I was thrilled to find a very important book that I was looking forward to read while visiting Virgin Stores in City Mall. The book is "The Lion of Jordan: The Life of King Hussein in War and Peace" by Avi Shlaim who is a prominant Israeli historian and expert in Middle East affairs.     The book was published in a summarised 20 episode series in Al-Sharq Al Awsat last year. By reading... [read more]

It is 1:00 Thursday morning and I have just finishing a task that should be submitted tomorrow morning. In fact this the 4th night in a row that I have to work late. Out of the blue came a glimpse of memory of my teenage years when some of the songs I used to like and adore echoed in my mind. I know that the main percentage of the readers of this blog are young (in their 20s) so most of them have... [read more]

Few weeks ago I found myself in a room with 20 foreign maids and 40 children as I was supervising my daughter playtime in Mecca Mall. I was astonished to see that I was the only biological parent of any child present in the play area. Other parents were sipping "Mocca Freez" outside the play area or shopping in the mall. I love to take my daughter to play areas and recreational events and usually... [read more]

In the past few days I had no desire to blog. I only copy and paste my daily articles in Addustour to my Arabic blog and do not create any new content. I think I am in a stage of low energy. However I was very glad to discover on You Tube the beautiful song "Moscow" that was an instant global hit in the 80s. I am sure you will enjoy this vidoe which will bring sweet memories back.    [read more]

I have never been the guy following a dream of migration to start a new life outside Jordan. Even in my teenage years and 20s I used to be the one member of my friends who would always oppose the idea of migration. I have never been attracted by the so called American dream and always hated the scene of our youth standing in lines infront of the US embassy for the visa. I have seen people who have... [read more]

I do not know how many of you folks are "old" enough to remember the great Jordan TV channel 2 and its package of comedies that used to be broadcasted at 8:30 each night. Well, here is my list of favorite 10 comedies which include oldies (70s and 80s) as well as the newer comedies in the 90s. (some of the descriptions here are taken from the BBC's comedy guide)   1-     Mind your language:   The... [read more]

    Few days ago I was driving in the company of a friend who just came back from the USA. I was listening to my default car cassette which is "ABBA Gold" and that guy told me; "Hey.. you do not want to be mistaken for a gay!". Well I have no problems with gays as long as they are a few kilometers away from me, but I was shocked to learn that the cowboys in the USA consider ABBA music... [read more]

Our dear blogger and lovely Kinzi has tagged me with an awkward task to reveal five things that you (readers) do not know about me. Well, to begin with I asked myself why should anyone be interested in the hidden stories or features of other people. Is it curiosity, fun or trying to get to know people more? For the tranquility of my psyche I want to choose the second option to make this entry as... [read more]

I have been on a low blogging diet for the past three weeks. I have been focusing all my time on finishing my current employment as a national coordinator for a UNDP project on the implementation of global environmental conventions for biodiversity, desertification and climate change in Jordan. So, my mind was concentrating on the final financial and progress reports, final studies and assessments... [read more]

My daughter Suzan has just entered her 1st year at school starting 1st grade at the Rosary school in Marj Al Hamam. She wakes up at 6:00 a.m to have breakfast and some nagging and please for more sleep before we force her to school. She carries, and drags her heavy weight backbag to go to the bus which arrives at 6:45 a.m. Suzan spends about 7 hours at school spending 8 sessions and finishing at 2:30... [read more]

I am not sure about the authenticity of this annoying story, but a friend of mine told me that his friend went to buy an apartment to be able to get married after being engaged for 14 months, and as a Jordanian middle class employee working for 12 hours daily he carried a total of 10,000 JDs he managed to save and a further 40,000 JDs he got from a bank that will keep him on debt for 10 happy years!... [read more]

Sometimes I believe that the biggest mistake I made while creating my blog was to reveal my identity. As a blogger who writes mainly in politics and in controversial issues the posts I write have dynamic comments. This is good by nature, but the problem is that most of the comments and arguments I receive are based on personal issues, questioning my political arguments with personal remarks and sometimes... [read more]

Iwould like to draw the attention of all readers and visitors of this blog to the Jordan Country Guide that I am editing hosted at Oneworld.net. http://uk.oneworld.net/guides/jordan/development I have started editing this guide as a volunteer two years ago, and it has been a very nice experience. The guide is one of 45 country guides that are visited by  a large number of online visitors from... [read more]

I must say I am having one of the most prolonged depression states of mind I ever had throughout this day. I did not go to the Jordan Planet meet-up so that I will not spread my depression to others, and my participation in the vigil for Lebanon did not help my cause and nor Lebanese people. I am stuck in between the TV stations and internet, reading all the analysis and comments about the war... [read more]

A few people in this world are schizophrenic, having two split personalities that keep rotating with the same psychology of the person. In a similar situation, I admit to having nine personalities that alternate during the 24 hours of one day, with every passing day.   Here is a profile about my nine personalities:   8:00 a.m- 3:00 pm: Environmentalist: This is my profession. I have a... [read more]

This is a special day for me. On July 21st 1993 I had a turning point in my life, and the moment I have always dreamed of bacause in that great day I have met my sweetheart who became my lovely wife. As a Master's degree student at the University of Jordan, faculty of Science I was busy with my Master's programme on environmental management, actively engaging in political initiatives in the University... [read more]

  After two weeks of hectic work full of schedules, meetings, deadlines, report reviews, financial reporting and presentations it was a relief to enjoy a nice family day outdoors. I have participated with my wife and daughter this morning in the "Running for your health" walk/race organized by the "Sports for all federation" at the Dunes club. I have managed to stretch my self to the maximum... [read more]

On a chilling December day, a group of six arab guys was about to invade Venice. Me, and other friends from Palestine, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Iraq were heading for one of the most amazing cities in the world, with shivers in our bones in a 0 Celsius degress day, with sunshine to make it more sarcastic. Once we got out of the Santa Lucia train station, we realised that we were the wrong group... [read more]

Ever since I came across the blogging phenomenon three week ago I was so impressed and overlwhelmed by the characters of such an expression system. I have been thinking deeply whether I should start my own blog or not. I needed to convince my self with the added value of blogging, and whether I am doing this out of fun, or to be a part of a new community or just to follow a hype. The main reason... [read more]