Today a friend asked me would I sacrifice my own happiness if it meant that I was obeying my family's wishes?
my response: yes. I do not really have a choice.
Here is the context of the conversation...he asked if I were to marry a guy that my family did not approve of would I still marry that guy? well I can't. I do not really have a choice.
In Middle Eastern society family comes first. no matter what. bottom line. The wishes of your family supercede your personal wishes/happiness if it comes down to that. If a middle eastern girl were to marry a man that her father did not approve of then the marriage would be called off. If the marriage is allowed to go on then the girl may be blacklisted and cut off from her family. It is just easier to submit to your parent's will in that society. Most view this as wrong but their culture states that family is above all the most important thing. Furthermore, Middle Eastern society emphasizes that the parents are always right (even if they are wrong).
27.4.09
Swine flu
So there is this new public health emergency known as the swine flu or H1N1 virus. People are going crazy over it, wearing masks and not riding the subway. Its like its SARS or something. Ok but in all seriousness, America needs to close the boarders off to Mexico until this thing is under control. Do not allow people to travel to the region since the outbreak started there. Uhh duh. Hello America wake up! Just a couple of days ago Japan tighten their border checks in efforts to reduce the number of swine flu cases in the region. How can Obama say its "not a cause for alarm" when it was declared a public health emergency? Furthermore, the EU is urging citizens not to travel to the US?
I think that the U.S. needs to step up its game in creating a vaccine. One upside is that this thing is responding to regular flu medicines. The outbreaks keep increasing. I actually have a friend who stopped going out.period. no seriously. just stopped going out. its kinda over the top but whatever.
there are now over 5100 cases in 48 states in the U.S. as of may 19th 2009. how much longer can this go on? there are sixteen schools closed in NYC alone. however, the WHO is not ready to raise the level to 6, its highest risk level for pandemics.
japan continues to see the largest outbreak of swine flu
my school thought they had a confirmed case of swine flu but we didnt so thats good. phewww.
Ok so an update as of June 11th, the WHO (World Health Organization) has finally raised the level to a pandemic because of the number of outbreaks the world has seen. There are over 20,000 cases now. Australia fears it will rock their tourism industry. This is the first time a pandemic has been declared by the WHO in 41 years.
I think that the U.S. needs to step up its game in creating a vaccine. One upside is that this thing is responding to regular flu medicines. The outbreaks keep increasing. I actually have a friend who stopped going out.period. no seriously. just stopped going out. its kinda over the top but whatever.
there are now over 5100 cases in 48 states in the U.S. as of may 19th 2009. how much longer can this go on? there are sixteen schools closed in NYC alone. however, the WHO is not ready to raise the level to 6, its highest risk level for pandemics.
japan continues to see the largest outbreak of swine flu
my school thought they had a confirmed case of swine flu but we didnt so thats good. phewww.
Ok so an update as of June 11th, the WHO (World Health Organization) has finally raised the level to a pandemic because of the number of outbreaks the world has seen. There are over 20,000 cases now. Australia fears it will rock their tourism industry. This is the first time a pandemic has been declared by the WHO in 41 years.
Iranian President Ahmadinejad
During an interview last week with George Stephanopoulos, Iranian president Ahmadinejad said he supports Palestine in a two-state solution.
Here is an excerpt from the interview:
Stephanopoulos: "If the Palestinians sign an agreement with Israel, will Iran support it?"
Ahmadinejad: "Whatever decision they take is fine with us. We are not going to determine anything. Whatever decision they take, we will support that. We think that is the right of the Palestinian people, however we fully expect other states to do so as well."
In my opinion, it is about time that Ahmadinejad said this. Ahmadinejad is known for being wishy washy and indirect in my opinion. Maybe with the new administration and Ahmadinejad's new found approval to agreeing with whatever the Palestinians agree to we can work towards peace in the region.
In his interview, Ahmadinejad also noted that he was not happy that Obama did not personally thank him for congratulating him on his win. Get over it!! you do not need a personal thank you. Although, I do think its a bit rude. Recently, Ahmedinejad also said Iran is ready to talk with the U.S. It makes one wonder if this is because Bush is no longer in office. I am just going to go ahead and say it- Bush was NOT that horrible! People just make him out to be such a bad guy. Stop blaming the president for everything that goes wrong. Besides what does it say about us a whole if we re-elected him? But anyway...Ahmadinejad said "The Iranian nation is ready to hold talks, but talks in a fair atmosphere with mutual respect."
On another note, during the UN conference in Geneva several western European nations as well as the United States and Israel walked out/protested the conference because Ahmadinejad was speaking. He called Israel the most "racist regime". It is ironic to call Israel racist in my opinion.
Here is an excerpt from the interview:
Stephanopoulos: "If the Palestinians sign an agreement with Israel, will Iran support it?"
Ahmadinejad: "Whatever decision they take is fine with us. We are not going to determine anything. Whatever decision they take, we will support that. We think that is the right of the Palestinian people, however we fully expect other states to do so as well."
In my opinion, it is about time that Ahmadinejad said this. Ahmadinejad is known for being wishy washy and indirect in my opinion. Maybe with the new administration and Ahmadinejad's new found approval to agreeing with whatever the Palestinians agree to we can work towards peace in the region.
In his interview, Ahmadinejad also noted that he was not happy that Obama did not personally thank him for congratulating him on his win. Get over it!! you do not need a personal thank you. Although, I do think its a bit rude. Recently, Ahmedinejad also said Iran is ready to talk with the U.S. It makes one wonder if this is because Bush is no longer in office. I am just going to go ahead and say it- Bush was NOT that horrible! People just make him out to be such a bad guy. Stop blaming the president for everything that goes wrong. Besides what does it say about us a whole if we re-elected him? But anyway...Ahmadinejad said "The Iranian nation is ready to hold talks, but talks in a fair atmosphere with mutual respect."
On another note, during the UN conference in Geneva several western European nations as well as the United States and Israel walked out/protested the conference because Ahmadinejad was speaking. He called Israel the most "racist regime". It is ironic to call Israel racist in my opinion.
26.4.09
the new face of the republican party
Meghan McCain, daughter of Senator John McCain, is trying to revamp the republican party. I think she is absolutely right for wanting to do so. As someone who leans more toward the republican side I think she is brave for wanting to break the stereotypes of Republicans. As a party, overall it is not a diverse party at all.
Meghan was on the hit talkshow The View just a couple days ago and she was saying how she was pro-gay rights/marriage. This is something I agree with! However, the republican party tends to not share the same views. Like Meghan I am also anti-abortion. Meghan and my generation are very progressive thinkers. We like change.We want change. We welcome change and we embrace change.
I think people like Dick Cheney need to sit down and shut up. They had their time. Telling Meghan to get the hell out of politics is like telling everyone who holds similar view points to get the hell out of politics as well. We are the future, Dick Cheney. So go back to doing whatever it is that you did during your vice presidency which is basically nothing.
An update on Meghan McCain: May 21st on the Tyra Show.
Meghan McCain was on the tyra show today and she was talking about positive body image. She is not the skinniest girl and she embraces that. I think Meghan is beautiful. As someone who struggles with my body image, I admire and respect Meghan for saying "kiss my fat ass" on national t.v. to women like Ann Coultier who attacked Meghan's body image because she is not as conservative as Ann. Well Ann you are being ridiculous because Meghan challenged your view points and you turned around and challenged her weight???? Come on people that just does not make sense.
You go Meghan McCain!! I say lets revamp the Republican party together!
Meghan was on the hit talkshow The View just a couple days ago and she was saying how she was pro-gay rights/marriage. This is something I agree with! However, the republican party tends to not share the same views. Like Meghan I am also anti-abortion. Meghan and my generation are very progressive thinkers. We like change.We want change. We welcome change and we embrace change.
I think people like Dick Cheney need to sit down and shut up. They had their time. Telling Meghan to get the hell out of politics is like telling everyone who holds similar view points to get the hell out of politics as well. We are the future, Dick Cheney. So go back to doing whatever it is that you did during your vice presidency which is basically nothing.
An update on Meghan McCain: May 21st on the Tyra Show.
Meghan McCain was on the tyra show today and she was talking about positive body image. She is not the skinniest girl and she embraces that. I think Meghan is beautiful. As someone who struggles with my body image, I admire and respect Meghan for saying "kiss my fat ass" on national t.v. to women like Ann Coultier who attacked Meghan's body image because she is not as conservative as Ann. Well Ann you are being ridiculous because Meghan challenged your view points and you turned around and challenged her weight???? Come on people that just does not make sense.
You go Meghan McCain!! I say lets revamp the Republican party together!
warm weather is finally here...hopefully!!
So this weekend was such a beautiful weekend. I had such a good time. Friday I went to the seaport with my dear friend carly. We had lunch at this cute little place called IL porto?? think. then we walked around the seaport taking pictures. Later that afternoon I went and watched a screening of a comedy tour then met Dean Obeidallah. Now Dean is a unique character. He is Sicilian-Palestinian. He reminds me a little of myself with a christian mom and muslim dad. Dean is hilarious. He pokes fun at Arab stereotypes in an effort to break the misperceptions of muslims out there.
Saturday I went and saw the new fast and furious movie with Vin Diesel. It was not bad. After that I grabbed some lunch and headed to the beach with my sister. We layed on the beach and soaked up some sun. The weather was still too cold to go in though. We stayed for about two hours. After that we drove back and I showered and got dressed to go to a baseball game. I went to the game with an old friend and her family as well as her boyfriend. The game was fun even though they lost. After the game we went back to my friends house and started taking silly pictures of ourselves. We drank coffee and sat out in backyard enjoying the warm weather.
Sunday I kinda played it low key. I wanted to go the beach again but figured I would stay home and do some studying.
Overall my weekend was pretty good. pretty lowkey. but hey thats how i like it sometimes. I hope this warm weather stays and that it does not fluctuate too much.
Saturday I went and saw the new fast and furious movie with Vin Diesel. It was not bad. After that I grabbed some lunch and headed to the beach with my sister. We layed on the beach and soaked up some sun. The weather was still too cold to go in though. We stayed for about two hours. After that we drove back and I showered and got dressed to go to a baseball game. I went to the game with an old friend and her family as well as her boyfriend. The game was fun even though they lost. After the game we went back to my friends house and started taking silly pictures of ourselves. We drank coffee and sat out in backyard enjoying the warm weather.
Sunday I kinda played it low key. I wanted to go the beach again but figured I would stay home and do some studying.
Overall my weekend was pretty good. pretty lowkey. but hey thats how i like it sometimes. I hope this warm weather stays and that it does not fluctuate too much.
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