting silently,
All naked in a sultry sky,
Droops blinded with his shining eye:
I will possess him or will die.
I will grow round him in his place,
Grow, live, die looking on his face,
Die, dying clasp’d in his embrace.

Never mind the rest, Jordan is Amman

In Jordan, Opinion on February 16, 2006 at 9:53 am

It is most upsetting to think of the negligence that other cities than Amman suffer from. I have often reflected upon the marginal possibilities of living, and enjoying life with satisfactory levels of decency in public services and facilities, in other parts of the kingdom, and I have found them so slim that speaking of them would render me too optimistic.

It is a given that the capital of any country should represent a center for operations, services, and perhaps should host the governmental body. But in many countries the case is not so, the capital is but a place where the government is, and is not largely different from other cities within the same state. This said, some cities actually top the capital in their countries of question, be that in industry, technology or services.

Unfortunately, in Jordan the gap between Amman and its closest contender, Irbid, as many sustain, is very obvious. Let alone the difference between it and other less looked-upon cities than Irbid, such as Karak or Mafraq.

I am given to believe that large sums of finance are invested in the beautification of Amman, seeing as it is the capital and the fattest city with regards to population. But do I see that, just a suggestion here, more money should be dedicated for developing the infrastructures in other, less privileged areas? Affirmative.

How can any logic try to minimize the rates of immigration from rural and subordinate cities to Amman, without first trying to improve the wretched conditions in which people in the large majority of these areas live ? Do I see a brake in the sense of it? Affirmative.

The Circassian Antichrist

In Bits & pieces on February 15, 2006 at 1:11 pm

I stumbled upon a curious article in this site. It deals with the allegation that the antichrist, or the eighth head of the beast, will be Circassian. This probably sounds too queer for your taste, so did it sound to mine up until the moment I finished reading the article that, aside from containing interesting informations, has a number of nice pictures.

This is a catchy slice of the early passages of the site to which, by the by, I have no clue as to accuracy or originality.

If the Jews are God’s chosen people, the Circassians are definitely Satan’s chosen people, the most dangerous community on earth.
“Could a reborn Circassia be the home state of the eighth head of the
beast, the miniscule [sic] and fledgling new nation at the very end of time
which is prophesied by the Bible to appear and give birth to the Bible’s
‘madman’?”
The “seventh head” was Adolf Hitler (”the Beast of Berlin”), the
eighth will be nastier.


This could explain my 50-50 devilish inclinations. (irresistable pun)

Baby steps: Second rejection for the kill-the-trees law

In Jordan on February 14, 2006 at 8:41 am

Splendid news in Al Ghad newspaper this morning. The legal proposal much-handled recently, giving businesses the right and power to cut down Jordan’s humble tree population, has been rejected a second time. Let’s see where this leads us, please do sign the petition if you haven’t already.

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Link

Share a myth VI: Prometheus

In Mythology on February 13, 2006 at 9:07 pm

One of the most captivating myths I have come across, and one of the most artistically well-knit, Prometheus Bound remains anonymous to most people. In this myth, one is presented with the case of Prometheus, Mankind’s most generous patron, as he is punished by Zeus for having stolen the fire from the god Hephaestus and given it to Man.

The conflict between the “old regime” and the “old gods”, and Zeus’s newly established dominance over the rest of the new generation, is so obvious in this myth one could almost touch it. Zeus overthrew his father, with Prometheus’ aid, but when Prometheus gave Mankind special gifts and abilities and therefore sabotaged Zeus’s plans to destroy them, the latter grew outraged. He decided to punish Prometheus, and so had him chained to a mighty rock by Hephaestus, the God of fire. Later on in the myth, Zeus split the chasm and entombed Prometheus underground, and when ages have passed on this punishment, he returned into the light and a savage eagle ripped his flesh and picked on his liver all day long.

Prometheus came to be known as a Satanic Hero, due to his defiance to Zeus, and to his exquisite knowledge. In addition to those traits, he was quite proud, even in his torture and time of punishment. One of the most memorable lines that he says in this play, and one of my favorties, is : ” I willed to be wrong”.

From Aeschylus’ Prometheus Bound and Other Plays, translated with an introduction by Philip Vellacott, a Penguin Classics book, inclusive of Prometheus Bound, The Suppliants, Seven Against Thebes, and The Persians, I bring you the sixth episode of Share a myth.

After sustaining that, in Prometheus, we are taken to a period which, historically, is that of the first appearance in Greece of the “Olympian” gods, but which Greeks thought of as belonging to the most primitive stage of the history of man, Vellacott says:

” The transition from the primitive to the civilized world, from the life of nomadic tribes and village settlements to that of walled cities and organized states, was doubtless a gradual and barely perceptible process spread confusedly over several centuries and large expanses of land. Individuals who noted such change, however, must generally have associated it with some sudden or memorable event – an invasion, a siege, a massacre, a migration. So this stage in the development of Greek social order had its mythical counterpart in the story of a violent dynastic change among the gods.”

This is the summary of the myth, again cited from the introduction:

” In the primitive era Cronos was lord of all gods. During his time the human race was created, but was early recognized as a regrettable failure, and kept in a state of wretchedness and total subservience. Force ruled everything; reason and right were unknown. The Titans, sons of Earth begotten by gods, were a race of gigantic size and strength, and no intelligence; until in one of them, Prometheus, emerged rational and moral qualities, ranging from cunning and ingenuity to a love of freedom and justice.

The knowledge that the future lay with such intangible principles rather than with brute strength, was a secret possessed by Earth, who imparted it to her son Prometheus. (The earth was in all centuries thought of by the Greeks as the prime source of foreknowledge and prophecy.) This certainty set Prometheus at the side of Zeus, son of Cronos, in rebellion against his father and the older dynasty; and by Prometheus’ help Zeus and the other “Olympian” gods won the day and thenceforward ruled the universe.

But Prometheus was not only an immortal; he was also a son of Earth, and felt a natural sympathy with the earth’s mortal inhabitants. The race which Zeus despised and planned to destroy, Prometheus saw as capable of infinite development. He stole fire from heaven and gave it to them; and he taught them the basic mental and manual skills. In so doing he frustrated Zeus’s plan to create a more perfect race. So when Aeschylus shows him punished for this presumption, the reader or spectator, judging between the antagonists, finds the scales nicely balanced.

What has won our favour for Prometheus is largely the fact that he believed in, and wanted to help, the human race as it is, full of both noble achievement and pitiable squalor, honouring both goodness and wickedness; a race where virtue, if rare, is at least costly. “

Visual and resources: 1- Prometheus bound and visited by the Eagle at Caucasus by Elsie Russel and 2-Prometheus Bound, by A. Russell.

You may wish to check out previous episodes of Share a myth, find them at: Share a myth I, II, III, IV, V.

Metablog: Comment Moderation

In Metablog on February 12, 2006 at 4:40 pm

There is always the issue of comment moderation, as opposed to the “total” freedom of the so-dubbed self-expression on blogs, to reflect on. Questions such as: “Why would anyone enact comment moderation?”, and “What ends does this facility meet?”, are naturally valid. But no less valid is the question: “Can you trust people enough not to moderate their comments?”.

Blogger has a comment moderation system, that is not precisely timely. Nevertheless, it is a useful tool in the hands of blog authors who do not wish offensive language – for example- be posted in the tails of their entries, thus depriving them from achieving their desired degree of seriousness or from impacting their targeted readership as they intend.

Offensive language aside, some times comments just “don’t fit”. This is yet another reason in favor of moderating comments: Why publish a remark debating, say, apples, when one’s entry is about cars? No reasons I can think of can satisfy this question’s answer.

A wise function in Blogger’s comment moderation system is the inability of the blog author to modify or alter comments in any way; comments either get published, or they don’t. A possible outlet, or an exception, for this case is when anonymous comments exist. In this case one can modify and re-post the comment as an anonymous person, certainly with a difference in the clock at the end of the remark in question. Still, this trick is not entirely safe, since anonymous commentators are not all blind to the time they posted their comments.

“Can you trust people enough not to moderate their comments?”

The answer to this question relies laregly on one’s own perspective of matters, and one’s experiences. From personal experience, I have to announce that I do not trust people enough not to examine their comments before having them related to my entries. This is not to say that any are inferior to some, but to simply state that there are no guarantees as to what irrelevance or medicore quality one can have glued to a certain post, should one be too tolerant in this regard.

It’s quality that one should be concerned about. If one is positive that the readership is perfectly aware of the importance of a topic, or even remotely aware of it, and that this same readership is operating on a relevant wavelength that will not overshadow the content of a post, then there is hardly a need for any such a step as “monitoring”, or “control”. But the odds of having a person all too sure of the anonymous eyes reading a blog is so marginal it is almost non-existent.

Enabling comment moderation remains a personal choice of the author. Some work well with it and are able to take in numbers upon numbers of absurd, and mostly off-topic comments, while others cling to the principle of quality and do not wish to have to be put in a situation where they manifest their control by deleting improper comments. It is a waste of time and energy, essentially.

Quoting Erica Jong on jealousy

In Quoting on February 11, 2006 at 9:58 am


Jealousy is all the fun you think they had.

-Erica Jong

Arabic Entry: الحبس ثلاث سنوات للتحية النازية

In عربي on February 10, 2006 at 9:10 am

This is a good cause to pick your brains at. An article in Emirati Al Bayan newspaper speaks of a penalty enforced by the German government on any football fans who would dare, during the World Cup event that will kick off in Germany this summer, to imitate Nazi salutations and gestures. Three years would those daring fans be jailed. This is the jest of the article, find full article here, in Arabic.

في حلقة جديدة من مسلسل المفارقات الغربية فيما يتعلق بحرية التعبير وحدود المقبول والخطوط الحمراء التي لا ينبغي تخطيها بأي حال من الأحوال، كشفت مصادر إعلامية أمس أن الشرطة الألمانية ستستخدم صلاحيات شاملة لتوقيف أي مشجع يقلد حركات هتلر أو يقوم بإيماءات نازية على سبيل الدعابة خلال كأس العالم لكرة القدم هذا الصيف.
وذكرت صحيفة «صن» البريطانية أن مشجعي الفريق الانجليزي المشهورين بشغبهم سيحتجزون لأسبوعين إذا قلدوا مشية العسكر النازيين المعروفة بمشية الأوزة.
أما المشاغبون المشاكسون الذين يتجرأون على أداء التحية العسكرية النازية، على سبيل التهريج أو الاستفزاز وسط صخب مباريات كأس العالم فسوف يتم توقيفهم وإحالتهم للقضاء خلال 24 ساعة وإذ ثبتت إدانتهم بالتحريض على الكراهية فسوف يواجهون حكماً بالسجن لمدة تصل إلى ثلاث سنوات.
وحتى من يضع الخوذ الألمانية المزيفة قد يواجه الجلوس وراء القضبان. وكشفت عن هذه الإجراءات المشددة مصادر في شرطة نومبيرغ حيث ستلعب انجلترا مع ترينيداد وتوباغو في الدور الأول من نهائيات كأس العالم المقبلة. وتقول الشرطة في هذه المدينة التي قصفت حتى
سويت أرضاً في الحرب العالمية الثانية إن الإيماءات الساخرة التي تستخدم موضوع النازية ليست مضحكة ولا يمكن التساهل معها&pagename=Albayan%2FArticle%2FFullDetail&c=Article”>Link

Annex 1: The trees need your help

In Bits & pieces on February 9, 2006 at 11:48 am

To all unable to read Arabic, I am posting this entry to explain the core of the one that came before it. The trees in Jordan, although few, are in great peril. A new law is to be passed empowering large businesses to clear forests and rangelands in order to establish investments. This is a real cause that calls for action, and now is not the time to blame the system. We either support the system, or help the environment. I opt for the latter.

Kindly sign the petition here. Help stop the killing of trees.

Arabic Entry: نحو أردن بلا أشجار عام 2010

In عربي on February 9, 2006 at 11:19 am

ورد الى انتباهي بعض الحديث عن مشروع قرار يسمح بقطع الأشجار في المناطق الأردنية لتحقيق بعض المصالح على حساب البيئة. و كوني لم أطلع على التفاصيل المملة المتعلقة بهذا الموضوع فانني لن أتطرق اليها بطبيعة الحال.
لكن مما أجده مثيراً للاهتمام هو الضجة التي تولدت عن هذه الأزمة, و هي ضجة اشتقنا اليها في المجتمع الأردني, فعادةً ما تمرر قوانين تلحق أضراراً جسيمة بالبيئة في الأردن دون أن ينتبه اليها الشارع, و ان انتبه فهناك الكثير من الوسائل لتمييع هذا الوعي اليافع.
أذكر أحد الشعارات التي كانت تتردد على ألسنة المعنيين و المسؤولين في فترة التسعينات: ” نحو أردن اخضر عام 2000″, فأين الماء و الخضرة؟ لا أقول هذا لنفي أي تطورات شهدتها الساحة البيئية الأردنية, و لا حتى للتقليل من أهمية ” هل أكمن شجرة الجداد”, بل للتذكير بأن شعاراً ما كان يعد بزيادة اللون الأخضر, في مرحلة ما من عمر هذا البلد.
و الاّن, ان كنا أضفنا بعض الأشجار على عدد من الجزر الوسطية بشكل يمنع استعمال هذه الجزر بأي طريقة, فاننا سنعوض هذا الجهد الشبه بناء بتمرير القانون الجديد الذي سيزيل المناطق الحرجية الهشة بشكل منظم.

المسؤولية ملقاة على عاتقنا لحماية أشجار الأردن

Karak gone virtual

In Jordan on February 8, 2006 at 10:59 am

I seem to have a knack for linking to sites of late. The site I am about to guide you to is one that I have unearthed some four months ago, and have been wanting to feature for quite some time.

Virtual Karak Resources Project is a regional project examining the Karak district of central Jordan. It examines how people of this region utilized the natural resources both in the past and present. It involves a multidisciplinary approach in attempting to understand the cultural and political history of the region, and to explore the current social and environmental status of the region. The team includes researchers in anthropology, archaeology, archaeobotany, ceramic typology, religion, history, hydrology, geology, and soil science.

The people behind the project are Faculty members from several Appalachian College Association (ACA) colleges, as well as faculty from the University of Tennessee.

Announcement

In Bits & pieces on February 4, 2006 at 11:24 pm

Tololy’s Box will not be updated during the next two or three days due to internal issues that will not be publicized. I apologize for the inconvenience and promise it could not be helped. You may wish to check out the sibling-blog, United Tololy News, until the Box gets back on track. Many wishes for a delightful time and I hope this break will not cost some members of the readership their lives.

On creating another blog

In Opinion on February 4, 2006 at 9:16 pm

Amidst the calls for an exodus to WordPress, and the tries to fathom how the Box operates, a surprise claims victory. The birth of a fresh news agency that would probably steal, or obliterate, the illusive glam.

Not to complicate matters, I could declare that the Box reflects a certain range of interests, and consequently ushers in a certain type of image. The “No Labels” policy finds this a contradiction with the core belief of the Box. Yet it is not all that, and limiting the reason to this marginal fact is a misjudgment. There is the “gratis” bit to the deal, add to that the sheer potential of growth and self-expression that another, shockingly different, space may provide.

On top of all these seemingly convincing reasons, there is experimenting with various moods, multiple ways of delivering the same message, and the impact of the proceeding on the readership. I make no promises to deliver any satisfying bits of information in United Tololy News, and I do not announce any guarantees that it will be all dissimilar to the Box, or that it will reveal any grand secrets of life. It is my evil twin, not I, who runs the show over at the agency.

Cose da Roma: Things from Rome

In Italiano on February 2, 2006 at 12:04 am

Brevemente a Roma, il fratello maggiore mi ha portato alcuni giornali e riviste. Tesori di cultura per me, che non sono mai stata in Italia: la triste realtà della situazione. Ma che fare?

È vero che posso comprare quasi tutte queste pagine qui in Amman, ma il gusto di leggere qualcosa venuta direttamente da Roma, il cuore dell’Italia, è diverso da quando si compra il giornale Italiano in un’altro paese. È più profonda l’esperienza nel primo caso, è una vera gioia.

Freedom as seen by a moderate pessimist

In Opinion on February 1, 2006 at 2:03 pm

Freedom, is that not the ultimate goal of Mankind? Volumes upon volumes of books have been authored about it, revolutions claimed the lives of millions under the sacred name, and theology defined and redefined it.

” The concept of Freedom could only materialize if there are no consequences, be they social, moral or religious, for any notion that the human mind is capable of carrying out in actions. Sustaining thus, there are no clones of Freedom that any political or religious system can supply that will meet this criteria; therefore, Mankind is not free.”

The very feeling of fear of the outcome of actions, or the haunting sentiment of guilt, should be evidence enough to illustrate how leashed and bound Mankind is to the norms of time. People were not born to be free, and they are quite unworthy of the privilege.

All the revolutions fighting for the lost gem that is Freedom were a waste of blood and cunning, and the books a naked disrespect for the ink and paper. Theology, or the very opposite of it: Atheism, cannot guarantee Freedom, and neither will they, since it is proportionally out of jurisdiction. If that is news to you, then I apologize for the worriment.