The Arabs are not happy

[Cjay]

I received this by email today. It is not my personal view. I wonder how accurate this is.


The Arabs are not happy

• They are not happy in Gaza.
• They are not happy in the West Bank.
• They are not happy in Jerusalem.
• They are not happy in Israel.
• They are not happy in Egypt.
• They are not happy in Libya.
• They are not happy in Algeria.
• They are not happy in Tunis.
• They are not happy in Morocco.
• They are not happy in Yemen.
• They are not happy in Iraq.
• They are not happy in Afghanistan.
• They are not happy in Syria.
• They are not happy in Lebanon.
• They are not happy in Sudan.
• They are not happy in Jordan.
• They are not happy in Iran.

Where are the Arabs happy?

They are happy in England.
They are happy in France.
They are happy in Italy.
They are happy in Germany.
They are happy in Sweden.
They are happy in Holland.
They are happy in Denmark.
They are happy in Belgium.
They are happy in Norway.
They are happy in the U.S.
They are happy in Canada.
They are happy in Romania.
They are happy in Hungary.
They are happy in Australia.
They are happy in New Zealand.
They are happy in any other country in the world that is not under a Muslim rule.

And who do they blame?
• Not Islam.
• Not their leadership.
• Not themselves.
But the countries in which they are happy to live.

This is so true... Democracy is really good for them:

In a democracy they can live comfortably,
enjoy the high quality of life which they did not build and work for,
they don’t have to be productive and earn a living,
they can be wild, and break the law,
exploit the social services, wear Burkas and make a mockery of our Police and Courts and generally bite the hand that feeds them.

The question is why do they always try to bring their failed system with them, why do they want to turn Australia & other countries into the country they left for a better life...?
Australian Muslims make up less than 3% of our population yet our Government is fixated on pandering to them... Why??

[Licka]

When you think about it... Its so true haha

[ktlight]

Sorry to know this, Cjay. I think it reflects more or less the same sentiments of the indigenous people in UK, outside of me at least.

[jagman]

http://youtu.be/d-diB65scQU

[Lord Sidious]

More divide and conquer games being played on us.

[ulli]

It's genetic....and their desert environment made them that way...

Fierce climate creates fierce people,
as it demands that the survival instinct is at it's optimum.

After the revolution in Iran in 1978 when there was a huge influx into England
school teachers became desperate about discipline...the fights in the school yards had become bloody,
Something that never happened before the Iranians arrived.
Then they noticed something about how one specific group of kids never got into fights:
Those who had lived in the gentler climates of Iran.
So this observation became a story that made it into the Sunday Times, where I read it. I never forgot it.

Soon afterwards I moved to Barbados, where I lived on the gentle west coast,
a lovely climate where there was a constant gentle breeze,
but just enough to keep you cool.
But whenever we went to spend a weekend on the east coast, the Atlantic side,
where the trade winds howled and the beach sand was being blown quite hard
we would return home totally altered in our personalities, and not really relaxed at all,
but quite wired and uptight...more like we were ready for battle.

That always reminded me about that article in the Sunday Times
and the statement about the effect climate had on personality.

[ktlight]

ulli, what an interesting (made sense to me) effect gentle breezes -v- howling winds had on you. I love the winds, even at their most fierce. Had a vivid dream about one, which is not for this thread.

[beyondmyctrl]

sounds to me like the person who sent you that e-mail is a racist ....

[ktlight]

sounds to me like the person who sent you that e-mail is a racist ....

As is, you could be right. But, don't you think it is possibly from someone wanting to provide information?

[ulli]

sounds to me like the person who sent you that e-mail is a racist ....


It does seem that way indeed, to even bother to compile such a list...unless they only forwarded it, to get a reaction.

But whoever compiled it must have a similar personality, or at least have major unhappiness issues.

[Mark]

that is called environmental determinism and it is a dangerous philosophy, to believe that the environment affects the people who live in those environments. it almost destroyed my discipline, geography, after the 1st world war, in the states at least, as all of the ivy league colleges got rid of their geography departments.

the idea is old, though, that climate affects the people. some of the more extreme aspects of it state that people from warm climates are lazy while people from cold climates are industrious. this was used to justify racism in a so-called scientific manner from the age of darwinism (social) onwards, was part of the background philosophy justifying eugenics and, obviously, a partial justification for institutional racism as well as personal prejudice and xenophobia.

i think perhaps that since we are souls first, before we are people, our behavior is more learned, cultural in nature, rather than genetic. especially since the newest science states that genetics can be changed relatively easily, with sound, no less, words, music, etc. people are imminently changeable, we can adapt to any environment. i find this original posting to be quite sad here in this forum, but i suppose such things must find their expression.

[ulli]

that is called environmental determinism and it is a dangerous philosophy, to believe that the environment affects the people who live in those environments. it almost destroyed my discipline, geography, after the 1st world war, in the states at least, as all of the ivy league colleges got rid of their geography departments.

the idea is old, though, that climate affects the people. some of the more extreme aspects of it state that people from warm climates are lazy while people from cold climates are industrious. this was used to justify racism in a so-called scientific manner from the age of darwinism (social) onwards, was part of the background philosophy justifying eugenics and, obviously, a partial justification for institutional racism as well as personal prejudice and xenophobia.

i think perhaps that since we are souls first, before we are people, our behavior is more learned, cultural in nature, rather than genetic. especially since the newest science states that genetics can be changed relatively easily, with sound, no less, words, music, etc. people are imminently changeable, we can adapt to any environment. i find this original posting to be quite sad here in this forum, but i suppose such things must find their expression.

The fact that heat saps energy has been used as a weapon, I totally agree.

I have major issues with people who even use terms like "lazy".
The arrogance that came out of the industrialized world and it's accompanying racism
blinded people from seeing qualities in other cultures, especially across the north south axis.

I spend decades trying to scrape off my own cultural programming,
by immersing myself into the cultures where I lived.
This has helped me with the discovery that all of life ought to be seen as personal, rather than general.
Meanwhile allowing those who have not yet found themselves and
like to lump people into groups in order to understand their world, is part of their journey.

I was 30 then, and at that point examining the roots of distinct cultures, while erasing my own racism.
At that point I was committing to laziness as a lifestyle, because I was turning my back on the rat race.
I sold my business in England and got rid of my German hard work ethics, consciously, to find my soul.

While turning my back on my own roots I surrounded myself with friends who were desperately searching for their African roots. Meanwhile I tried to make them see our shared future of togetherness.
Another story there.

And as you said, such things must find their expression, then one can move on to the next life lesson.

[Cjay]

Thank you to everyone for your insight.

In this era of political correctness being taken to extremes, it is dangerous to make observations of cultural differences and say some things out loud, lest we are branded as racist. I like to think I am not racist, as I grew up in a strongly multi-cultural society where the majority seem to be very tolerant. At various stages of my life, I have had friends from almost every country in the world. However, what I have noticed is that the people who protest loudest about being victims of racism are often racist themselves.

I have often wondered whether my avatar - one world, one people - is seen by some as NWO globalist. I assure you it is not. I wish we could all get along as friends and co-operate to solve the problems on Earth.

[ktlight]

Thank you to everyone for your insight.

In this era of political correctness being taken to extremes, it is dangerous to make observations of cultural differences and say some things out loud, lest we are branded as racist. I like to think I am not racist, as I grew up in a strongly multi-cultural society where the majority seem to be very tolerant. At various stages of my life, I have had friends from almost every country in the world. However, what I have noticed is that the people who protest loudest about being victims of racism are often racist themselves.

I have often wondered whether my avatar - one world, one people - is seen by some as NWO globalist. I assure you it is not. I wish we could all get along as friends and co-operate to solve the problems on Earth.

Understood, Cjay. I am with you on that.

[RMorgan]

I think it´s not a problem with the Arabs only. People aren´t quite happy these days all over the world.

[Lisab]

Keith Richards has a home in Jamaica and spends most of his time there. In his autobiography he explains rastafarianism beautifully as he's accepted into their tightnit community there. I cant remember the exact words he used but basically the guys he's hangs out with smoking and making music with refuse to work for the system. They see it as slavery. Lisa x

[Cjay]

I'm happy.

I have numerous serious worries but I am healthy, happy and very grateful.

[Buck]

More divide and conquer games being played on us.

Ego thrills at the prospects of this kind of "reasonable compassion" whispering as you read these "observations"; "Ah yes, the dirty sand people, I feel for them of course I do, for I am a noble being who is concerned with the welfare of others, because that is good and right and after all I am good and right. And of course they are violent, these swarthy nomads, fighting a hard scrabble existence out there in the hot sandy desert. They are savages, yes, but really I can feel my loving compassion (patronizing elitism) for their poor little souls. Forgive them, for they know not how superior we are."

[13th Warrior]

What is a "Arab" and how do you know if it is happy or not?

[Mark]

The fact that heat saps energy has been used as a weapon, I totally agree.

Just another weapon in quite the long list of them. Environmental Determinism was of course an entire scientific paradigmatic viewpoint that gained credence in the late 1800s but finds expression even earlier in the writings of geographers and other european explorers as they traveled the world and interacted with folks who had no real desire to leave their countries - let alone conquer and consume - and who did not have to fight against nature itself in order to survive or eke out a living. I'm not exactly sure why it became anathema in the elite colleges and universities of the United States, except for the fact that geography was such a german discipline, many of the men that I learned about who were instrumental in the formation of geography as a university discipline were germans of the 19th and early 20th century. Geopolitics was the framework within which the Reich methodically went about their machinations, to devastating effect. In that context, this sort of culturally anthropological viewpoint about the nature of different types of humans was a subtext to the overall goals of that movement, which I think have been explored in other threads here.

What has always been interesting to me, personally, has been my lived experience versus the historical record on these matters. I lived in Germany for 5 years back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. My barometer of innate racism within a culture as it pertains to skin-color has a setting that I call the 'child meter'. How parents act when I'm near their children determines their quotient of ingrained fear based only upon my physical appearance. That fear is set by the way the culture presents people who look like me through the mainstream media, as well as ongoing streams of regional xenophobia. So if parents who are otherwise calm and relaxed call or run to their children when I come near, looking at me with distrust, suspicion or fear automatically, then there is some sort of programming going on there. In Germany, there was none of that. There were other experiences I had, with a pack of neo-nazis in Nuremberg in '89 after the Wall came down, a group of punks at a gas station and an older man on a fussgangerzone in Kaiserslautern, but the experience in the parks was quite memorable. It was a different kind of experience. The United States, of course, is much different. Canada is somewhere in-between.


However, what I have noticed is that the people who protest loudest about being victims of racism are often racist themselves.

My posts have nothing to do with political correctness. I speak the truth I know and encourage those I interact with to do the same. If someone wishes to address me directly, I respond directly.

Of course there are happy people of southwest Asian descent in the nations of their origins. And it is not necessarily true that they want democracy, but they want the foot of democracy - as expressed through the economic and political support of their dictators - off their backs. And they want a form of governance where they can be free of persecution and suppression by their leaders, who have been, again, supported if not overtly then covertly by to so-called democratic countries at various times since their inception as countries, most of which, again, being founded by those selfsame European powers. These forms of governments, based upon pyramidal structures, create inequality automatically and our current problems in this area are originally related to that primary issue.

Unfortunately it has become the new political correctness to blame people who have valid and realistic concerns regarding the lingering effects of institutional and personal racism and make it seem as if their personal prejudices amount to the same thing as the forms of xenophobia that are supported by the institutions of many societies. As if an American Indian in the United States or an Albino in the Congo doesn't have to deal with forms of culturally supported inequality that marks them as separate from the rest of society. It has become all too common to turn the tables against these smaller groups of individuals in order to effect some sort of political agenda of oneness that totally attempts to ignoring continuing prejudices by large groups and institutionalized instances of racism.

There is no moving forward until the past is addressed. As Bill says that we all individually have to do our personal spiritual work in order to move forward toward ascension, the same thing is true of societies as well. The collective ills of larger soul-groups must be addressed for them to be transcended. There must always be an accounting, and, again unfortunately, too many people believe that they can continue to ignore this particular aspect of our shared reality and still move forward themselves. I wrote an article about how this affects the so called New Age community called The Gathering of the Rainbow Tribe: New Age delusions and rude awakenings (http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?27571-The-Gathering-of-the-Rainbow-Tribe-New-Age-delusions-and-rude-Awakenings).

It got no traction here, which I thought was interesting considering the fact that a lot of Bill's research has to do with the racist nature of the NWO and the depopulation agenda of the Elite. This topic always results in a drawing of lines and of people taking sides and continues to be a major barrier to that unity that you mentioned in your prior response, but that perspective is not present in the text of your original post. I will quote myself to end:


i think perhaps that since we are souls first, before we are people, our behavior is more learned, cultural in nature, rather than genetic. especially since the newest science states that genetics can be changed relatively easily, with sound, no less, words, music, etc. people are imminently changeable, we can adapt to any environment.

[Lazlo]

I'm with Ulli here on the weather affecting moods.

I have done the same extended canyoneering trip multiple times and I can tell you that it is a fact that the weather affects behavior.

I have done it when the temperatures are cool and the days long, and everyone speaks of the trip in transendental terms.

I have done it when there was extended high winds with blistering sun and sand and these same people (love and light nature types) were snapping like a bunch of hungry crocodiles.

Both my wife and I spent 10 years as professionals in the outdoor industry, and this isn't even a point of debate. It's more like, uh-oh, foul weather, here comes the arguments.

Also, Lord Sid is right on with the divide and conquer meme, and I agree with others that the email is blatantly racist in intent, even if there is some truth to it. My personal opinion is that the state of a populations happiness has more to do with perceived freedom and economic opportunity than anything else.

[Carmody]

Keith Richards has a home in Jamaica and spends most of his time there. In his autobiography he explains rastafarianism beautifully as he's accepted into their tightnit community there. I cant remember the exact words he used but basically the guys he's hangs out with smoking and making music with refuse to work for the system. They see it as slavery. Lisa x


"They see it as slavery."

As they should. There is nothing in that 'system' except an long circuitous lesson on not going there or exiting there --- at all.

A lesson for the deeply entrained to find in the end, a thing they need to break themselves entirely away from.

Reggae is a strong enough statement ...that eventually, many who seek freedom either brush up against it or spend time living in it. For good reason. It is a rhythmic harmonic expression of the mindset of freedom and truth in the self, and is not in -nor of- the mechanism of control.

Which is why it has been such a powerful warground, a battle ground in the music world.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PD41qBDALE&feature=related


Then we get to the genetics of the situation. The differential in the DNA.



It is not in the African bloodlines.

[Mark]

It is not in the African bloodlines.

What is not in the African bloodlines?

[ulli]

When I say life is very personal it stems from the fact that I finally found myself, I think I did, anyway.
I set out as an idealist and suffered the consequences. ;)
But now I feel free except I'm bothered at times by the aging process. ;(

As most of you know I was an active Bahai from the early eighties until 2000,
and interacted as a member of a white minority in a mostly black Baha'i community,
which also had a sprinkling of white Americans,
who I felt at the time suffered from inverted racism,
which was somewhat inappropriate in the islands but understandable
given the fact that they came from the southern states of the US.

Something that my local friends often noticed and told me
they felt more comfortable with me as they thought of me as colorblind.

Then there would also be regular visits from Iranian Baha'is.
This would often shake things up further in the community.
Some of them were truly evolved souls and deeply spiritual
but others showed the arrogance and superiority of coming from the prophet's birth country,
and this was noticed by both blacks and whites who would feel stronger unity at those times with each other.

I could write books about the things that took place, the misunderstandings that were suffered,
how many times I witnessed the race card being thrown about which left us all in confusion.

Then also at that same time my landlord's mother wanted to meet me...
she was an Auschwitz survivor, had the number tatoo on her arm.
She felt she needed to break her rule never ever to speak to a German, but changed her mind as she was getting old.
So I somehow had to play ambassador for Germany against my wishes at this meeting.
God has certainly put me in some weird circumstances in my life.

Here is what went on when Iranian Baha'i Abdul-Baha visited the US back in 1912
to give us an idea how far we have come:

"When he was in the United States, Abdu’l-Baha met with African Americans,
invited them to the homes of wealthy white society hosts,
and spoke tirelessly on the subject of racial equality as he toured the United States.
He suggested to the first educated and articulate African-American Bahai,
the lawyer Louis Gregory, that he marry Louise Matthews, a white English Bahai.

While staying in Dublin, New Hampshire, he arranged a Sunday afternoon meeting
especially for the servants of the wealthy families in the area,
and spoke to them of this forthcoming marriage and the need for “amity between blacks and whites.”
Mahmud Zarqani reports this meeting and says that,
in the context of America at the time “splitting the moon in half would be an easier accomplishment.”

In Washington he spoke on the same themes at Howard University,
which had begun as a Black University,
and when Louis Gregory was turned away from a society dinner in the city,
Abdu’l-Baha had him called back, rearranged the chairs,
and seated Gregory on his right.
Abdu’l-Baha personally addressed the fourth annual conference
of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People in 1912.

More here: http://senmcglinn.wordpress.com/2009/09/15/abdul-baha-africans/

[Mare]

Right-wing spin from start to finish.

[Cjay]

I'm with Ulli here on the weather affecting moods.

Yes, weather definitely can affect moods. I happen to like rain because I enjoy gardening and gardens need rain. However, I prefer sunny days unless it is 48 degrees C and the state is about to burst into flames. Maybe the lesson is that we need balance. When we feel things getting out of balance, we are unhappy.

Daylight duration can also affact moods. I read many years ago that murder and violent crimes increase in the far northern latitudes in mid-winter when days are very short or completely dark.



I have done it [canyoneering] when there was extended high winds with blistering sun and sand and these same people (love and light nature types) were snapping like a bunch of hungry crocodiles.

Children and overly sensitive people, block your ears. There is a saying in northern Australia. Today's tourist is tomorrow's crocodile sh%t.


Both my wife and I spent 10 years as professionals in the outdoor industry, and this isn't even a point of debate. It's more like, uh-oh, foul weather, here comes the arguments.

Spoiled brats!! City brats. I did a canyoning trip a few years ago with a guide and two sisters. The fit sister had a wonderful positive "yeehaa, I conquered the frigging mountain" attitude while the unfit sister accused the guide of being lost, then "I'm not walking up THERE, get me a frigging helicopter!!" When the helicopter wasn't forthcoming, I carried two backpacks and endured two hours of endless complaining. Ugh!! That wasn't weather related, though. It was just a canyoning story with an incredibly spoiled city brat.


Also, Lord Sid is right on with the divide and conquer meme, and I agree with others that the email is blatantly racist in intent, even if there is some truth to it. My personal opinion is that the state of a populations happiness has more to do with perceived freedom and economic opportunity than anything else.

I can see it from that angle too but I think it doesn't need to be seen as racist. In this world of political correctness, we are conditioned not to say such things out loud for fear of insulting someone. Sometimes people take offense where no offense is intended. Should we be afraid to communicate uncomfortable thoughts? Isn't the solution then to strive for clearer communication? Shouldn't we strive to be more reasonable and less reactive?

[Godiam]

sounds to me like the person who sent you that e-mail is a racist ....

I agree, Humanity will only really move forward when we see ourselves as one race "THE HUMAN RACE" and stop the religious intolerance that is so soul destoying!

WE ARE ALL ONE!! and it does not matter if your Black, Brown, Red, or white!

[ktlight]

sounds to me like the person who sent you that e-mail is a racist ....

I agree, Humanity will only really move forward when we see ourselves as one race "THE HUMAN RACE" and stop the religious intolerance that is so soul destoying!

WE ARE ALL ONE!! and it does not matter if your Black, Brown, Red, or white!

I've never heard of a religion called black, brown, red or white, but I agree with your first sentence.

[noprophet]

Then we get to the genetics of the situation. The differential in the DNA.

It is not in the African bloodlines.

It can't be denied that every great american music movement came from the African American community. Jazz, Blues, Funk, Blues into Rock (Chuck Berry) which basically we then see stagnate out and eventually evolve through the white community into the psychedelia and alternative rocks. We then get Hip-Hop, which to me is hugely important because after flash you see the rise of the 5% and the Nation of Gods and Earths (A.rm L.eg L.eg A.rm H.ead - Man is God/Satan and only 5% realize it.) This is what fueled most of your anti-illumanti* (Killer Priest), the birth of the conscious hip-hop movement (Common). All of which is now burning brighter than ever in this post-internet, digital production world. All of which you'll never see on TV or the Radio.

Not even to mention all the chatter in Funk and Hip-Hop of the claiming alien heritage and trying to get that 'mothership connection'. ;)

Guess Ace Rock spoke for the masses when he said "If the revolution ain't gonna be televised well then ****, I'll probably miss it."




*google chrome tries to tell me illumanati is spelled wrong if not capitalized ;)

[Lazlo]

Spoiled brats!! City brats. I did a canyoning trip a few years ago with a guide and two sisters. The fit sister had a wonderful positive "yeehaa, I conquered the frigging mountain" attitude while the unfit sister accused the guide of being lost, then "I'm not walking up THERE, get me a frigging helicopter!!" When the helicopter wasn't forthcoming, I carried two backpacks and endured two hours of endless complaining. Ugh!! That wasn't weather related, though. It was just a canyoning story with an incredibly spoiled city brat.

If we ever get the opportunity to share a beer I can tell stories all day about city brats and weekend warriors.



I can see it from that angle too but I think it doesn't need to be seen as racist. In this world of political correctness, we are conditioned not to say such things out loud for fear of insulting someone. Sometimes people take offense where no offense is intended. Should we be afraid to communicate uncomfortable thoughts? Isn't the solution then to strive for clearer communication? Shouldn't we strive to be more reasonable and less reactive?


Cjay, you are right on here. If everyone could speak without inhibitions, AND with respect, we'd be living in a much better world.

[Cjay]

Hi ulli,

Thanks for all of your replies here. I have read hundreds of your posts and I want to emphasise that you have earned the respect of the Avalon community (not that you should have to earn respect) but you have and I acknowledge you. While reading your post about your Bahai experiences, I remembered and want to share briefly about an experience that really touched me.

I was in war-torn Mindanao in the Philippines - a place where four different armies have been fighting a civil war for thirty years. Kidnapping, murder, corruption and suspicion are a way of life there. I have never seen more machine guns, sawn-off military rifles, shot guns, hand guns and very sharp machetes. A group of people with whom I was staying were barbecuing a pig in a vacant lot in suburbia.

I noticed a Filipino father standing back and watching as his 6 year old daughter practiced her English with "the foreigner". When his 3 year old daughter curiously came over to see and touch and smell me, the father overcame his shyness to speak English. We spoke for as long as it took for the pig to cook. He spoke in very broken English while I mispronounced a few Tagalog words I had learned in Manila. I didn't know at the time that they speak Bisaya (Visayan) in Mindanao and they still resent Marcos for forcing the minority Tagalog language on the entire nation. Despite the resentment, he acknowledged I was making an attempt to communicate in what I thought was their language.

He asked me where I'm from and I said with a smile, "I'm from Earth. You may have heard of it." He laughed, lowered his machete and asked which country I am from. "Australia", I said. He told me I am ok in his eyes and not a white supremicist racist he assumed all Australians to be. He explained he had been taught about the white Australia policy that ended shortly after my birth - and his only other knowledge of Australia was that we have koalas and kangaroos. Of course, his kids were too young to have been taught that Australians are racist - (most of us are not racist but I think their school curriculum had not changed in 30 or perhaps 50 years) - and it was because of his kids talking to me that he started talking to me.

Apart from his friendly words, what touched me was that he and his children blessed me as we said goodbye - in turn, they took my hand in their hand, bowed and touched my hand to their foreheads and said "bless".

Upon reflection, I realised what I instinctively knew all along. If you treat all people with respect at all times, there is a very good chance they will treat you with respect... and when in Mindanao, that might just keep your head attached to your shoulders.

[Cjay]

If we ever get the opportunity to share a beer I can tell stories all day about city brats and weekend warriors.

Lazlo, I would truly love to share quesadillas and a case of beers with you (sitting on a blackberry box in my black reeboks) while "lost" in one of your stunning canyons. I don't really drink but I can make an exception if there is a campfire stimulating my tribal DNA.


If everyone could speak without inhibitions, AND with respect, we'd be living in a much better world.

and to quote Kerry....


Absolutely!


P.S. Here is one of my favourite photos from my second trip to USA, in 1980. This is in your general neighborhood. (click photo to enlarge)

9888

[ulli]

Hi ulli,

Thanks for all of your replies here. I have read hundreds of your posts and I want to emphasise that you have earned the respect of the Avalon community (not that you should have to earn respect) but you have and I acknowledge you. While reading your post about your Bahai experiences, I remembered and want to share briefly about an experience that really touched me.

I was in war-torn Mindanao in the Philippines - a place where four different armies have been fighting a civil war for thirty years. Kidnapping, murder, corruption and suspicion are a way of life there. I have never seen more machine guns, sawn-off military rifles, shot guns, hand guns and very sharp machetes. A group of people with whom I was staying were barbecuing a pig in a vacant lot in suburbia.

I noticed a Filipino father standing back and watching as his 6 year old daughter practiced her English with "the foreigner". When his 3 year old daughter curiously came over to see and touch and smell me, the father overcame his shyness to speak English. We spoke for as long as it took for the pig to cook. He spoke in very broken English while I mispronounced a few Tagalog words I had learned in Manila. I didn't know at the time that they speak Bisaya (Visayan) in Mindanao and they still resent Marcos for forcing the minority Tagalog language on the entire nation. Despite the resentment, he acknowledged I was making an attempt to communicate in what I thought was their language.

He asked me where I'm from and I said with a smile, "I'm from Earth. You may have heard of it." He laughed, lowered his machete and asked which country I am from. "Australia", I said. He told me I am ok in his eyes and not a white supremicist racist he assumed all Australians to be. He explained he had been taught about the white Australia policy that ended shortly after my birth - and his only other knowledge of Australia was that we have koalas and kangaroos. Of course, his kids were too young to have been taught that Australians are racist - (most of us are not racist but I think their school curriculum had not changed in 30 or perhaps 50 years) - and it was because of his kids talking to me that he started talking to me.

Apart from his friendly words, what touched me was that he and his children blessed me as we said goodbye - in turn, they took my hand in their hand, bowed and touched my hand to their foreheads and said "bless".

Upon reflection, I realised what I instinctively knew all along. If you treat all people with respect at all times, there is a very good chance they will treat you with respect... and when in Mindanao, that might just keep your head attached to your shoulders.

I really relate to that story, Cjay.
When living with the awareness that we are all souls
then it's so much easier to root out our prejudices.

And a little respect goes a long way...when it is genuine.
What Ken Kesey Jr. called the consciousness doubler:
put yourself in the other person's place, just for a moment.

Thanks for your kind words, made me feel all fuzzy...

[Arrowwind]

Now are they talking about Arabs or Muslems? Arabs don't live in all those countries. Arabs live in Arabia.

I would suggest that many Muslems are not happy. No one is happy who is repressed no matter how much they may believe in their own suppression.. I think quite a few Muslem women are unhappy. How can you be happy when you are force to marry some you can't stand, cant go to a doctor, cant show your face in public, may get stoned for social infractions, will loose your children if your husband throws you out, and will essentially become a beggar, who are not allowed to speak their minds, who must hide all their personal beliefs, who live in fear of being beaten.

If women are not happy, no one is happy and no nation they reside in will find happiness. In westernized countries women will report a higher happiness rating.. even muslim women who live there,, is my bet... cant prove it though.

[Mare]

Your post generalises millions of people into a happy/not happy category. For example, the Arabs in England (I'm English) are happy? The English in England aren't happy. Are you referring to those Arabs of Arabian or middle-eastern descent born in this country now regarded as English or those newly arrived here? Has there been a pole conducted in this country on the happiness of Arabs? If so, post a link, if not it's a useless generalisation that serves no purpose.

The Arabs in the middle-east. What have they got to be unhappy about? The weather, or their ill-treatment for over a millenia by outside nations from the crusades to the carving up of Palestine after WW2 to the west's thirst for their oil??

Please don't insult my intelligence with cheap shots on 'political correctness' and 'uncomfortable thoughts' about what amounts to millions of people. Allow me to quote a fellow Englishman and then decide on the usefulness of generalisation. We are all brothers and sisters on this little planet and deserve so much more.

'What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how
infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and
admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like
a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals'

[TWINCANS]

We had this fwd sent to us on our email before this posting. Our take is that the problem here is not racism, it's religionism. Being not keen on any of the 3 Abrahamistic religions, the point is moot. All 3 are yuck.

[Davidallany]

What is a "Arab" and how do you know if it is happy or not?
A good question, here are few suggestions.

http://www.emptyquarter.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/awfi18.jpg
http://phillips.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/1029old_arab.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yl6ZhHPpoeM/TcCKQBdEEdI/AAAAAAAABKc/424aRAIc0c4/s1600/The-Scariest-Fictional-Terrorists-Ever-06.jpg




Mi1ZNEjEarw

[norman]

I have a relative who decided a year ago to put me on his fwd list for the trashy 'joke' emails his friends share with him. Other than a few interesting photos that turn up sometimes, it's been a flurry of bad taste and racism/religionism/stateism.

I haven't had the courage to tell him I think it's all crap.

I've used the fact that he bombards me with that stuff as an excuse to send him a bit of education. I've almost no doubt that he deletes them as soon as he sees them, just as I do with his.

[Cjay]

Your post generalises millions of people into a happy/not happy category. For example, the Arabs in England (I'm English) are happy? The English in England aren't happy. Are you referring to those Arabs of Arabian or middle-eastern descent born in this country now regarded as English or those newly arrived here? Has there been a pole conducted in this country on the happiness of Arabs? If so, post a link, if not it's a useless generalisation that serves no purpose.

The Arabs in the middle-east. What have they got to be unhappy about? The weather, or their ill-treatment for over a millenia by outside nations from the crusades to the carving up of Palestine after WW2 to the west's thirst for their oil??

Please don't insult my intelligence with cheap shots on 'political correctness' and 'uncomfortable thoughts' about what amounts to millions of people. Allow me to quote a fellow Englishman and then decide on the usefulness of generalisation. We are all brothers and sisters on this little planet and deserve so much more.

'What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how
infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and
admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like
a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals'

It seems the messenger has just been shot due to an understandably strong reaction. I agree the opening post in this thread is a generalisation but it did serve a purpose. We have had some worthwhile dialogue in the posts that followed. I recognise there are extremists on both sides of the divide. I abhor extremism of any kind. I believe the majority of Arabs and non-Arabs or Muslims and infidel are good people who are tolerant and friendly and who genuinely want peace and reconciliation. Yet the anger and resentment, the fighting and killing, the blaming and name-calling persists on both sides.

What if every occurrence of the word "Arabs" was replaced by "Asians" or "Caucasians" or "Muslims" or "Christians" or "Jews" or "Blacks" or "Whites" or "Fatties" or "ETs"? Such generalisations are inaccurate and unfair. With the exception of ETs, we are all homo sapiens; we are all Earthlings. We really need to grow up as a species. If we don't, we will surely self-distruct.

We must break the cycle of hate and violence for if we don't, it will only end when the last human on one side of the argument is dead. We ALL need to genuinely WANT peace and tirelessly work together to achieve it. At this point in our long and troubled history, we have only one Earth so we must learn to share. We must learn to get along. If we are to succeed, we must recognise what flares our tempers and learn to NOT react in anger.

What if we meet our ET creators who are able to prove to us that most of what we have fought about for millenia is a great big lie that was designed with the purpose of keeping us fighting one another? If or when that happens, a lot of people are going to have a lot of egg on their faces. Someone has to take a stand and say "no more!" My vote is to end the fighting. I choose love. We must build bridges instead of blowing them up. I know it is a difficult problem but we have to start somewhere. We will never solve anything if we deny the problem.

[Cjay]

I have a relative who decided a year ago to put me on his fwd list for the trashy 'joke' emails his friends share with him. Other than a few interesting photos that turn up sometimes, it's been a flurry of bad taste and racism/religionism/stateism.

I haven't had the courage to tell him I think it's all crap.

I've used the fact that he bombards me with that stuff as an excuse to send him a bit of education. I've almost no doubt that he deletes them as soon as he sees them, just as I do with his.

Hi Norman,

I wonder if we have the same relative. I hope you find the courage to tell him you think it's all crap. I had a long discussion with my main junk email source yesterday - my source of the email in the opening post.

You and your relative seem to be so far apart in your levels of thinking and awareness. Perhaps open communication would be more effective than throwing annoying email rocks into each other's ponds. For example, if you send him some "educational" information, ask his opinion. Talk about your differences. Have some mature discussion, especially if you disagree. I hope I am right in assuming that underneath your irritation and resentment, you both love each other.

[13th Warrior]

What is a "Arab" and how do you know if it is happy or not?
A good question, here are few suggestions.

http://www.emptyquarter.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/awfi18.jpg
http://phillips.blogs.com/photos/uncategorized/1029old_arab.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yl6ZhHPpoeM/TcCKQBdEEdI/AAAAAAAABKc/424aRAIc0c4/s1600/The-Scariest-Fictional-Terrorists-Ever-06.jpg




Mi1ZNEjEarw


Surely you jest?

[mahalall]

I'm sitting on the fence

Malaysia

[ulli]

Cjay, this is a great thread and I can see while it took guts to put that post up there it brought the whole issue of what people project at their pet peeve group to the light.

This issues spans further in both directions than most realize. At school in Germany I saw the only redhead kid bullied because he had red hair. Until I was ten I had only seen white people.
When I got to England I was being courted by several Jewish boys who wanted to shock their parents by bringing home a German girlfriend. It was all done in a friendly spirit, mind you.
The last job I worked at I was always greeted with Achtung! stillgestanden!! here comes Eva Braun, Heil Hitler!!!!
It became quite tedious.

Then I was on a heavily moderated forum where you could get expelled just for repeatedly saying ET, instead of Star Visitor. The motive is to protect people's feelings, which is good, and that includes the Star Visitors...not all of them are Volcans.

[GCS1103]

Your post generalises millions of people into a happy/not happy category. For example, the Arabs in England (I'm English) are happy? The English in England aren't happy. Are you referring to those Arabs of Arabian or middle-eastern descent born in this country now regarded as English or those newly arrived here? Has there been a pole conducted in this country on the happiness of Arabs? If so, post a link, if not it's a useless generalisation that serves no purpose.

The Arabs in the middle-east. What have they got to be unhappy about? The weather, or their ill-treatment for over a millenia by outside nations from the crusades to the carving up of Palestine after WW2 to the west's thirst for their oil??

Please don't insult my intelligence with cheap shots on 'political correctness' and 'uncomfortable thoughts' about what amounts to millions of people. Allow me to quote a fellow Englishman and then decide on the usefulness of generalisation. We are all brothers and sisters on this little planet and deserve so much more.

'What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how
infinite in faculties, in form and moving how express and
admirable, in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like
a god! the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals'

It seems the messenger has just been shot due to an understandably strong reaction. I agree the opening post in this thread is a generalisation but it did serve a purpose. We have had some worthwhile dialogue in the posts that followed. I recognise there are extremists on both sides of the divide. I abhor extremism of any kind. I believe the majority of Arabs and non-Arabs or Muslims and infidel are good people who are tolerant and friendly and who genuinely want peace and reconciliation. Yet the anger and resentment, the fighting and killing, the blaming and name-calling persists on both sides.

What if every occurrence of the word "Arabs" was replaced by "Asians" or "Caucasians" or "Muslims" or "Christians" or "Jews" or "Blacks" or "Whites" or "Fatties" or "ETs"? Such generalisations are inaccurate and unfair. With the exception of ETs, we are all homo sapiens; we are all Earthlings. We really need to grow up as a species. If we don't, we will surely self-distruct.

We must break the cycle of hate and violence for if we don't, it will only end when the last human on one side of the argument is dead. We ALL need to genuinely WANT peace and tirelessly work together to achieve it. At this point in our long and troubled history, we have only one Earth so we must learn to share. We must learn to get along. If we are to succeed, we must recognise what flares our tempers and learn to NOT react in anger.

What if we meet our ET creators who are able to prove to us that most of what we have fought about for millenia is a great big lie that was designed with the purpose of keeping us fighting one another? If or when that happens, a lot of people are going to have a lot of egg on their faces. Someone has to take a stand and say "no more!" My vote is to end the fighting. I choose love. We must build bridges instead of blowing them up. I know it is a difficult problem but we have to start somewhere. We will never solve anything if we deny the problem.

Perfectly stated, Cjay. I cannot stand intolerance against any group. Imagine how I feel when I come onto the forum and read horrific posts against my ethnic background on a regular basis. This forum could easily turn into a hate-fest if no one stood up and said "enough". I don't think Bill Ryan put this place together so that we would spend our time here pointing fingers at one another.

So let me be the first to extend the olive branch to all the members here, no matter what their background, color, religion, ethnicity, etc. We get but a short time here on earth and we waste too much of that time hating. Think of how much more we could accomplish if we tossed out our prejudices. If we looked at each other and saw nothing more than another human being, just like us, wouldn't life be a lot more enjoyable?

[ulli]

[QUOTE]What is a "Arab" and how do you know if it is happy or not?
A good question, here are few suggestions.


Surely you jest?

I think David is dead serious here. I think he held back, if any.
What about that Borat movie? I laughed, but at the same time I felt bad as
I could see the cultural victimization process at work.

Mexicans have their share of suffering, too.

Until Schindler's list Germans didn't get a single break.

What is Hollywood gonna do when they run out of stereotypes for baddies?

[Cjay]

Perfectly stated, Cjay. I cannot stand intolerance against any group. Imagine how I feel when I come onto the forum and read horrific posts against my ethnic background on a regular basis. This forum could easily turn into a hate-fest if no one stood up and said "enough". I don't think Bill Ryan put this place together so that we would spend our time here pointing fingers at one another.

So let me be the first to extend the olive branch to all the members here, no matter what their background, color, religion, ethnicity, etc. We get but a short time here on earth and we waste too much of that time hating. Think of how much more we could accomplish if we tossed out our prejudices. If we looked at each other and saw nothing more than another human being, just like us, wouldn't life be a lot more enjoyable?

Abso-bloody-lutely! We are all just a heartbeat away from death. I think we should make the most of our short time here.

Thanks GCS.

[Mad Hatter]

Sorry but I don't do politically correct thus am always amused by the mental masturbation required to argue about race when there is no scientific basis for such and find it almost as stupid as the Anti-semetic argument put without identifying which of the thirteen tribes that used the semetic language is being referred to.

What am I - Like you a human being
Where do I live - Like you in my skin
Where am I from - Like you Planet Earth

end of story!!

Divide and conquer indeed...

[Lord Sidious]

Perfectly stated, Cjay. I cannot stand intolerance against any group. Imagine how I feel when I come onto the forum and read horrific posts against my ethnic background on a regular basis. This forum could easily turn into a hate-fest if no one stood up and said "enough". I don't think Bill Ryan put this place together so that we would spend our time here pointing fingers at one another.

So let me be the first to extend the olive branch to all the members here, no matter what their background, color, religion, ethnicity, etc. We get but a short time here on earth and we waste too much of that time hating. Think of how much more we could accomplish if we tossed out our prejudices. If we looked at each other and saw nothing more than another human being, just like us, wouldn't life be a lot more enjoyable?

Well, I don't need to tell you, but I will anyways, you know I am with you Goldie.
I just see the divide and conquer stuff and think that somewhere, the elite nuggets are laughing at us for sucking it up.
It is very easy to hate ''the jews'' as the elites want everyone to feel that.
They also condition ''the jews'' to hate the goyim, thereby not just creating the problem, but giving it perpetual motion.
But not for much longer, people are waking up to a big fact, we are not just all people, we are all being crunched by the same boot.

[ktlight]

Perfectly stated, Cjay. I cannot stand intolerance against any group. Imagine how I feel when I come onto the forum and read horrific posts against my ethnic background on a regular basis. This forum could easily turn into a hate-fest if no one stood up and said "enough". I don't think Bill Ryan put this place together so that we would spend our time here pointing fingers at one another.

So let me be the first to extend the olive branch to all the members here, no matter what their background, color, religion, ethnicity, etc. We get but a short time here on earth and we waste too much of that time hating. Think of how much more we could accomplish if we tossed out our prejudices. If we looked at each other and saw nothing more than another human being, just like us, wouldn't life be a lot more enjoyable?

Well, I don't need to tell you, but I will anyways, you know I am with you Goldie.
I just see the divide and conquer stuff and think that somewhere, the elite nuggets are laughing at us for sucking it up.
It is very easy to hate ''the jews'' as the elites want everyone to feel that.
They also condition ''the jews'' to hate the goyim, thereby not just creating the problem, but giving it perpetual motion.
But not for much longer, people are waking up to a big fact, we are not just all people, we are all being crunched by the same boot.

What about the Irish, the Arabs, the Japanese, the Chinese, and so on, and so on and, sooner or later, the Off World People.

[Lord Sidious]

Perfectly stated, Cjay. I cannot stand intolerance against any group. Imagine how I feel when I come onto the forum and read horrific posts against my ethnic background on a regular basis. This forum could easily turn into a hate-fest if no one stood up and said "enough". I don't think Bill Ryan put this place together so that we would spend our time here pointing fingers at one another.

So let me be the first to extend the olive branch to all the members here, no matter what their background, color, religion, ethnicity, etc. We get but a short time here on earth and we waste too much of that time hating. Think of how much more we could accomplish if we tossed out our prejudices. If we looked at each other and saw nothing more than another human being, just like us, wouldn't life be a lot more enjoyable?

Well, I don't need to tell you, but I will anyways, you know I am with you Goldie.
I just see the divide and conquer stuff and think that somewhere, the elite nuggets are laughing at us for sucking it up.
It is very easy to hate ''the jews'' as the elites want everyone to feel that.
They also condition ''the jews'' to hate the goyim, thereby not just creating the problem, but giving it perpetual motion.
But not for much longer, people are waking up to a big fact, we are not just all people, we are all being crunched by the same boot.

What about the Irish, the Arabs, the Japanese, the Chinese, and so on, and so on and, sooner or later, the Off World People.

All them too, but ''the jews'' are a special case and have been used as ''the chosen race'' for thousands of years.
We are not that far from being all people now.
We are getting there, I can feel it.
I mean that literally, not as a metaphor.

[Davidallany]

I think David is dead serious here. I think he held back, if any.
What about that Borat movie? I laughed
Lol ulli, it was a bit funny. Five years ago it was not, some people in Canada especially in the west part were still thinking that certain nationalities were mindless terrorists due to their DNA, it was very difficult to walk in this thick atmosphere. Now the atmosphere is not as thick.

[Marsila]

I was going to stay away from this thread and other such threads, as i'm very weary of the vibes some people on it are sending. but it did make me so happy i'm from a different place on spaceship Earth, where we do look at things differently for many reasons i guess.

but i have to say atm i am working between a certain wealthy middle eastern city and an Asian one's and there are a lot of Westerners here who are in these two cities because it make$ them much happier than when it at home.

Some of the Arabs to, have western citizenship and when i ask them what they are doing here if they could be there....say it is because they are treated better in their own countries as foreigners.

however i do agree the state of the women needs to change, and i don't know how when big mouthed politicians refuse to help some due to alliances (Saudi women and driving, and asking H.Clinton for help but not getting it!)

but racism against anyone isn't cool, neither is finding excuses for it! and as the new miss universe said today "any racist needs to seek help. It's not normal in the 21st century to think in that way." :P

how come no music videos preaching tolerance on this thread yet?

[Lord Sidious]

I was going to stay away from this thread and other such threads, as i'm very weary of the vibes some people on it are sending. but it did make me so happy i'm from a different place on spaceship Earth, where we do look at things differently for many reasons i guess.

but i have to say atm i am working between a certain wealthy middle eastern city and an Asian one's and there are a lot of Westerners here who are in these two cities because it make$ them much happier than when it at home.

Some of the Arabs to, have western citizenship and when i ask them what they are doing here if they could be there....say it is because they are treated better in their own countries as foreigners.

however i do agree the state of the women needs to change, and i don't know how when big mouthed politicians refuse to help some due to alliances (Saudi women and driving, and asking H.Clinton for help but not getting it!)

but racism against anyone isn't cool, neither is finding excuses for it! and as the new miss universe said today "any racist needs to seek help. It's not normal in the 21st century to think in that way." :P

how come no music videos preaching tolerance on this thread yet?

Here is the goddess to sing of love, not hate.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UP1mXrr38Oc