Thought for the Day (C) - Love and Music

You know you love someone when you dedicate a song to them and every lyrical word, every nuance of melody, every reason you cherish the song as a whole travels along with every infinite frequency of sound wave from your heart to their ears - all encompassed in that one dedication.

Thought for the day (B) - Adventure

A life of little or no adventure is not worth living at all.

Where f (adventure) = joy, pain, thrills, heart-break, uncertainty, victory, scared shitlessness and discovery

Fill your own void

Story-Teller: "And a Man sat alone, drenched deep in sadness. And all the animals drew near to him and said, "We do not like to see you so sad. Ask us for whatever you wish and you shall have it." The Man said, "I want to have good sight." The vulture replied, "You shall have mine." The Man said, "I want to be strong." The jaguar said, "You shall be strong like me." Then the Man said, "I long to know the secrets of the earth." The serpent replied, "I will show them to you." And so it went with all the animals. And when the Man had all the gifts that they could give, he left. Then the owl said to the other animals, "Now the Man knows much, he'll be able to do many things. Suddenly I am afraid." The deer said, "The Man has all that he needs. Now his sadness will stop." But the owl replied, "No. I saw a hole in the Man, deep like a hunger he will never fill. It is what makes him sad and what makes him want. He will go on taking and taking, until one day the World will say, 'I am no more and I have nothing left to give.'"

As Madonna once said (and this will be the only time I will ever quote Madonna), "happiness lies in your own hand."

"As the Arabs see the Jews"

His Majesty King Abdullah of Jordan,
The American Magazine
November, 1947

This fascinating essay, written by King Hussein’’s grandfather King Abdullah, appeared in the United States six months before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War.

"So many billions of words have been written about Palestine——perhaps more than on any other subject in history——that I hesitate to add to them. Yet I am compelled to do so, for I am reluctantly convinced that the world in general, and America in particular, knows almost nothing of the true case for the Arabs.

We Arabs follow, perhaps far more than you think, the press of America. We are frankly disturbed to find that for every word printed on the Arab side, a thousand are printed on the Zionist side.

There are many reasons for this. You have many millions of Jewish citizens interested in this question. They are highly vocal and wise in the ways of publicity. There are few Arab citizens in America, and we are as yet unskilled in the technique of modern propaganda.

The results have been alarming for us. In your press we see a horrible caricature and are told it is our true portrait. In all justice, we cannot let this pass by default.

Our case is quite simple: For nearly 2,000 years Palestine has been almost 100 per cent Arab. It is still preponderantly Arab today, in spite of enormous Jewish immigration. But if this immigration continues we shall soon be outnumbered——a minority in our home.

Palestine is a small and very poor country, about the size of your state of Vermont. Its Arab population is only about 1,200,000. Already we have had forced on us, against our will, some 600,000 Zionist Jews. We are threatened with many hundreds of thousands more.

Our position is so simple and natural that we are amazed it should even be questioned. It is exactly the same position you in America take in regard to the unhappy European Jews. You are sorry for them, but you do not want them in your country.

We do not want them in ours, either. Not because they are Jews, but because they are foreigners. We would not want hundreds of thousands of foreigners in our country, be they Englishmen or Norwegians or Brazilians or whatever.

Think for a moment: In the last 25 years we have had one third of our entire population forced upon us. In America that would be the equivalent of 45,000,000 complete strangers admitted to your country, over your violent protest, since 1921. How would you have reacted to that?

Because of our perfectly natural dislike of being overwhelmed in our own homeland, we are called blind nationalists and heartless anti-Semites. This charge would be ludicrous were it not so dangerous.

No people on earth have been less "anti-Semitic" than the Arabs. The persecution of the Jews has been confined almost entirely to the Christian nations of the West. Jews, themselves, will admit that never since the Great Dispersion did Jews develop so freely and reach such importance as in Spain when it was an Arab possession. With very minor exceptions, Jews have lived for many centuries in the Middle East, in complete peace and friendliness with their Arab neighbours.

Damascus, Baghdad, Beirut and other Arab centres have always contained large and prosperous Jewish colonies. Until the Zionist invasion of Palestine began, these Jews received the most generous treatment——far, far better than in Christian Europe. Now, unhappily, for the first time in history, these Jews are beginning to feel the effects of Arab resistance to the Zionist assault. Most of them are as anxious as Arabs to stop it. Most of these Jews who have found happy homes among us resent, as we do, the coming of these strangers.

I was puzzled for a long time about the odd belief which apparently persists in America that Palestine has somehow "always been a Jewish land." Recently an American I talked to cleared up this mystery. He pointed out that the only things most Americans know about Palestine are what they read in the Bible. It was a Jewish land in those days, they reason, and they assume it has always remained so.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is absurd to reach so far back into the mists of history to argue about who should have Palestine today, and I apologise for it. Yet the Jews do this, and I must reply to their "historic claim." I wonder if the world has ever seen a stranger sight than a group of people seriously pretending to claim a land because their ancestors lived there some 2,000 years ago!

If you suggest that I am biased, I invite you to read any sound history of the period and verify the facts.

Such fragmentary records as we have indicate that the Jews were wandering nomads from Iraq who moved to southern Turkey, came south to Palestine, stayed there a short time, and then passed to Egypt, where they remained about 400 years. About 1300 BC (according to your calendar) they left Egypt and gradually conquered most——but not all——of the inhabitants of Palestine.

It is significant that the Philistines——not the Jews——gave their name to the country: "Palestine" is merely the Greek form of "Philistia."

Only once, during the empire of David and Solomon, did the Jews ever control nearly——but not all——the land which is today Palestine. This empire lasted only 70 years, ending in 926 BC. Only 250 years later the Kingdom of Judah had shrunk to a small province around Jerusalem, barely a quarter of modern Palestine.

In 63 BC the Jews were conquered by Roman Pompey, and never again had even the vestige of independence. The Roman Emperor Hadrian finally wiped them out about 135 AD. He utterly destroyed Jerusalem, rebuilt under another name, and for hundreds of years no Jew was permitted to enter it. A handful of Jews remained in Palestine but the vast majority were killed or scattered to other countries, in the Diaspora, or the Great Dispersion. From that time Palestine ceased to be a Jewish country, in any conceivable sense.

This was 1,815 years ago, and yet the Jews solemnly pretend they still own Palestine! If such fantasy were allowed, how the map of the world would dance about!

Italians might claim England, which the Romans held so long. England might claim France, "homeland" of the conquering Normans. And the French Normans might claim Norway, where their ancestors originated. And incidentally, we Arabs might claim Spain, which we held for 700 years.

Many Mexicans might claim Spain, "homeland" of their forefathers. They might even claim Texas, which was Mexican until 100 years ago. And suppose the American Indians claimed the "homeland" of which they were the sole, native, and ancient occupants until only some 450 years ago!

I am not being facetious. All these claims are just as valid——or just as fantastic——as the Jewish "historic connection" with Palestine. Most are more valid.

In any event, the great Moslem expansion about 650 AD finally settled things. It dominated Palestine completely. From that day on, Palestine was solidly Arabic in population, language, and religion. When British armies entered the country during the last war, they found 500,000 Arabs and only 65,000 Jews.

If solid, uninterrupted Arab occupation for nearly 1,300 years does not make a country "Arab", what does?

The Jews say, and rightly, that Palestine is the home of their religion. It is likewise the birthplace of Christianity, but would any Christian nation claim it on that account? In passing, let me say that the Christian Arabs——and there are many hundreds of thousands of them in the Arab World——are in absolute agreement with all other Arabs in opposing the Zionist invasion of Palestine.

May I also point out that Jerusalem is, after Mecca and Medina, the holiest place in Islam. In fact, in the early days of our religion, Moslems prayed toward Jerusalem instead of Mecca.

The Jewish "religious claim" to Palestine is as absurd as the "historic claim." The Holy Places, sacred to three great religions, must be open to all, the monopoly of none. Let us not confuse religion and politics.

We are told that we are inhumane and heartless because do not accept with open arms the perhaps 200,000 Jews in Europe who suffered so frightfully under Nazi cruelty, and who even now——almost three years after war’’s end——still languish in cold, depressing camps.

Let me underline several facts. The unimaginable persecution of the Jews was not done by the Arabs: it was done by a Christian nation in the West. The war which ruined Europe and made it almost impossible for these Jews to rehabilitate themselves was fought by the Christian nations of the West. The rich and empty portions of the earth belong, not to the Arabs, but to the Christian nations of the West.

And yet, to ease their consciences, these Christian nations of the West are asking Palestine——a poor and tiny Moslem country of the East——to accept the entire burden. "We have hurt these people terribly," cries the West to the East. "Won’’t you please take care of them for us?"

We find neither logic nor justice in this. Are we therefore "cruel and heartless nationalists"?

We are a generous people: we are proud that "Arab hospitality" is a phrase famous throughout the world. We are a humane people: no one was shocked more than we by the Hitlerite terror. No one pities the present plight of the desperate European Jews more than we.

But we say that Palestine has already sheltered 600,000 refugees. We believe that is enough to expect of us——even too much. We believe it is now the turn of the rest of the world to accept some of them.

I will be entirely frank with you. There is one thing the Arab world simply cannot understand. Of all the nations of the earth, America is most insistent that something be done for these suffering Jews of Europe. This feeling does credit to the humanity for which America is famous, and to that glorious inscription on your Statue of Liberty.

And yet this same America——the richest, greatest, most powerful nation the world has ever known——refuses to accept more than a token handful of these same Jews herself!

I hope you will not think I am being bitter about this. I have tried hard to understand that mysterious paradox, and I confess I cannot. Nor can any other Arab.

Perhaps you have been informed that "the Jews in Europe want to go to no other place except Palestine."

This myth is one of the greatest propaganda triumphs of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, the organisation which promotes with fanatic zeal the emigration to Palestine. It is a subtle half-truth, thus doubly dangerous.

The astounding truth is that nobody on earth really knows where these unfortunate Jews really want to go!

You would think that in so grave a problem, the American, British, and other authorities responsible for the European Jews would have made a very careful survey, probably by vote, to find out where each Jew actually wants to go. Amazingly enough this has never been done! The Jewish Agency has prevented it.

Some time ago the American Military Governor in Germany was asked at a press conference how he was so certain that all Jews there wanted to go to Palestine. His answer was simple: "My Jewish advisors tell me so." He admitted no poll had ever been made. Preparations were indeed begun for one, but the Jewish Agency stepped in to stop it.

The truth is that the Jews in German camps are now subjected to a Zionist pressure campaign which learned much from the Nazi terror. It is dangerous for a Jew to say that he would rather go to some other country, not Palestine. Such dissenters have been severely beaten, and worse.

Not long ago, in Palestine, nearly 1,000 Austrian Jews informed the international refugee organisation that they would like to go back to Austria, and plans were made to repatriate them.

The Jewish Agency heard of this, and exerted enough political pressure to stop it. It would be bad propaganda for Zionism if Jews began leaving Palestine. The nearly 1,000 Austrian are still there, against their will.

The fact is that most of the European Jews are Western in culture and outlook, entirely urban in experience and habits. They cannot really have their hearts set on becoming pioneers in the barren, arid, cramped land which is Palestine.

One thing, however, is undoubtedly true. As matters stand now, most refugee Jews in Europe would, indeed, vote for Palestine, simply because they know no other country will have them.

If you or I were given a choice between a near-prison camp for the rest of our lives——or Palestine——we would both choose Palestine, too.

But open up any other alternative to them——give them any other choice, and see what happens!

No poll, however, will be worth anything unless the nations of the earth are willing to open their doors——just a little——to the Jews. In other words, if in such a poll a Jew says he wants to go to Sweden, Sweden must be willing to accept him. If he votes for America, you must let him come in.

Any other kind of poll would be a farce. For the desperate Jew, this is no idle testing of opinion: this is a grave matter of life or death. Unless he is absolutely sure that his vote means something, he will always vote for Palestine, so as not to risk his bird in the hand for one in the bush.

In any event, Palestine can accept no more. The 65,000 Jews in Palestine in 1918 have jumped to 600,000 today. We Arabs have increased, too, but not by immigration. The Jews were then a mere 11 per cent of our population. Today they are one third of it.

The rate of increase has been terrifying. In a few more years——unless stopped now——it will overwhelm us, and we shall be an important minority in our own home.

Surely the rest of the wide world is rich enough and generous enough to find a place for 200,000 Jews——about one third the number that tiny, poor Palestine has already sheltered. For the rest of the world, it is hardly a drop in the bucket. For us it means national suicide.

We are sometimes told that since the Jews came to Palestine, the Arab standard of living has improved. This is a most complicated question. But let us even assume, for the argument, that it is true. We would rather be a bit poorer, and masters of our own home. Is this unnatural?

The sorry story of the so-called "Balfour Declaration," which started Zionist immigration into Palestine, is too complicated to repeat here in detail. It is grounded in broken promises to the Arabs——promises made in cold print which admit no denying.

We utterly deny its validity. We utterly deny the right of Great Britain to give away Arab land for a "national home" for an entirely foreign people.

Even the League of Nations sanction does not alter this. At the time, not a single Arab state was a member of the League. We were not allowed to say a word in our own defense.

I must point out, again in friendly frankness, that America was nearly as responsible as Britain for this Balfour Declaration. President Wilson approved it before it was issued, and the American Congress adopted it word for word in a joint resolution on 30th June, 1922.

In the 1920s, Arabs were annoyed and insulted by Zionist immigration, but not alarmed by it. It was steady, but fairly small, as even the Zionist founders thought it would remain. Indeed for some years, more Jews left Palestine than entered it——in 1927 almost twice as many.

But two new factors, entirely unforeseen by Britain or the League or America or the most fervent Zionist, arose in the early thirties to raise the immigration to undreamed heights. One was the World Depression; the second the rise of Hitler.

In 1932, the year before Hitler came to power, only 9,500 Jews came to Palestine. We did not welcome them, but we were not afraid that, at that rate, our solid Arab majority would ever be in danger.

But the next year——the year of Hitler——it jumped to 30,000! In 1934 it was 42,000! In 1935 it reached 61,000!

It was no longer the orderly arrival of idealist Zionists. Rather, all Europe was pouring its frightened Jews upon us. Then, at last, we, too, became frightened. We knew that unless this enormous influx stopped, we were, as Arabs, doomed in our Palestine homeland. And we have not changed our minds.

I have the impression that many Americans believe the trouble in Palestine is very remote from them, that America had little to do with it, and that your only interest now is that of a humane bystander.

I believe that you do not realise how directly you are, as a nation, responsible in general for the whole Zionist move and specifically for the present terrorism. I call this to your attention because I am certain that if you realise your responsibility you will act fairly to admit it and assume it.

Quite aside from official American support for the "National Home" of the Balfour Declaration, the Zionist settlements in Palestine would have been almost impossible, on anything like the current scale, without American money. This was contributed by American Jewry in an idealistic effort to help their fellows.

The motive was worthy: the result were disastrous. The contributions were by private individuals, but they were almost entirely Americans, and, as a nation, only America can answer for it.

The present catastrophe may be laid almost entirely at your door. Your government, almost alone in the world, is insisting on the immediate admission of 100,000 more Jews into Palestine——to be followed by countless additional ones. This will have the most frightful consequences in bloody chaos beyond anything ever hinted at in Palestine before.

It is your press and political leadership, almost alone in the world, who press this demand. It is almost entirely American money which hires or buys the "refugee ships" that steam illegally toward Palestine: American money which pays their crews. The illegal immigration from Europe is arranged by the Jewish Agency, supported almost entirely by American funds. It is American dollars which support the terrorists, which buy the bullets and pistols that kill British soldiers——your allies——and Arab citizens——your friends.

We in the Arab world were stunned to hear that you permit open advertisements in newspapers asking for money to finance these terrorists, to arm them openly and deliberately for murder. We could not believe this could really happen in the modern world. Now we must believe it: we have seen the advertisements with our own eyes.

I point out these things because nothing less than complete frankness will be of use. The crisis is too stark for mere polite vagueness which means nothing.

I have the most complete confidence in the fair-mindedness and generosity of the American public. We Arabs ask no favours. We ask only that you know the full truth, not half of it. We ask only that when you judge the Palestine question, you put yourselves in our place.

What would your answer be if some outside agency told you that you must accept in America many millions of utter strangers in your midst——enough to dominate your country——merely because they insisted on going to America, and because their forefathers had once lived there some 2,000 years ago?

Our answer is the same.

And what would be your action if, in spite of your refusal, this outside agency began forcing them on you?

Ours will be the same. "

Apocalypse when?

The human mind is a fascinating thing innit? Particularly the part associated with imagination. Today, I was sitting with some friends watching the CEO of BP on TV being grilled by a group of US senators in a House of Representatives hearing. Incidentally, some of the questions were penetrating, some were silly and others were just downright stupid. Americans are a funny bunch. Anyway I digress. We then watched live footage of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Since April 20th 2010, between 35,000 and 50,000 barrels of oil (contingent upon who is telling the truth) have been gushing into the waters of the gulf. It really is a sad sight. The bird's eye view of the gulf depicts reddish black veins of oil running across the water surface - almost as if the sea was bleeding...

"What if I were to drop a flaming Zippo lighter into the water?" someone said.

"Yeah and what if it started raining fire?" said another sarcastically.

I laughed it off. But then I thought about it for a second. It actually could RAIN FIRE. Look, I am not a marine scientist or a meteorologist but let's think about this for a second. The area in which the spill occurred is a hurricane zone - pretty close to New Orleans which was notoriously ravished by Hurricane Katrina a few years back. These hurricane winds are capable of gushing up to 200km/h picking up warm tropical water in its torrential cyclonic psychotic winds and heading towards the first victim of a coast. Within this water is oil from the spill; oil from this spill that is tossed and turned high up in the air. Combine this with a storm that yields thunder and lightning and...

Can someone say sparks? Fire? Rain? Rain of fire?

And isn't New Orleans the land of Mardi Gras booby bearing? Isn't it also close to Miami, Cancun and a host of other islands which also experience a lot of drunken, college booby bearing and other things of that nature? Are the gods angry? Or should I really be asking: Is God angry?

Food for thought people. Food for thought.

And so I wait for you

Venus,

To be very honest I try not to think of you much because I know the best things come when you least expect. You have come and gone on previous occasions, each intertwined with busy days and barren nights in due respect. I remember feeling your warm glow as you flowed like an electric current through our embraced hands a short while ago. Your laugh has a distinct relationship with the Angel of Sound and I know it is you when I hear the audio fruits of humor come around. I saw your smile through her eyes a thousand times before. By God you are gorgeous and I could never ask for more. I felt your presence through her touch and I know she felt it too. When I reached out to caress her skin I knew it was not just me but you too.

When you leave it is always a matter of circumstance for which I am the one to blame. You do not seem to like my mind and, to you, logic is lame. It would be great if you and my mind could patch things up because then hearts and thoughts would not have to break up. I’d rather be alone to build that bridge than have to choose between the two and risk falling out with the both of you.

And so you fly away to your misty nest a million miles astray. I see you look back as you flap your wings far out of range. I reach out to touch your trail, not because I want to change, but because I wonder how long I will have to sail, without you. I remain like an enlightened toddler with chocolate smudged on the sides of his mouth and cheeks watching his ice cream being whisked away. I made quite a mess of things yet know I would never have traded anything. If you were meant to stay you would have pulled through and on that note I have to respect the rules. But I can’t help but wonder what if she was the one you wanted me to choose?

You eradicate any uncertainty by summoning your siblings to take her away. She is tied up with a new suitor and their story will probably pick up some pace. You did nothing wrong but simply locked a door out of which I prompted them all along.

Through my senses, I sense the changes. Your smile no longer glows in their eyes; your sound no longer basks in their laugh; nor your magic laced in their touch.

Today, you are nowhere in sight yet your presence lingers as a sequence of colorful images, scents and sounds all over the world: the sunset horizon over the Aegan sea; the charming streets of Beirut; the restaurant culture of Quebec; the tropical landscapes of the Far East, the deserts of Sinai and Arabia; the beaches of the Red Sea and Mediterranean...

That is how things go I suppose.

...And so I wait for you as green leaves yearn for the morning dew. No more whispering wishes to distant stars; no more scouring strange eyes for a piece of your heart; no more going back to better times; no looking left and right for the sight of your smile; no more thinking what if I had chosen a different line?

Like the archer I look forward and that is my foreword.

But I'll wait for you.

And if there is ever a chance that you should return to me, perhaps you will decide to never leave.

Recurring Image

Dreams. I am fascinated by them. Mine tend to come in waves that alternate between the bland and forgettable on the one hand and the unbelievably vivid and powerful on the other. They say you shouldn't talk too much about them because people tend to create a generalized platform to interpret them - which may not always ring true. I believe the reason is that there are a flurry of discrete factors that are unique to only the dreamer that an objective eye could not possibly entirely understand. Such things as past experiences, current situations, depth of emotion - to name a few.

For the past few years there has been one creature that has continued to show up one way or another in my dreams: a lion. Much like the animal, the dream is one that makes its presence felt - subconsciously. More freakily the suggestions of the dream tend to translate into a reality. The context always changes though. In these dreams I am feeding them, dancing with them, being attacked by them, attacking them, running alongside them or actually being one.

So, as a kind of tribute to the abyss that is my subconscious, I have decided to investigate the nature of this creature. Here are a couple of interesting facts:

• Most cat species live a fundamentally solitary existence, but the lion is an exception. It has developed a social system based on teamwork and a division of labor within the pride, and an extended but closed family unit centered around a group of related females.
• Females do 85 to 90 percent of the pride's hunting, while the males patrol the territory and protect the pride, for which they take the "lion's share" of the females' prey
• The pride usually remains intact until the males are challenged and successfully driven away or killed by other males, who then take over. Not all lions live in prides
• If one lion kills another when joining a pride the defeated lions cubs will be killed.
• The hyena is one of the lion's greatest competitors for prey
• A lion's roar can be heard up to 5 miles away
• For the lion and lioness couple, it's all about quantity, not quality. Though romps usually only last for 10 seconds, the process is repeated up to 40 times a day - now that's stamina!
• The lion is the only member of the cat family with a tasseled tail, which serves a purpose beyond aesthetics. It's often used to signal to other members of the pride, with messages ranging from directional, "this way" commands to flirtatious, "come hither" invitations.
• An ancient symbol of the sun, dominion, power, ferocity and bravery, the lion was often used on heraldic shields, flags or banners by medieval European rulers.

There is an old chinese proverb that says a 'lion's pride does not come from the size of its mane but from its ability to build a stable family and social network.' Okay I totally made that up but I have to say I think there is some truth to it.

When Time Does Not Matter Anymore

When Time does not matter anymore
I hope that last heart beat unlocks a lighted-door
And my thoughts are tied to the right principles
And the Earth and Wind spell them all out on the walls
So that the other people understand what my life was for.

When the invisible mountain has been scaled
And my eroded shoulders are justified and frail
I hope the roads not taken prove to be strayed
And my walk was of noble soldiers straight to their graves
Each foot step guiding next until end of days.

When Temptation’s whispers have ceased to allure,
And the inborn Scale reveals the virtues and black pores,
I hope I rise up at the brow of dawn
Whilst knowing through heart I did more right than wrong
Then and only then can I find Peace with sunlit palms.

When the last kiss has been eternally sealed
And the language of Love has spoken with pure zeal
Of the depths of my feelings that can no longer conceal
The shape of my heart and the part you possess and hold and feel
I hope it was all worth the effort and more importantly was real.

O please believe me when Time does not matter anymore
And everything is laid out across the floor
The map of existence, the secrets of yore
I hope to have read the world to elevate our souls
And fully understand what my life was for.

In loving memory of my dear Aunt, Kareema "Kookoo" Addas, who embodied the Spirit of Joy. Rest in Peace.

A Message to Back-Stabbers

Dear Coward,

Your actions are devious and you sadly don't know it. You prey on innocence and naivete. You admire with yellow eyes when I am strong and sharpen your knife when I am weak. You bask in my light when I shine and do not hesitate to take a stab at my back as I look the other way. You lie, plot and scheme when I have left the room. When I return you present a false facade to manipulate.

You play by the rules in a world of slanted mirrors and smoke screens where the truth is there, but distorted to suit your reflection. You present that reflection to 'those that matter' in order to achieve your dirty goals. You believe that concealing the whole truth is not the same as lying. I look forward to the day when you learn how wrong you are - the hard way.

What you do not know is that Time is right behind you, watching your every move.

There is a light that shines through actions, words and thoughts. It is the dividing line between my noble heart and your reptilian blood. It is that sparkle in my eye you cannot look straight at for long. You look away because you can see the fire inside that will one day swallow you whole. You quiver at that split second thought. True, you may bask in your oasis and think you're on top of the world. Rest assured I will never harm you. In fact I'll even let you do as you please. Just remember that one day the clouds in your sky will relentlessly part and reveal that everything you lied for and stole was just a silly mirage. At that moment your heart will start to shake. Your temples will drip with sweat. You'll look for help but realize there is no one by your side. You'll fall on your knees with tears of self pity.

May you have mercy on your own soul because when you need me I will not forgive you. Why not? Because I have been forgiving you since the beginning. You thought of it as 'getting off the hook' if ever I seemed indifferent to a situation you tried to weasel your way out of - in the hope that I would out find out. Nope. That's another benefit of another doubt I generously yet silently handed you - and was ultimately left disappointed. So no forgiveness. I am not as great as God. You can speak to Him about that. That is, if you remember how to.

So keep doing what you do, dear Coward. I am at peace with my soul. My light will always shine whereas yours will eventually crumble - never to be whole.

Sincerely,

J.F

Wake up and smell the solar cells!

He took the words right out of my mouth! Alternative Energy IS the industry that will save the world. All global leaders to need wake up and smell the solar cells and make a unanimous effort to centralize the process of capturing, storing and distributing the many God-given sources of alternative energy. This energy is clean, renewable and continuous as long as the sun rises from the east and sets in the west. If we can do this, we will be contributing to an excitingly new level of economic prosperity built via the foundations of a healthy, guilt-free source of energy. Lastly, Saudi Arabia should not aim to be the petroleum capital of the world but the energy capital of the world and it has the money to make it happen.

Words of wisdom by General Bonaparte

• A leader is a dealer in hope

• Great ambition is the passion of a great character. Those endowed with it may perform very good or very bad acts. All depends on the principles which direct them.

• He who fears being conquered is sure of defeat.

• History is a set of lies agreed upon.

• I have only one counsel for you - be master.

• Imagination rules the world.

• Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.

• It is the cause, not the death, that makes the martyr.

• Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.

• The best way to keep one's word is not to give it.

• The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know.

• There is no such thing as accident; it is fate misnamed.

• Courage is like love; it must have hope for nourishment.

• Death is nothing, but to live defeated and inglorious is to die daily

If it's a 7-hour flight or a 45-minute drive

Music has always been food for my soul. I love it. I feel it. I think it. And I spend at least an hour a day playing it. It cathartically relieves my stress and goes the extra mile by transforming it into what I can only describe as a smile in my heart.

Anybody who has ever been in love has had a ‘505’. It’s that time and place you always go back to. Usually it is in the formative stages of an affair when you realise that you are genuinely happy with the other person. They complete you to some extent and you know then and there that life is not just good, it’s beautiful.

However, as it is with life, things don’t always remain beautiful. That smile in your heart fades. The magic dust loses its magic. You look for the fairy that sprinkled the dust on you in the first place to get a refund but the bitch disappeared. So now what? Oh yes, that’s when the memory kicks in. As if by your own self-induced trance you go running back through the cerebral neurological fibres of space and time in search for that pure essence. You know, that time when the colours of your world were more vivid; and when you close your eyes you see white, not black. Then you find it: the 505. It’s right there staring your subconscious in the face. Gorgeous. Painfully perfect.

So what now? This is where the grandmaster of life throws a trap in your walk of destiny. Naturally, you go back to your 505. But do you do so blindly with the intention to never leave it? By this I mean, do you continue to go about your existing relationship based on the memory of how brilliant your 505 was while ignoring the contradictory situation of the present where, you know what, things are not okay? Or do you take the initiative of letting go of your 505, living in the now and seeking to make better 505s in the future? Believe it or not but I am 99% sure that: a) The fist scenario is the trap and b) A lot of people who know that things in a relationship are not going so great insist on living with the first scenario rather than breaking free from the relationship early. In the latter case you are virtually digging a coffin to inadvertently bury your relationship one day.

This is the approach the singer of this song took, and I can relate. Alex sings “I crumble completely when you cry, it seems like once again you've had to greet me with goodbye”. Rather than cutting the relationship he is dragging this girl with him mentally. She can’t take his absence. He survives away from her by visiting his 505 and feeling comfort from that deceitful spark in his heart. She adopts a different approach. When she cries he breaks down because he knows there is nothing he can do except visit his 505.

The contrast? In the song, Nothing Else Matters, Metallica’s James Hetfield said it best: “Trust I seek and I find in you. Everyday bring us something new. Open mind for a different view. And nothing else matters”.

I think that is what we should all strive for. If either party blocks the progression towards that ideal then I don't think it's meant to be.

Everyday should either be a 505 or seed a new one for tomorrow.

A Loud Silence

OBSERVATION

It was 1am on a weekday and about time for me to go home and rest my eyes for the prospect of a new day. Delilah, my delightfully seductive yet financially demanding car, was in service so Gurbilz, a good friend, was kind enough to drop me home. We were making small talk as I was shuffling in the front seat browsing through the iPod for a Led Zeppelin song that had caught my attention earlier in the week. The sound of knuckles knocking on the car window could not distract my own distraction. Probably beggars. The traffic light on the intersection of Sary street and Madinah road is full of them. “Where the hell is that song?” I wondered obliviously.

I momentarily looked up out of the window and noticed how the traffic on our side of the road was ridiculously congested whereas the other side was a complete contrast - totally bare. Don’t you always comically think to yourself how unfair that is? Had that side of the road been frozen, one could ice skate freely using all the wide open empty spaces to perform twirls and other fancy tricks. “Aha! Found it!” I exclaimed in delight.

But in that moment something happened.

I suppose you could say the same way a bolt of lightning strikes a particular tree, a shooting star crosses one’s line of sight through the distant horizon, or someone walking down a pavement finds a 100 dollar bill – something happened. A car came bolting down the perpendicular road of the intersection and swerved recklessly onto that bare open road like a drunken ice skater attached to a diesel engine and 4 malicious wheels. The faceless driver seemed totally out of control and in that split second I realized the car was barreling menacingly towards us. As if by instinctive trance, we both looked directly at that car and paused.

SYNAPSE

Then and there, I don’t know which of the following thoughts was the most predominant:

a) He has to be one of those jokers. He’s going to come to his senses, swerve to his right any second now and carry on driving properly down the street.
b) Is he on the phone? Is he conscious? Does he realize he is about to smash into the concrete mid-street divider and potentially injure a lot of us here just sitting like ducks waiting for the light to turn green
c) Is this it? Will the next split second frame end 26 years of existence on this giant blue and white rock?

It is moments like this that I question the connotations of destiny, the argument of luck versus coincidence, and the bland beliefs of atheists.

Press play.

The driver realized he was headed for a one-way collision with a river of cars sitting in traffic, swerved to his right facing his side of the road correctly, then seemed to smash into the curb of the sidewalk and ultimately continue down the road. A piece of the car's bumper rolled mischievously in front of Gurbilz’ car. We both sat there with slightly faster heart beats.

“We’re okay. Thank God”. Honestly, it seemed like there was a force field around us. The light turned green.
“Gurbilz the light is green.” He was quiet. I looked at him and he glared back at me. “That was someone” he said.
“Huh?” I replied.
“That car hit someone” he reaffirmed.
“How do you know?”
“Because he’s lying right there on the ground”.

He put the car in drive and we made a u-turn at the traffic light. Lying on the mid-street pavement was a lifeless body. It appeared to be that of an adolescent, poor, sub-Saharan African immigrant. He was not moving. Around the body there was a small pool of blood with a smaller stream running out of it.

REFLECTION

From the perspective of a bystander, it is very strange what happens when someone dies. The passage of time suddenly seems to slow down and everything else stops to matter. Most strikingly, there is a Loud Silence that takes hold of everyone within a visual vicinity of the dead. I looked around at the other faces that witnessed the accident and saw that all eyes, some tearing profusely, were on this young man. I then shuffled to unlock the door to call some help until I noticed some Saudi young men running frantically towards the policeman standing at the intersection. That slow motion atmosphere was still there and the Loud Silence hadn’t died down yet. We continued down the road.

We sat there silently. I pondered. That boy was probably thinking about crossing the road to get somewhere. Maybe he wanted to pick up a meal from Hardees. What was on his mind, was to do something to get somewhere. What was he thinking now? What does he see? One thing that was certain was that it was his time to die. He probably had friends and a family waiting to see him and talk about the present and a bit of the future. I pondered further. Is there something us humans cannot see right now? Is his spirit floating over his body? Is there a tunnel leading to another dimension somewhere? Is the Angel of Death standing right there on the pavement?

I cannot help but wonder about the inevitability of things. This incident was supposed to happen. Maybe the boy in the accident was the same person who knocked on my window earlier while I wasn't paying attention. Had I entertatined that person's request, the sequence of events coud have changed. Moreover, had that person woken up 5 minutes earlier that morning, stopped by a store window to look at something he liked or watched a tv show for 2 minutes longer perhaps this may not have happened. But it did. It did because it was supposed to. It was supposed to adhere to the divine design of life and death.

I believe that despite our innate curiosity we, as a human race, should not waste time trying to 'figure it all out'. We are not supposed to understand the inner workings of this natural process because then we would be missing out on the adventure and blessing of life. Besides, since when did life make sense to anyone for death to make any more sense?

I have to say it really is amazing how a split second occurence can unleash energy, like that of a galactic supernova, that can penetrate the hearts and minds of those who witness it. Although I was nobody to this person, I am affected by his death. My subsequent actions and reactions are influenced by the assimilation of this particular memory. For example, I am more cautious crossing the road. We are all connected one way or another. Subconsciously, I want to show my family and friends more love - because any moment could be my last. All that is left will be memories. And so I am inspired to work on making those memories great. Genuinely great. From the heart and soul.

As we drove away in the car that night we said some prayers under our breaths. I wanted to crack a joke to break the silence but for some reason I remained quiet. That Loud Silence was unbearable. I turned up the volume on the stereo and we were greeted by the sound of Robert Plant singing “Babe I’m gonna leave you…”