The drama show called US President - an opinion

One year in, the current US President mandate is to me, the best political drama there has ever been. 

As someone that is not an US citizen, my view of the current US President has been that of shock, upon his election win, then confusion at why people chose him. My opinion of him as politician has never been high, and since I don't know him as a person other than from the media, I cannot say too much about him as a person. What the media transmits, however, gives me not such a good impression. That is nonetheless, not as much relevant.

Let's start with the latest big stunt, recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. (At least, that's what media said). That is the stunt that made me realize, maybe, why he was elected, and even maybe, it's not that bad. (The ever hopeful me). The thing about recognizing Jerusalem as capital of Israel is that it comes after a series of measures against Muslim communities since the president's first stunt with the travel ban. They have taken the most media covered conflict in the recent years, the war against ISIS and put up a great show. Oh, and I'm not writing about him anymore, it's definitely them. There is only that much one single person can do. This latest fuel to the fire came to break an impasse over Jerusalem territory. In the humanitarian perspective, it's awful. It's going to get bad, worse than it is now. But, maybe, just maybe, it is also an opportunity for talk. The world has focused on this issue again, and people talk about it, more than before. Just this week, a colleague of mine said she went and researched a bit about the history of that conflict. THAT, is a good thing. If we can resolve this conflict once and for all, it will be a good thing. I want to believe that this atrocity of a statement will spring many people into action, but hopefully not to war. 

So, maybe, the tweets and statements and things that the US president says, as crude and shocking and revolting they might be, get people to talk about important issues, get people to try and learn more about those issues and do something about it, it's a good thing he's there.

The thing about this president is the no filter part. I can't say I like it, because I don't, but at least he's not afraid of having a bad image. There are a lot of things being done in politics that no one talks about, that's done secretively, with an ulterior motive. Not saying that they don't have one now, but with a mouthy president like this one.... If he's mouthy and revolt people, but people actually wake up and stand up to him, how is that not a good thing?

Jerusalem annoucement will possibly lead to an armed conflict and Europe in general has a lot to lose. To the US however, it's on the other side of the ocean, just like it was with ISIS, and ISIS crisis started in the last presidency. To make America great again? Not much is needed. You don't have to get better or be better, you just have to make sure your competition is destroyed. Slowly maybe so they don't notice, but not too slow. EU was supposedly an ally, but they had to deal with the consequences of refugee crisis whereas US? not so much. One may swim across the Mediterranian, but one does not swim across the Atlantic, after the Mediterranian.

North Korea is just a puppet in this show. Not that they are not at fault but, who better than a small border country to threaten both Russia and China? If it escalates to a full scale armed conflict, scratch off competition box 2 and 3. 

Honestly, right now, I think this presidency is a lot better for the elitist US people than it is given credit. Though I have to stress elitist, since US citizens are not only white people but all the amalgam of races and ethnicities. They are the ones creating an environment where they feel they need to protect themselves against aggressors from the 'outside'. But that is potentially a vicious cycle. It only works whilst the US is still a bit ahead in terms of economy and military, but it won't always stay that way. And when it's not anymore, we'll see if those high profile decisions have been right or wrong. (wrong in my opinion, but you never know, history will tell.)

This presidency has a very unique vibe, doesn't mean it's good, doesn't mean it's bad. It feels the trends and feeds them. We (first world) live in a world surrounded by social media, so that's how they choose to communicated. That gives them visibility, without the coloured filters of conventional media. We also live in a polarizing world, so they feed of those polarizing views and polarize even more. ISIS jihadist actions were 'trending' and shocking to many so they packaged them into the public enemy and generalized the extremists to all muslim to feed the anger. It just reads the flow so well. 

Everything has at least two sides. The rest of the world can have a very different opinion from the one the US has. Maybe in a later date, we'll find out if US citizens liked Trump as much as Cubans liked Castro. And we'll find out if we hated Trump as much as we hated Castro.

凡人歌 (Song of ordinary people)

你我皆凡人，生在人世间
 终日奔波苦，一刻不得闲
 既然不是仙，难免有杂念
 道义放两旁，利字摆中间
 多少男子汉！一怒为红颜
 多少同林鸟，已成分飞燕
 人生何其短，何必苦苦恋
 爱人不见了，向谁去喊冤？

 问你，何时曾看见这世界为了人们改变
 有了梦寐以求的容颜是否就算是拥有春天

I'm sorry but I'll never understand a religious war

Religion has never been an important part of my life growing up. I don't have faith in a specific religion, but I have some of what one might call beliefs that are of religious nature. For instance, I believe in karma, I believe in destiny and I believe in natural order as some sort of higher power.

Then I grew up, and was told about the outline of some of the biggest religions of the world and some of its history. I know that religious people would hate me for it, but three of the major religions in the world come from the same thing. I cannot understand war between people with different religions, and I understand even less when it's between religions that ultimately have the same origin, and as far as I'm concerned, they are all man made. This is far beyond me. To me that is the same as killing someone because their favorite color is not the same as yours or because they think their mother is better than yours?! What the....?!
But, when I look at the state of current state of affairs, I can't help but think this is medieval. Maybe when civilization was at another stage of development it made sense to have religion to explain some things. But does it have to last this long? Do we not wish to progress and move forward?

Sudan/South Sudan was such an example.
Palestine/Israel still is.
ISIS is also.
Rohingya is another.

Not to mention others less covered by media, Chad, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Congo, Uganda. I'm sure there are more that I don't read about as often. But does it really make sense to fight each others differences? I don't consider myself as a pacifist, but wars about religion are ones I'll never understand. Maybe this is a sacrilege to some, but religion is man made! I will never understand religious grounds for armed conflict or opression. To me it's just ridiculous to fight over something made up.
Enlighten me if you believe otherwise.

There’s a disaster much worse than Texas

There is something about biased media and what we choose or choose not to know about. There are things that are in, there are things that are trendy. Media dictates them, we dictate them. Raising awareness, is important.

"No Googling, no conferring, but off the top of your head: what is currently the world’s worst humanitarian disaster?"
"In this story America is not the victim. Along with Britain, it is on the side of the perpetrator – helping to cause the world’s worst humanitarian crisis"

Please refer to link below for full opinion:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/01/disaster-texas-america-britain-yemen?CMP=share_btn_link

If it matters, take action.

Dear friends, Honestly, this is as bad as it gets. In Yemen,every 10 minutes a child dies from malnutrition, 500,000 people have been hit by the worst cholera epidemic ever recorded -- and a savage Saudi bombing campaign is cutting off aid access. It’s an apocalyptic scenario for these innocent people -- but we can help. Most of us have never heard of this nightmare because Saudi Arabia has blocked foreign journalists from the country. They want to keep the impact of their campaign out of the headlines -- so that our governments can keep selling them tanks, missiles, and ammunition. And it's working -- our leaders are turning a blind eye. But Avaaz is unique -- our money comes from ordinary citizens with no policy agenda. We can be a lifeline for Yemen's people: Smuggling reporters into the country to expose what’s happening; Going after donor countries to increase humanitarian funding, now; Lobbying countries like Canada and the UK to stop supplying the weapons that make all this possible. The sad truth is: if we don’t do this, no one will. 20 million(!) Yemenis desperately need aid -- chip in and let's get to work: I'LL DONATE €2 I'LL DONATE €4 I'LL DONATE €8 I'LL DONATE €16 I'LL DONATE €32 OTHER AMOUNT Saudi Arabia’s devastating bombing campaign in Yemen is all about a power struggle with Iran. They say they're defending the ‘legitimate’ government against a group of rebels. But this isn't about democracy, it's about regional influence. Innocent Yemeni civilians are the victims, much like their brothers and sisters in Syria, but without global attention. Yemen was already the poorest country in the region and now hospitals, schools, and entire neighbourhoods have been turned to rubble. The latest craziness is that Saudi Arabia is blocking fuel for UN planes ready to deliver humanitarian aid into the country!  What might be worst is that the Saudis aren’t doing this alone. Many of our governments are making it possible by supplying weapons, military advice, and even boots on the ground. Trump just kicked off a $100 billion arms deal! For our leaders, Saudi friendship and oil seem more important than Yemeni lives. We don’t have to be part of that. If enough of us donate below, we can show the people of Yemen that we are not our governments, that we care about the desperate situation they’re facing, and will fight to stop the bombing of innocent civilians. Some courageous groups are trying to make this work, but right now no one has got it done. Let’s come together urgently, before things get even worse: I'LL DONATE €2 I'LL DONATE €4 I'LL DONATE €8 I'LL DONATE €16 I'LL DONATE €32 OTHER AMOUNT We can cross our fingers that Yemen will somehow be saved. Or we can do what our community does best and rise up to speak for those who have no voice. Let’s not sit in silence. With hope, Danny, Rewan, Alice, Allison, Wissam, Nataliya, Ricken, and the entire Avaaz team More information: ‘It’s a Slow Death’: The World’s Worst Humanitarian Crisis (NY Times) https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/23/world/middleeast/yemen-cholera-humanitarian-crisis.html?mcubz=0&_r=0 Yemen conflict: Cholera risk for more than a million children (BBC) http://www.bbc.com/news/health-40796684 War, hunger and now cholera: Yemen’s crisis worsens (Washington Post) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/08/26/cholera-strikes-the-middle-easts-poorest-nation/?utm_term=.c2e94d106f34 In Yemen, a child dies every ten minutes from preventable causes (UNICEF) https://www.unicef.ie/stories/yemen-child-dies-every-ten-minutes-preventable-causes/ The Big Problem with President Trump's Record Arms Deal with Saudi Arabia (Time) http://time.com/4787797/donald-trump-yemen-saudi-arabia-arms-deal/  Saudi Arabia’s expected military assault on Yemen will almost certainly cause mass starvation (VICE) https://news.vice.com/story/saudi-arabias-expected-military-assault-on-major-yemen-port-will-almost-certainly-cause-mass-starvation

When did the world start to go wrong? Or has it always been wrong and I never noticed?
They teach right and wrong in school, or at least they used to when I went. My parents never really taught me what was right or wrong, but they let me know through trial and error. There were rules. So why is it that the world is not getting better? Why can we always turn something good into something bad?
Social media, for instance, was supposed to be good, supposed to connect people, bring people together. And while it might still do that, it turned out that it gave origin to a lot of mental problems, stalking issues and scamming incidents.

What sparked this is the North Korea crisis, which I've been following on and off. It makes no sense that after the NPT treaty the nuclear weapons were not all destroyed. It takes only one step to go over the ledge. Why has it come to this? We really do have short memory, don't we? Do we need another movie like Dunkirk to remind us of what the Effff happened in WWII?! TWO nukes, TWO! landed. Do we need another reminder after only 50 years or so passed? I've heard opinions that an all out war is not likely. I surely hope they are right.
When we elect mad men to be our leaders and representatives and stick to them and follow them, we can only hope that whatever madness they have will lead us to a better place. hope, being the key word.

Burqas, I do think there is something positive behind it

Let me go on one of my usual rants.
Today I read a piece about a Norwegian anti-islamic Facebook group where people confused empty bus seats for people wearing burqas. Ok......? It sounds pretty unlikely for that to happen, is that right? Just search for "empty bus seat burqa" and you'll see, and maybe have a good laugh about it.

Disclaimer here: I do not have faith in any religion, I am not defending any ideology or group, I am solely expressing my personal opinion and view on this specific topic.

The thing is, I can understand how people feel like looking at a person in the face is essential for identification and communication and other purposes. We rely very much on our primary sensory input, vision. Sometimes, I think we rely too heavily on it. We live currently in a society of appearances. The instagram selfies of you fantastic your life is (more like not), the body culture where people try harder and harder to reach an ideal, all the makeup and cosmetics industry striving to make people look better, younger. I once read that now even handyman have pictures online you can look at how they look when choosing their services. I mean, come on, what does looks have to do with how good you are at plumbing?! I'm not saying to wrong to try to look better, more attractive, what I'm saying is that it's too much.
Talking to a person in burqa, how is it worse than talking to a person through phone, sms, chats or any other internet service? You can still identify a person by voice, by mannerisms and behavior, can you not?
The whole point of loving someone for who they are and not how they look, isn't a burqa something that conveys that? All this crappy propaganda about how to love yourself for who you are and no matter how your body looks you are beautiful, that is crap when you ask someone to take off what they are wearing so you can see them. If a relationship is good independently of how the other person looks, does it make a difference if it's covered from head to toe or if it's naked?
Christianity preaches chastity and modesty, how hypocrite would they be to turn to Islam and point the finger on this matter? Isn't a burqa all about chastity and modesty?
I understand that some people say the girls and women wear burqas to hide their body, like they are ashamed or something. How about I disagree? Other than hiding, how about protecting their body? I don't feel comfortable wearing too little, I'm just saying. Too much cleavage and too much skin, that's not for me. Maybe I'm not alone. I do understand that some people wear their religious outfit or symbols (pardon my ignorance but I don't know how to call them), because they genuinely want to, it's what makes them feel comfortable.
Say, there is a place that everyone has to wear uniform, same for everyone, and no religious symbols are allowed, not a cross, not a Buddha pendant, then it makes sense not allowing burqas to be worn. But other than that, people have their freedom to wear whatever they want, don't they?

Mulan's Love

To all those fightting on the battlefields, this one is for you.

Girls and bathrooms

This is not one of my usual topics, I think. But today, honestly, I have to ask, What is it with Girls and Bathrooms?

Bathroom talk, oh boy, why do girls like to gossip in the bathrooms? Or just talk? What is it about a bathroom that invites the girls to talk about stuff in it? I mean, come on! It's a bathroom! With toilets, sinks and washing basins! (It might smell bad and stuff...) Urgh..... And privacy? I mean, there is no privacy in a bathroom, people come and go. And while other girls and getting some relief on necessities, they don't need to listen to all that crap, right? I don't know, it just seems so strange to me.

I don't think I'll ever comprehend the appeal of talking in a bathroom, it's just odd to say the least.

If someone out there knows the appeal or reason, please enlighten me, because I surely don't see it.

Despictions of war

Watched Dunkirk last night. It was a pretty good movie. It is not my kind of movie, because it's not pure entertainment. It depicts a side of human nature that I do not want to think about, yet cannot deny it to be true.
Through the movie, all I kept thinking was, why war. Why? Most wars have no reason to be in my opinion. But maybe I'm just naive. The despair of those people, the flesh that is nothing more than flesh, the state of shock that war puts people in. For the people fighting in the front lines, how much nerve must they have? Saving the comrades is a noble feeling, but saving yourself is also a valid point. What is wrong and what is right is blurred at the limits of human condition. Kill or to be killed, it is valid as for your enemies as for your allies. Can you really blame someone for wanting to survive? Don't we all?
The sacrifices the war demands, the conflict of feelings and emotions of those involved. It was an emotional ride, a look inside a place I never want to be. I never want to have to be confronted with two difficult choices, in which one makes sense, but is wrong, and one is self destructive but usually regarded as right? I am so glad I currently don't have to deal with that sort of life death sentence. But, I need to be reminded of such. I need to be reminded that I live in peace because of the sacrifices of those who came before me. We all need to be reminded that the place we live in, we owe it to those who came before us, good or bad.
This movie depicted the hardships of those who were in the end, the winners of that war. and yet along the way, we needed a reminder that the road to winning was not easy. It led me into thinking about the ones who lost. History is told from the winning side, because only the winning side survives to tell a story. The thing is, there is always another side of the story. What about the losing side? The soldiers on the losing side? Wasn't their despair the same or worse? We depict them as villains and often write them off as such, but black is not always black. Those fighting the losing war have their own reasons for fighting. I for one, would like to see a story told from the losing side.

History, at retrospective gives us a different angle, a different perspective. We need to be constantly reminded of the past, of our mistakes as humanity. And it doesn't just happen because our leaders made bad choices, it happens because we put our leaders where they are and they make bad choices that we consent to. Human nature pushes over and over again towards this end. We've learned a lot, a friend of mine tries to placate my angry rant. Yes, we've learned, but there is also this saying that a leopard can't change its spots. I want to deny it with all my being, but I can't help but concede that it is true. We are egocentric, selfish and self-absorbed animals, and worse than animal nature, we are greedy. They say greed is what made the best of human creations. I disagree. How about ambition?
I know the difference may not be much, but to me it still is different. It's good to be ambitious, right? To reach beyond, but to be greedy to the point of stepping on other people's way, I don't call that ambition. I'm not saying there aren't selfless people, but in general when it comes down to the bottom of it, we are still greedy bastards. That is even worse than animal.
The ancient mesopotamia region has never known much time without a war. According to history studies and tales, it was a place of beauty and plenty of resources. In an animal world, there would be peaceful cohabiting, but in the human world, war kept raging in that place. Why? The answer shouldn't be hard.

I wonder if we as humanity crave peace. I have to say, in my wild dreams, I dream of fighting a war, being a hero soldier in a war beyond frontiers for the survival of humanity. But the thing is, it is something that I want to stay there, in dreams only. Even if it was for the survival of humanity I wonder if one day it came to day it is possible without war. Without violence. The thing is, is not easy to abstract oneself from violence and wars when the media just loves it. Don't we all love game of thrones? What is it other than a bloody depiction of war? Say, Transformers, Star wars, Suicide Squad, Marvel movies, they may be science fiction but they also depict war. Even Star trek which is supposed to be explore not intervention, the movie is still full of war depictions. Plenty of action movies with depictions of war. Say it your face enough times and it becomes norm. How can you expect to crave peace when we depict our heroes in the face of war? It makes one question if there can be other kind of heroes other than the ones fighting a war?

Now not just war, but television and cinema picturing a violent conflict. I have to admit they are my favorite kind, but not because of what they mean, but because I don't have to think while watching, it's pure entertainment. But it should not be. I grew up with this being a form of entertainment, when it should shock me to no end. We give almost no regard to those who die in the story to built the hero that the main characters are. But it is something to think about isn't it? Just because it was not an important character that was sacrificed, doesn't mean it wasn't there. We tell a story from the angle we want, of course. But what is left out also should speak tons. Shouldn't our heroes be the ones who turn away from violent conflict and seek peace and not who turn to war? The win the war, there has to be a loser. How about compromise? How about truce?
We depict our villains as bad by nature, but the truth is, villains are not bad by nature, they also have their motives, we just don't give them thought and write them off as villains. There should be something to be said about that.
I'm done ranting. Think, don't think whatever. We still have a long way to go.

I feel like I just woke up to a slap on my face. What sparked my reflections were this article below:
China is giving Trump a lesson in how to handle Kim Jong-un

Finally someone agrees with me on double standards!! But this is not what I'm to write about.
Reading the article and through the hundreds of comments, I've learned quite a bit around the perceptions of other people.
I've once written about how maybe we are staring at the World War III, but suddenly I found myself rethinking my notion of war. Suddenly, I feel like, really the war has never ended.
I can't pinpoint causes or reasons, I'm not an analyst in this field, not even close. But ideological differences may have been at the starting point, however, along the way, the interests of each party hold more weight than ideology.
Fundamentally, we believe in democracy (or at least I think most of us do), but, democracy doesn't mean it has to present itself the way it is now in western countries. The democratic system is flawed in many if not all. Then we look at systems that look different from our so called democracy, and we name it different, but in practice is it really different? What are the outcomes?
Are we fighting for fundamental differences in ideologies or are we fighting for the appearance of difference in systems that are fundamentally similar?
Also, are we so blind that we can't accept that something that isn't our own is better that what we have? Maybe not better all way round, but in some aspects.
The war never ended. We just don't see it happening. It took a different form, does mean it's not there. We don't point guns directly at each other all around the world, but other things kill people too. Like money, trade is a tool but a weapon too. The pen is mightier than the sword... You might actually see it is true. Have you see any recent politician brandishing swords or guns? Now, do their policies affect peoples lives? If you say no, let me remind you with two words: Travel Ban.

Conflict is part of life. But does it have to escalate?
I'm suddenly sad. I thought we progressed in that area. But I see we only managed to be smarter at concealing it.