Congratulations and Condolences

Hello everyone. anglo germanic american, hereafter referred to as AGA is correct. My economics professor is trying to kill me with his equations and graphs. Why is this such a hard class if economists only have to be right 30% of the time to be considered excellent in their fields? Personally, I have a sneaking suspicion that AGA IS my economics professor in disguise. LOL...He knows what I mean.

I have been running around with a blue finger and following everything about the elections with every spare moment. I was holding my breath a lot hoping that they would be fair and not just be the slate that the US wanted. I am both happy and a bit unnerved that my hopes came true. I hope that Al Sistani's endorsed slate has taken a good look at Iran and understands what has happened to one of the most beautiful and cultured places in the region over the past 25 years. After all, Khomeini did not come back to Iran announcing he was going to rule Iran, he said he wanted to go to Qom to pray and study. Everyone was very giddy with the revolution, the whole country was buzzing with it....But the books were soon censored and the "Daughters of the Revolution" soon discovered that hair...Yes HAIR, is the root cause of all the evil in the world. Thus the daughters of the revolution lost their freedoms one by one, to the "people's revolution" that went awry, just like they always do. Iran is falling apart now, and my heart goes out to the good people there. I only wish there will come a day when I can dip my finger in blue ink for them too...But I hope that does not have to come through more bloodshed, but through internal reforms. I can always dream right...Hey, China is not doing too bad and who would have thought that would happen.

I don't know if anyone saw the State of the Union address in the US? Bush introduced and Iraqi women with a very beautiful blue finger, and a mother of a marine that died in Iraq. They hugged and I broke down in tears. I think the whole world did, or at least, every person with a heart did. It was appropriate I think that the metal necklace that soldiers where around their necks to identify them ("dog tags" but that doesn't translate well huh?), got caught up in the Iraqi woman's clothing. Yes, the soldiers, the families, and the survivors of all of this are having a tough time separating because of unforeseen happenings. So many lives lost or given, and in remembrance of them we must all work to make sure that there are blue fingers for all of Iraqi voters on a fairly frequent basis. Someone said once, after the constitution of the US was written, or something like that, after walking out of the place it was written and said "Congratulations, it's a Democracy, if you can keep it". Let's all hope that it CAN be kept for the sake of all our children and their children's children.

Yesterday I was quite sad, and thus the condolences. Oh people of Lebanon, my heart aches for your loss. Rafik Hariri had his faults, but he was a good man for what he did in Beirut. How could anyone have rebuilt Beirut without his help? He didn't do it for money either, because he had a lot of that already. He did it because he loved his country and he did not deserve to be blown up by some obscure militant group. Oh Lebanon...I am so sorry this happened. I hope that in his honor, Sami will let us read his essay on the rebuilding of Lebanon after the civil war.

I wanted everyone to know that I am doing a project for the term at school on Kurdish international business and development. My professor says I must be more specific. I have to focus on infrastructure, currency rates, cultural determinants of prosperity, economic freedoms, micro-economic projects, community based business development and the list goes on...How to decide? It does not help that Kurds want a divorce from Iraq, yet the Kurdish Alliance won enough seats in the new government that it looks like Talibani will be president of "IRAQ" and meanwhile 98.8% of Kurds vote to leave Iraq. It's funny, but from my perspective it's like this...According to Islam you can divorce by saying it three times, but the man keeps the children, so this is not easy for a woman to do right? In Judaism, the wife keeps the kids but the man must agree to the divorce and issue the woman a "get" which allows her to be officially divorced. Sometimes the man does not want to give this "get" and the poor woman can not move on with her life and remarry. Not that divorce is a good thing, quite the contrary, but in the case of Kurdistan and Iraq, I would say that the Kurds have said many more times that three that they want a divorce, but the Iraqis are acting like the man who will not issue his wife a "get". Think of the irony in that? I wonder what will happen now? I suppose this federal Kurdistan will be given a try.

If anyone has any ideas on a good project for my international business class let me know. The problem is there are no statistics available for the Kurdish Autonomous region that I can find. Do you think Talabani or Barzani will take my phone calls? LOL. I think they are the only ones that know what is really going on with hard data to back it up, yet they are not telling anyone. Even getting census data is practically impossible these days. It was not always like that, so the family rumor has it.

I also want to thank Swara and others for welcoming me and letting me know that the Synagogue is still there? I did not know that. In fact, I did not know that there was anyone to care for the synagogue because everyone left. I am glad if this is not the case. I even heard that there is a minister in Kurdistan that is Jewish and I wonder if he speaks the neo-Aramaic as well? You can not stop caring about a place when your people spent 2,600 years living there. In Hawler there was a great Jewish school and many merchants that made carpets and jewelry there, and in D'hok and the Barzan Valley area. If I can get a friend's scanner to work I will upload some pictures of the handicrafts that the Jewish Kurds used to make back before 1950, some of the traditions still remain.

Someday...someday perhaps we can all come together, and it won't matter what city is best, because let's face it, they are ALL THE BEST to those born there, and it won't matter what the family name is, nor indeed what religion...I keep saying this because it's so true, Kurdistan has more religions than anyplace in the area! Perhaps one day soon, when I get out of this crazy school program and finally pass through the hurdles of my economics professors I can actually come and help. Perhaps if I can figure out a way to teach across the internet I can even start sooner.

Maybe the books on Total Quality Management, and the ideas that made Japan succeed after the war in the world war should be translated into Kurdish, and they could be downloaded from the internet too so that those who do not read too well can still learn to run a small business. There are a couple of small books that would serve business people in the new Kurdistan well (take a look at . It's hard to change a culture, but competition forces people out of the old ways. When you provide a superior product or service for a lower cost, but still enough to make a profit, it forces those who have been doing everything the old way to change too.

Anyway, check outaudible.com because they have a lot of books you can download directly to computer and listen to for a pretty small fee. Let me know if you guys can think of anything I can do over here. I tried for the Starbucks, but they wrote me back and said no. I personally think that a Kurdistan Caffe Latte would be a better thing. I would like it very much if individual Kurdish businesses became even better than anything around, and Turkey was calling Kurdistan and asking for a Kurdistani Coffee house franchise instead of having to import other people's stuff. It's just better to make your own. Good chocolate and good coffee beans can be ordered on the internet or made there. Perhaps you will all come to find that your ideas and tastes are much better than anything the west or surrounding countries could offer us....Just for Dilnareen...I'm sure that somewhere in hiding is a great cinnabon recipe just waiting for a Kurdish bakery to fill the air with that alluring scent that somehow makes money come out of your pocket in exchange for the most delicious piece of cinnamon, muffin and icing ever imaginable. I can't wait to buy Kurdish products with the proud flag on the packaging that shows it to be a quality product, available no where else, and made with the heart and soul of a new, freedom seeking people, with bright futures shining in their eyes and my eyes will also shine with tears of joy and pride.