Monday, July 11, 2005
well good evening for all....
I have put some pictures about my trip to America, in the campus of learning school in Vermont
www.sit.edu
in many different cities and with many friends..
it was hard task to choose the pictures...then to remember the moment, and to put comments !
faiza
I have put some pictures about my trip to America, in the campus of learning school in Vermont
www.sit.edu
in many different cities and with many friends..
it was hard task to choose the pictures...then to remember the moment, and to put comments !
faiza
# posted by Faiza Al-Araji @ 12:48 am 
Sunday, July 10, 2005
Thursday, June 30th, 2005
Good evening…
I came back from New York, Via Paris, to Amman. We stopped at the Paris airport for about two or three hours, then we headed for Amman…
I was tired and sleepy, wishing to sleep on a chair in the airport, but the time wasn't enough, and I was afraid the plane would fly while I was still asleep…. The plane's seats weren't comfortable at all for sleep, and the long flights are some kind of torture to the poor passengers. The train seats are comfortable, and very wide; I took the train from Vermont to Washington for ten hours, and I didn't feel tired or exhausted, and I thought; what if the airlines companies designed their seats like the train's, with the spaces between them, it would have been better, and more comfortable. But materialism usually blinds the companies' eyes, for then the number of seats will be less, and that means less profit…
**************************
I always wonder: What is the use of technology?
Was it invented for the wellbeing of humans, and for their service?
Or for the benefit of the beneficiary companies that wouldn't be satisfied, making people their salves, by controlling the prices and specifications according to their moods?
Is this the Capitalism?
How ugly it is, and how I found the people in the west struggling under its weight in their lives; running, panting to supply the minimum level of life. That is the majority of people, and there is a rich, fat minority that sucks the people's money, controlling the market….whom you won't see on the streets; for they travel by private planes, live in special neighborhoods, and use special restaurants…in a far away world….
In the Airport, the shops, restaurants, train stations, public streets, inside trains and subways, you find this torrential stream of advertisements, about endless consuming products…. Watches, perfumes, jewels, cars, mobile sets, restaurants, ordinary clothes, sports clothes… soda drinks, juices, sandwiches, and even peanut butter!
Those are the companies they call: the Corporations.
People struggle to provide the high rents, the daily transports are by the subway, as the majority uses it back and forth to work… the use of taxis is limited to some… they wear simple, inexpensive clothes, they skimp in the expanses, counting every thing, because nobody shows compassion or offers help, every person is responsible for his life, future, and health, since he or she is 17 or 18 years old, independent from the family, choosing his way of life…
He might study, or work, stick to principals, or use drugs, the girl might maintain principals and moral standards, or get pregnant by anyone she "befriends" without marriage. These are individual decisions, and personal freedom.
Once, in the institute in Vermont, we had a discussion about topics like: What is society? And what is freedom? Who sets the specifications of this freedom? The person himself? Or is it a collective responsibility; meaning: general morals on which the whole society would be on agreement; this is wrong, this is right, this is legitimate, or illegitimate.
I do not know…these are complicated questions, whose answers might be found, clear and decided, in some society… and you might not find a meaning for them in another….
********************************
And I found that the Materialism, then the Capitalism has consolidated the individualism spirit…..
And that means, people would live under the slogan: Enjoy your life…
Do not worry about the opinion of your neighbor, relative, brother, or even your parents…
The selfish, individualistic inclination is prevailing, in the Capitalist society values….why?
To separate people, making society weak, and scattered, losing the collective spirit.
The collective spirit is a great power… which Capitalism fears, because it threatens its existence. The capitalist companies unite to control the market, and the people are weak, they are not strong groups to hit and destroy; but merely individuals, who shout, protest, then get tired, and go home…
Just like the war on Iraq….. I saw documentary films in America, showing people while protesting in demonstrations from many cities, surrounded by police, and clubs….
Many people told me: we marched, shouted, and protested, we used all our efforts to stop the war, but it started, despite our noses….and today we are still doing all we can to stop the war, and pull the troops out of Iraq….and we still find ourselves helpless….
In my heart I feel sad for them, I believe them, and understand the dilemma they live in, is it because of the capitalism that is controlling the market, the economy, and politics?
The people are helpless, weak, and distracted..........
I don't know…..
********************************************
In America, I saw a majority of people who are crushed, not comfortable…
I learned that they do not study the history of other nations in their schools, nor their geography, and know nothing about other religions… their information usually comes from the Media, and that media is usually directed, owned by a number of wealthy people, the owners of the big, beneficiary companies…meaning; they deliver the news to the people according to their moods, explaining things according to their private, narrow, visions….
I have seen the TV., and its just like in the days of Saddam Hussein, (as we used to say), repeating the same boring song over and over again, whenever you change the channel, you see the same faces, and hear the same talk…and its all about the war, the army, and fighting terrorism…
These boring vocabulary, and none other, control the whole American media; newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and TV stations.
There are some independent, non-governmental stations, like Public Pbs, and those are poor stations, without advertisements, the government used to give them some financial support, then started shrinking that support gradually… these stations still argue, and oppose the war, or at least, broadcast interviews with people who oppose the war…
As to the rest of the stations, they only show those who support the war, stations like (CNN, FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC)… the strong, rich stations, owned by private companies…or the pure governmental stations, financed by the government.
So…the picture is clear, and sad…
America lives in a semi-dictatorship condition now…
What difference between that, and Iraq, at the time of Saddam Hussein?
What is the difference between the Americans opposing the war and the government policies, and the Iraqis who opposed Saddam Hussein, and his wars against Iran and Kuwait?
Weren't they afraid of him, and his wrath? Didn't he wash the minds of the majority of people, through the media, and force them to accept his viewpoint, and none other? Didn't he accuse each Iraqi who opposes him of being a traitor to the country, or of anti-patriotism?
We were always debating: does our love for Iraq mean love for Saddam Hussein?
Is Saddam Hussein the homeland? Is he Iraq?
I always used to tell my boys: we must be patient… Saddam Hussein will go one day…but Iraq stays….
And here is Iraq now, under the fist of cruel, hateful hands, more cruel and unjust than those of Saddam Hussein's and those with him….but we are prepared to do anything now, to refuse the existence of that occupation on our land, because we love Iraq, and want it's banner to remain always high, towering, free, and independent…..
This is how we understand the love of our nation…. The leaders may be right, or wrong, they all go, sooner or later, but the homeland remains.......... and it is the homeland that is worthy of sacrifices, so it would remain free, and independent.
***************************************
Yesterday, I heard a speech of President Bush, and the dialogue of the Americans who support, or oppose him.
I sat, with sadness filling my heart…..and bewilderment in my head…
He says, in meaning: that Iraq is now the arena of terrorism…we shall not get out of it…we have succeeded in fighting off terrorism, and removing it away from America… now the American people live in peace and security more than the past times….
I smiled, turning my hand in the air; I do not understand what they say, or how they think?
The American government now addresses the people to say: support us in the war on Iraq, because we are working for your protection, and to provide you with safety, so you can live more happily…. So you can go to your work in safety, without threats… so your children could go to schools, playgrounds, and gardens… so that families can go shopping, or to visit a museum on the weekends…
These are the merits of the war on Iraq, or its justifications…
Very well............. but didn't the American people think within themselves, and ask this simple question: And what about the 26 million Iraqis?
Millions of them have emigrated to countries other than Iraq to live temporarily, until the conditions would calm down, leaving their homes, their jobs, their neighbors, friends, and relatives, and all their dear memories, just for the feeling of safety?
And those who decided to stay, live every day in a confrontation of death, fear, and panic….
Aren't those humans who deserve to live, just as much as the American people?
Don't they have families, children, and hopes of a safe, comforting life?
Why would the Iraqis sacrifice their security, and their lives, in order to provide security and happiness to the American people?
Why did the occupation troops leave the Iraqi borders wide open, to make it an easy entry to all those who hate America, and want to have his revenge on her, of the non-Iraqis?
Why did Iraq become the battlefield between the American army, and whoever hates it?
What is our fault, why do we have to lose the years of our lives, the souls of our loved ones, and the money of our country, for the sake of settling of scores of the strangers who enter Iraq?
What have we got to do with terrorism?
We too, became the daily victims of violence and terrorism…but there is none to defend us….
The media in America, and the hypocrite world with it, all cry for the American people's safety, and their right in a safe life.
What about the Iraqi people's right to a safe life too?
Where is the justice?
Should I believe that the American people are ignorant, selfish, narrow-minded, thinking only of their right to live, forgetting the others?
This war on Iraq is a real test for the American people, if they posses a conviction in peace and justice, let them move to stop this silly war, whose announced slogans are false lies, for they plan to remain in Iraq for the oil, which is the life's water for the big, capitalist companies…
I saw that with my own eyes when I was in America; everything says the country's economy is threatened, and moving to the worst….the big companies suffer from crises, and recession… they need new markets, and they need fuel to operate the factories, in the time to come…
And this war was also in order to keep the evil factories that manufacture weapons alive.
The idea of capitalism is: Work, production, and then the money shall flow…the market, the economy, the high profits, and the cheap financial sources, to ensure the high profits…
Capitalism is like a snake that sucks the blood of the earth, and the people, without getting enough…
I could almost see its end approaching…..I could almost see it expelling its last breaths, and the war on Iraq was nothing but one of the last attempts to rescue the collapsed capitalism in its final days, hoping to retrieve its youth……
******************************
I think the first true step towards peace on earth, is to shut down the weapons factories, to replace it with food, medicine, or children's toys factories, perhaps then the nations would live in peace and happiness, forever..........
The American people, not the government, is in need of a pause, and a clearing of conscience, to find out what is happening around them, and where are they being taken…..
The unjustly treated nations, like the Iraqi people, understand exactly what is happening around them, always thinking, and working, to find a way out…..
But a nation like the American people is also in need of a way to salvation, for they are heading towards an abyss, and they should stop, and change the course..............
If there were any smart, free minded people, they should work to change… this is their responsibility towards humanity, and the coming generations.................
For those shall question them: what have YOU done to stop the flow of injustice, greed, and evil?
********************************
Translated by May/Baghdad.
Good evening…
I came back from New York, Via Paris, to Amman. We stopped at the Paris airport for about two or three hours, then we headed for Amman…
I was tired and sleepy, wishing to sleep on a chair in the airport, but the time wasn't enough, and I was afraid the plane would fly while I was still asleep…. The plane's seats weren't comfortable at all for sleep, and the long flights are some kind of torture to the poor passengers. The train seats are comfortable, and very wide; I took the train from Vermont to Washington for ten hours, and I didn't feel tired or exhausted, and I thought; what if the airlines companies designed their seats like the train's, with the spaces between them, it would have been better, and more comfortable. But materialism usually blinds the companies' eyes, for then the number of seats will be less, and that means less profit…
**************************
I always wonder: What is the use of technology?
Was it invented for the wellbeing of humans, and for their service?
Or for the benefit of the beneficiary companies that wouldn't be satisfied, making people their salves, by controlling the prices and specifications according to their moods?
Is this the Capitalism?
How ugly it is, and how I found the people in the west struggling under its weight in their lives; running, panting to supply the minimum level of life. That is the majority of people, and there is a rich, fat minority that sucks the people's money, controlling the market….whom you won't see on the streets; for they travel by private planes, live in special neighborhoods, and use special restaurants…in a far away world….
In the Airport, the shops, restaurants, train stations, public streets, inside trains and subways, you find this torrential stream of advertisements, about endless consuming products…. Watches, perfumes, jewels, cars, mobile sets, restaurants, ordinary clothes, sports clothes… soda drinks, juices, sandwiches, and even peanut butter!
Those are the companies they call: the Corporations.
People struggle to provide the high rents, the daily transports are by the subway, as the majority uses it back and forth to work… the use of taxis is limited to some… they wear simple, inexpensive clothes, they skimp in the expanses, counting every thing, because nobody shows compassion or offers help, every person is responsible for his life, future, and health, since he or she is 17 or 18 years old, independent from the family, choosing his way of life…
He might study, or work, stick to principals, or use drugs, the girl might maintain principals and moral standards, or get pregnant by anyone she "befriends" without marriage. These are individual decisions, and personal freedom.
Once, in the institute in Vermont, we had a discussion about topics like: What is society? And what is freedom? Who sets the specifications of this freedom? The person himself? Or is it a collective responsibility; meaning: general morals on which the whole society would be on agreement; this is wrong, this is right, this is legitimate, or illegitimate.
I do not know…these are complicated questions, whose answers might be found, clear and decided, in some society… and you might not find a meaning for them in another….
********************************
And I found that the Materialism, then the Capitalism has consolidated the individualism spirit…..
And that means, people would live under the slogan: Enjoy your life…
Do not worry about the opinion of your neighbor, relative, brother, or even your parents…
The selfish, individualistic inclination is prevailing, in the Capitalist society values….why?
To separate people, making society weak, and scattered, losing the collective spirit.
The collective spirit is a great power… which Capitalism fears, because it threatens its existence. The capitalist companies unite to control the market, and the people are weak, they are not strong groups to hit and destroy; but merely individuals, who shout, protest, then get tired, and go home…
Just like the war on Iraq….. I saw documentary films in America, showing people while protesting in demonstrations from many cities, surrounded by police, and clubs….
Many people told me: we marched, shouted, and protested, we used all our efforts to stop the war, but it started, despite our noses….and today we are still doing all we can to stop the war, and pull the troops out of Iraq….and we still find ourselves helpless….
In my heart I feel sad for them, I believe them, and understand the dilemma they live in, is it because of the capitalism that is controlling the market, the economy, and politics?
The people are helpless, weak, and distracted..........
I don't know…..
********************************************
In America, I saw a majority of people who are crushed, not comfortable…
I learned that they do not study the history of other nations in their schools, nor their geography, and know nothing about other religions… their information usually comes from the Media, and that media is usually directed, owned by a number of wealthy people, the owners of the big, beneficiary companies…meaning; they deliver the news to the people according to their moods, explaining things according to their private, narrow, visions….
I have seen the TV., and its just like in the days of Saddam Hussein, (as we used to say), repeating the same boring song over and over again, whenever you change the channel, you see the same faces, and hear the same talk…and its all about the war, the army, and fighting terrorism…
These boring vocabulary, and none other, control the whole American media; newspapers, magazines, radio stations, and TV stations.
There are some independent, non-governmental stations, like Public Pbs, and those are poor stations, without advertisements, the government used to give them some financial support, then started shrinking that support gradually… these stations still argue, and oppose the war, or at least, broadcast interviews with people who oppose the war…
As to the rest of the stations, they only show those who support the war, stations like (CNN, FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC)… the strong, rich stations, owned by private companies…or the pure governmental stations, financed by the government.
So…the picture is clear, and sad…
America lives in a semi-dictatorship condition now…
What difference between that, and Iraq, at the time of Saddam Hussein?
What is the difference between the Americans opposing the war and the government policies, and the Iraqis who opposed Saddam Hussein, and his wars against Iran and Kuwait?
Weren't they afraid of him, and his wrath? Didn't he wash the minds of the majority of people, through the media, and force them to accept his viewpoint, and none other? Didn't he accuse each Iraqi who opposes him of being a traitor to the country, or of anti-patriotism?
We were always debating: does our love for Iraq mean love for Saddam Hussein?
Is Saddam Hussein the homeland? Is he Iraq?
I always used to tell my boys: we must be patient… Saddam Hussein will go one day…but Iraq stays….
And here is Iraq now, under the fist of cruel, hateful hands, more cruel and unjust than those of Saddam Hussein's and those with him….but we are prepared to do anything now, to refuse the existence of that occupation on our land, because we love Iraq, and want it's banner to remain always high, towering, free, and independent…..
This is how we understand the love of our nation…. The leaders may be right, or wrong, they all go, sooner or later, but the homeland remains.......... and it is the homeland that is worthy of sacrifices, so it would remain free, and independent.
***************************************
Yesterday, I heard a speech of President Bush, and the dialogue of the Americans who support, or oppose him.
I sat, with sadness filling my heart…..and bewilderment in my head…
He says, in meaning: that Iraq is now the arena of terrorism…we shall not get out of it…we have succeeded in fighting off terrorism, and removing it away from America… now the American people live in peace and security more than the past times….
I smiled, turning my hand in the air; I do not understand what they say, or how they think?
The American government now addresses the people to say: support us in the war on Iraq, because we are working for your protection, and to provide you with safety, so you can live more happily…. So you can go to your work in safety, without threats… so your children could go to schools, playgrounds, and gardens… so that families can go shopping, or to visit a museum on the weekends…
These are the merits of the war on Iraq, or its justifications…
Very well............. but didn't the American people think within themselves, and ask this simple question: And what about the 26 million Iraqis?
Millions of them have emigrated to countries other than Iraq to live temporarily, until the conditions would calm down, leaving their homes, their jobs, their neighbors, friends, and relatives, and all their dear memories, just for the feeling of safety?
And those who decided to stay, live every day in a confrontation of death, fear, and panic….
Aren't those humans who deserve to live, just as much as the American people?
Don't they have families, children, and hopes of a safe, comforting life?
Why would the Iraqis sacrifice their security, and their lives, in order to provide security and happiness to the American people?
Why did the occupation troops leave the Iraqi borders wide open, to make it an easy entry to all those who hate America, and want to have his revenge on her, of the non-Iraqis?
Why did Iraq become the battlefield between the American army, and whoever hates it?
What is our fault, why do we have to lose the years of our lives, the souls of our loved ones, and the money of our country, for the sake of settling of scores of the strangers who enter Iraq?
What have we got to do with terrorism?
We too, became the daily victims of violence and terrorism…but there is none to defend us….
The media in America, and the hypocrite world with it, all cry for the American people's safety, and their right in a safe life.
What about the Iraqi people's right to a safe life too?
Where is the justice?
Should I believe that the American people are ignorant, selfish, narrow-minded, thinking only of their right to live, forgetting the others?
This war on Iraq is a real test for the American people, if they posses a conviction in peace and justice, let them move to stop this silly war, whose announced slogans are false lies, for they plan to remain in Iraq for the oil, which is the life's water for the big, capitalist companies…
I saw that with my own eyes when I was in America; everything says the country's economy is threatened, and moving to the worst….the big companies suffer from crises, and recession… they need new markets, and they need fuel to operate the factories, in the time to come…
And this war was also in order to keep the evil factories that manufacture weapons alive.
The idea of capitalism is: Work, production, and then the money shall flow…the market, the economy, the high profits, and the cheap financial sources, to ensure the high profits…
Capitalism is like a snake that sucks the blood of the earth, and the people, without getting enough…
I could almost see its end approaching…..I could almost see it expelling its last breaths, and the war on Iraq was nothing but one of the last attempts to rescue the collapsed capitalism in its final days, hoping to retrieve its youth……
******************************
I think the first true step towards peace on earth, is to shut down the weapons factories, to replace it with food, medicine, or children's toys factories, perhaps then the nations would live in peace and happiness, forever..........
The American people, not the government, is in need of a pause, and a clearing of conscience, to find out what is happening around them, and where are they being taken…..
The unjustly treated nations, like the Iraqi people, understand exactly what is happening around them, always thinking, and working, to find a way out…..
But a nation like the American people is also in need of a way to salvation, for they are heading towards an abyss, and they should stop, and change the course..............
If there were any smart, free minded people, they should work to change… this is their responsibility towards humanity, and the coming generations.................
For those shall question them: what have YOU done to stop the flow of injustice, greed, and evil?
********************************
Translated by May/Baghdad.
# posted by Faiza Al-Araji @ 11:09 pm
