Western Arab

Let me just start with the video of the full Obama speech in Cairo, Egypt.

Impressive speech. Obama is an excellent speaker. He is well educated and clever. He knows how to reach people and make them trust him. He genuinely shows understanding of people.

Obama used Arabic words and phrases from the Quran in his speech to connect with his audience. He spoke of common interests between America and the Muslim world. He also spoke of Islamic contributions to the world and similarities between the Muslim world and America.

Obama assured Muslims that America is not at war with Islam and never will be. And we must not be bound by the past of fear and mistrust. We must move forward.

Obama addressed seven issues. The first issue being dealing with extremists. Specifically the huge trauma after September 11 and how some reactions after it were understandable and some were against American beliefs. That the war in Afghanistan was one of necessity, unlike the one in Iraq that was one of choice. Obama made no mention of the reasons behind the extremists and the root causes that drive them to such. Or perhaps he did as the next issue is that.

The second issue is Palestine and Israel. He spoke of refugees in the West Bank and Gaza, without mention of those in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and around the world, which tends to give the impression that he opposes the right of return for Palestinians. He stressed that he will pursue the two state solution which will require both sides of the conflict as well as the Arab countries to work towards. He also addressed rockets being fired at innocents and buses blown up without mention of the attacks Israel commits on Palestinians, occupation, harassment, prisoners and so on, what you can call the reasons for the violence that comes from the Palestinian side. However he did mention one of the reasons and that is settlements that must stop. And further that the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the lack of opportunity in the West Bank do not benefit Israel or it’s security.

Obama stated that “we will say in public what we say in private to Israelis, Palestinians and Arabs”. I found this statement to be important. America has always been very open with Israel, while keeping the Arab world in the dark. What the Arab leaders were told was told to Israel prior and received the Israeli stamp of approval. What the Israeli leaders were told was always kept secret. Obama is in the very least admitting of this biased behavior. Finally he spoke of a secure Israel and a secure Palestine.

The third issue was the shared interest on rights and responsibilities of nuclear weapons. Specifically Iran. The U.S. and Iran had a thorny past, but Obama would like for them to be not trapped in that past and work for the future. The goal is to stop a nuclear arms race in the Middle East while acknowledging that there are some whom have them without mention of whom, which is Israel. Obama went on further to say we must work towards a nuclear weapon free world and that Iran should have the right to peaceful nuclear energy so long as it complies with the nuclear proliferation treaty.

The fourth issue was of democracy and the controversy about it’s promotion particularly in recent years and specifically Iraq. Obama stated that “no system of government can or should be imposed on any nation by any other”. Obama calls for free elections and human rights and governments that protects these rights are more successful and aligned with America. He further stated that some advocate for democracy only when they are out of power and once they are in power are ruthless in suppressing rights of others. Was this a little message to Hosni Mubarak?

The fifth issue was of religious freedom. Obama stated that Islam has a proud tradition of tolerance and mentioned respect and tolerance about all people in the Arab world including Maronites in Lebanon, Coptics in Egypt and the fault lines between Muslims. He also mentioned an example of the U.S. rules that make it hard for Muslims to perform one of their religious duties of charity (zakat).

The sixth issue was that of women’s rights. Obama rejects the view some have in the west that a woman who covers hear head is less equal but he opposes women being denied an education equating it to denying equality. Obama was clear not to imply that this is a Muslim issue but rather a world issue including in America. Obama is confident “our daughters can contribute just as much as our sons” and respects a women’s choice of the traditional role so long as it is her choice.

And finally the seventh issue was economic development and opportunity. Countries in the Gulf can’t rely on oil wealth alone and must work towards education and innovation, which will be the “new currency of the 21st century”. He used Japan as an example of an economy that grew while still keeping it’s distinct culture and traditions. Dubai was also mentioned as such but that is questionable and a whole other story.

Obama’s speech was important and is a great effort at diplomacy that is respectful to the Muslims and the rest of the world unlike his predecessor whom stated “you are either with us or against us”. Obama is seeking to work with the world to solve conflicts. While it is merely a speech that Obama admits is not going to solve anything but it is a step in the right direction to address the issues and to turn the page.

Finally I am still left with the question, are we great fools? Can this speech just fool us into believing there will be change? Only time will tell but at least we can try to work towards these issues even if Obama or whoever else was just fooling us and never intended for us to do so. However I believe that Obama is genuinely working for change, equality and understanding.

I now leave you with an important quote from President Barak Hussein Obama’s inaugural address to Israel.

“… and for those who seek to advance their aims by inducing terror and slaughtering innocents, we say to you now that our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken; you cannot outlast us, and we will defeat you.”

Left 4 Dead

Valve has decided to release a new game called Left 4 Dead 2 or L4d2. Errr Valve is advertising it as a new game.

So what is Valve offering in this “new” game? There are new melee weapons. These include a chainsaw, frying pan, axe, baseball bat and more. There are new weapons. From what I saw, these are, the same Uzi but it has a silencer and new sound, and the auto shotgun which looks like a copy straight from Tactical Ops. They probably have some more, at least I hope.

Next we have new survivors. The characters are not as interesting as the original 4. The new ones are Nick, Ellis, Rochelle, and the Coach. In addition there is a new special infected called the charger. The original survivors Bill, Francis, Louis and Zoey are much better, at least from what I saw so far.

Valve is introducing AI Director 2.0 in this “sequel”. This new AI Director can change weather effects, objects, and paths in addition to tailoring enemy population, effects and sounds based on player performance. Valve also claims the game to be larger, offering more co-op campaigns, more versus campaigns, and maps for survival mode at launch. And there is a new game mode currently kept hush hush.

Louis missing in action as always

The new missions are played in daylight. There is apparently new witch behavior where she wanders around in the day time. The finales in the missions are not all going to be last stand type, instead they can be a stretch of highway or road that the survivors have to fight their way through.

The good news is that the current maps will supposedly work with the new L4d, which isn’t surprising as it is the same exact game and same engine. All Valve is doing is releasing a mod. L4d probably had the shortest lifespan in a game that I can think of and Valve is milking this money tit. But this isn’t surprising considering EA is involved in this game. Valve better do the right thing and charge $25 to current owners of L4d and not full price. If not I will not buy it, I will wait for their half price weekends which they did so many times after I bought L4d at full price.

Here is the teaser for the game.

Summer is here. It is already June. Time flying as usual. June starts hurricane season in Florida for 6 months.

Seems my better eating habits and exercise did not pay off as intended. I still need to take Crestor. Regardless. better eating habits and exercise will continue. They must. So that just means everyone should watch what they eat and exercise regularly. I used to exercise a lot, but what really got me here wasn’t just the lack of exercise when I stopped going to the gym. It was a combination of things including not exercising, eating fatty foods, and the type of work I do. I work on the computer all day long, I sit the entire day. This lack of movement, not exercising and eating fatty foods is why.

I loved fried foods, I would eat anything fried. Chicken, fries, shrimp, cauliflower, fish … if you fried it, I probably liked it. Did I mention Crestor is very expensive and the price keeps going up very two or three months it seems. Perhaps I should consider something in the medical field, a huge business that will always be around.

So it will continue. I will watch what I eat, prohibit myself from certain foods. I will exercise weekly, even if it is 2-3 times a week as it is now.

I have stopped drinking soda for a while and that wasn’t bad at all. When I did drink it recently I found it to be very acidic. I also stopped eating fast food, I actually find that it tastes really bad now that I haven’t ate it in a while. In the end it seems like I almost have to be a vegetarian. I need to eat plenty of vegetables, little meat, or avoid eating meat as much as possible. Eggs and cheese are to be avoided as well. And of course junk food is out. Garlic and onions are healthy to eat so I try to have garlic or onion with food I am eating. And I will still eat fruits, I think fruits are fine.

Blood Test

I had my blood withdrawn this morning. And now I wait for the results which should be in next week. I will see if my better eating habits and exercising have paid off. I know I have benefited for my health either way and I have to continue eating better and exercising. But I am hoping that this will also eliminate the need to take medicine which the doctor suggested I take the last time I withdrew my blood. I refused to take it last time after realizing it is something I would have always take. Yeah forever. No thanks. Medicine for me is the very last resort. I don’t like taking any drugs when I am sick. Unless I am in serious pain, I avoid it. So the lesson is, don’t eat fatty foods, which eliminates anything fried which I love, but I have been able to avoid it and I will something every now and then. And we are told junk food is bad for us, from a very young age but we refuse to accept it, so again I have been avoiding it. And finally exercise always, no matter what, but especially if your job is to sit all day long like I do. Desk and chair job is horrible! Besides the health benefits, you feel much better when you exercise, and you are more confident.

Long Brown Hair

What is it about long brown straight hair, with perhaps a hint of slightly blondish highlights? Add some gray sweatpants and t-shirt and perhaps flip flops. Well I sure don’t know, but I know I like it.

I was at the doctor’s office when I saw this girl who’s description preceded this sentence. It can’t just be the hair and the outfit. She was also tall, not a giant tall, but probably 5’5″ or 5’6″. I can’t really tell, since she was sitting the whole time, but I don’t know, maybe even 5’7″. I can just tell she is not short. I think long legs too. She was also thin with a nice figure, and not bony. I don’t like bony. She also had nice lips, lips that came with a bad habit. She kept peeling her lips with her fingers, but her lips did not look chappy. What else did I notice? Skin was smooth and clear. A light complexion that is tanned from the Florida sun. A straight normal size nose. Eyes? I didn’t see too much, but I think a light brown. She had long nice feet with some white nail polish tips. I think the nail polish was the same on her skinny fingers. She was able to bend the tip of her finger at the top joint back further than I can, made me think she was maybe double jointed.

Yes you get to wait that long at my doctor’s office. You can study a person while you wait, if you were interested . The poor girl was in the office before I arrived. She looked like she was in pain. She was sick. I don’t wait long before I start asking if it will be long so they make sure to get me in and out fast. So they let me in to see the doctor, offered me another doctor who was available faster but then changed their mind (same doctor I later find out the girl is waiting to see). I waited for another 15-20 minutes inside to see the doc. And when I left, the poor girl was still sitting there waiting in pain. I spoke with her very shortly and offered to talk to them for her, she said it was ok and thanked me. No one will give you anything in this world, you have to take what you want. She will learn that some day.

So seeing her sick and coughing and in sweat pants, yet she was still attractive. Perhaps that is the best way to know if you really find someone truly attractive. If you are still attracted to the person when they are sick and under dressed, then maybe that is a good choice.

Delray Beach Webcam

It has been raining on and off this week and early this morning and still happening now is thunderstorms in the area. Heavy rain and flood warnings for Palm Beach County. The signs of summer being around the corner in Florida, where it rains heavily for 10-15 minutes and then the sun returns and dries it all up instantly. But I am not complaining, we can use the water, we still have water restrictions in the county because of less rain the past year or two.

So I say let it rain! Just keep the hurricanes away. With my last water bill being so high, maybe my sprinklers won’t have to come on for some time, at least they didn’t come on today. So rain away!

My 2009 Honda Accord

I leased the white Honda Accord LX Thursday night. I put first month payment down plus $100. I did stay as basic as can be. The only thing it had was tinted windows which is nice so I don’t have to worry about getting it tinted myself and tint is needed in Florida. Car had 9 or 10 miles on it when I drove it home. The new accord is definitely roomy, the car is bigger than previous accords and it is bigger than the 2006 Passat I was driving. I like it, and now I know why digital radio channels are cool. The accord radio displays the name of the station, artist and song title that is playing on the radio, that is awesome.

They offered me the LX-P. P for premium which adds alloy rims, auto down for front passenger window, power seat for driver, chrome exhaust tip and a security system. I didn’t think these options were too important so I didn’t go with the premium. The only two things that I would have liked is an outside temperature display and a compass. The steering wheel has volume control and buttons to skip through radio favorites set which is cool, I think it changes CD track as well. I haven’t got to play too much with it yet . Who knows if I like it still in 3 years, maybe I will keep it.

LOST

So tonight is the season finale of Lost season 5, well tomorrow for me as I watch it online in HD on abc.com. Which by the way is awesome, if you have not seen LOST in HD online, you should go ahead and try it. It helps to have a 24″ inch wide-screen LCD on high resolution. So yah I actually did not watch this show until sometime towards the end of season 3. I watched it all online, playing catch up from season 1 through season . And I probably watched it too fast to have time to think over things that happened then and analyze the characters further, but there was no other way. And worse I have a bad memory with names, faces and events, i.e. almost everything. I also did not watch it on abc.com because I was not aware it was online on abc.com at the time and in high definition.

So what can I say about LOST? I have enjoyed the show. The mysteries surrounding the island and the connections between each character keep me drawn to the show. My favorite characters are Sawyer and Kate. I initially liked Jack’s character, at least the when he is on the island. Sawyer is great because he does what is necessary. Then we have Sayid, ok sure he is playing an Arab, an Iraqi Muslim from Tikrit, that is all awesome and wonderful and great … EXCEPT he is not an an Iraqi nor a Muslim. He is Indian. Nothing wrong with that, but come on, he sounds nothing like an Arab, and looks nothing like an Arab. Ugh. Whatever.

Kate Austen formerly known as Lilly Evangeline

So Kate is just awesome, do I really need to explain Kate? She is cute, knows how to shoot a gun, and has some nice lips and awesome TEETH, yes teeth! Ok ok so she sleeps around with everyone on the show and considers the rest if she hasn’t hooked up with them, and she gets people killed or in trouble and she does some stupid things … HEY wait a minute, stop right there, we LOVE Kate. I just found out her name is Lilly Evangeline, what the hell? That name sucks, Kate Austen for the win! Maybe I should of started a new paragraph for Kate. Oh wait I did. I recently watched a few of Season 1 episodes, I must say Kate looked hot with the scratches on her face. I need to give her a few more.

LOST Characters

And that is really what keeps the show entertaining. The show has a lot of great characters. Some of which are Ben, Richard, Locke, Hurley, Jin, Miles, and Desmond, but we don’t need to talk about them. We have Kate to talk about!

Alright so, I am expecting a good finale, as usual, but I am not sure if the show will end good. That is season 6 is supposed to be the last season and I am not sure I will like how the show will end, even thought I don’t know how it will end. Season 5 started with them saying, we are going to start answering questions, rather than asking questions. Well what the heck, it was like what just happened here? Who is that? Who would do that? Why is this here? What lies beneath the shadow of the statue??? EH? I thought they were going to answer questions instead of ask them. Season 5 asked a lot more questions than it answered. So Season 6 leaves a lot to be answered. What is the smoke monster? What did the temple do to Ben as a kid? What lies beneath the shadow of the statue? Who is Adam and Eve? What happened to and where is Claire? Are the survivors going to return to the “present”? Who are these what lies beneath the shadow of the statue people? Who do they work for? Why is Locke alive again? And a million other who, what, where, when, why and how questions. So yes tomorrow’s episode should be great, but it is going to suck to have to wait for the next season and final season to start. If abc doesn’t try to force a seventh season.

I think we have room for one more Kate Austen picture! Or three.

Kate Austen Teeth

Kate Kate Kate

This is Kate

Update (1/18/2011) : Kate’s real name is Evangeline Lilly born Nicole Evangeline Lilly. Thanks Krystal!

2009 White Honda Accord LX

It looks like I am going with a Honda Accord lease option. After much consideration of buying new, buying used, or leasing, I decided I will be going with another lease. It is the cheapest upfront, in this crappy economy while I am looking for more work as the current project is not enough to cover the bills. I also may consider buying it after the lease is up, but I do like the idea of a new car so I don’t know if I will do that and I hear Honda is releasing a bio-diesel accord in 2010 that is supposed to do almost 63 mpg on highway. And who knows what else they may have in the next 3 years. I was considering keeping the Passat when I first leased it, but the last year, I had decided for sure I wasn’t.

I considered the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima, Hyundai Sonata, Ford Fusion and many others. I always ended back with the Japanese cars. They hold their value much better than the rest. The Accord and Camry are very popular and reliable. And other than feeling that the Camry is a geezer car, the Accord is also cheaper on the lease. So I am looking at paying first month payment down only so least upfront, maybe even sign and drive. It will be an Accord LX basic as much I can be basic on that, I know I will want various options but I am looking for best price right now, which means lowest if you didn’t know. And the color should be white as this is Florida and the heat is killer.

In another money spending news, I had to replace the AC unit at the other property after I had spend that $290 replacing the capacitor. Yeah I know, total rip off to start but I was hoping it would get me by through the summer without a problem. It didn’t last 1 month. Not even going to say how much the new AC unit cost, I don’t want to think about it. The old AC unit was 14 years old anyway so it did need replacing. Now if I can find a rental for this property, at least that can pay back the cost of the AC unit and help pay for the property’s mortgage. And yes I did use an Arab to buy and install the AC from, but surprisingly he was good. He was on time, was informative on what he was selling and simply knew his stuff. So THUMBS UP for an Arab providing service.

Ok I just became boxxybabee’s biggest fan. I know I know, it’s not true, but I am still her fan or something. I don’t know what it is, and I know I am like late to see this perhaps, after more than 3 million viewers saw her video, but yah I found her recently and I think she is awesome. A hyper, obnoxious, annoying voice and very cute and AWESOME girl. I don’t know what it is, but her obnoxiousness if that is even a word is fun. I know some of you can’t stand her or hear her voice for more than five seconds, but I can’t get enough of this video. RAW <3 RAW <3 RAW <3 Status like seriously raaaw!

Now picture that titanic movie scene when jack sinks in the water and she was like “Boxxy come back, come back!” So come back boxxybabee, we need you!

I think maybe I should start using the name boxee as my nickname. “You peoples were all like you was trolling, and I was like I am not trolling, I am boooxee you see?” <3 lolz