Goodbye Finals, Hello London!

I am finally and thankfully done with a brutal week dubbed finals week by people who knew that this is indeed “The Final Week” in many people’s lives. Even though I am sleep deprived and slightly starting to resemble the elephant man, I have survived.

In a week, I will be in London for a two week course with the University. I am beyond ecstatic about that since I have not been to London since 1998. I am a tad bit sad though that I will spend New Years–which happens to be my favorite time of year– all alone. Well not all alone, I will be with a group of people from the college of business, but their idea of fun is to drink themselves into oblivion, which is definitely not how I like to spend my time.

Anyhoo, there is a lot I am planning to do and see in London, but I would still like to hear your recommendations! So for those of you familiar with the city, let me know all about your favorite hotspots.

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Creationism vs. Evolution

Do you believe in one or the other exclusively, or do you believe that they are both compatible?

When asked about the subject President George W. Bush said: “I think you can have both. I think evolution can — you’re getting me way out of my lane here. I’m just a simple president. But it’s, I think that God created the earth, created the world; I think the creation of the world is so mysterious it requires something as large as an almighty and I don’t think it’s incompatible with the scientific proof that there is evolution.”

What do you think? And why do you think it?

Humus Cups and Comfort Zones

Lately, I have been forced to tune out the world’s news and current affairs because I am inundated by my own matters that I must tend to. There is only one week left till finals start, and all my projects/presentations are due this week. Being the notorious procrastinator that I am, I always wait till the 11^th hour to do anything—this blog post was supposed to be written days ago. I have also been extremely busy with my part-time job and two major end-of-semester events for some of the student organizations I am a member of.

Now that you are up to speed with what’s been preoccupying me, I would like to apologize for the half-assed posts on this blog as of late, but I do have good news and bad news. The good news is: you should expect many more of these half-assed posts until I am finished with finals. That was also the bad news. While I use my intellect for last minute cramming and sucking up to professors, I think you should take time to appreciate your mind while laughing at intellectually inferior people on facebook who engage in meaningful conversations such as this one, and thank God that you are not a nincompoop—no really, that’s a word!

I have many plans for this blog; the best is yet to come. So fear not blog readers, this well has not dried up yet. This blogging well is Zamzam-esque. Speaking of Zamzam, Eid Mubarak to all!

Cross Your Fingers!

“The Judges will rule shortly on the prosecution request for an arrest warrant”

Luis Moreno Ocampo, Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC)

 

Gulp! Read the accompanying article by the Sudan Tribune here.

 

 

Pro-War Capitalism in Sudan

A few days ago, my co-worker was “reminiscing” about the days post 9/11 when America bonded like no other time in history, when patriotism intensified, and the call to duty was amplified. He recalled when stores nationwide ran out of flags, patriotic pins, and supportive bumper stickers. Our conversation sparked my interest in how capitalism thrived after the 2001 attacks in America. After some research on the subject matter, I ran across a book titled: “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism,” The author, Naomi Klein examined–among several fascinating capitalistic gains– the responsiveness of the stock market, the Bush administration’s exploitation of 9/11, and the billion dollar contracts that GE won to produce bomb detection devices. I got completely absorbed in the book and just finished reading it.

However, I was left with infinite questions when I started applying Klein’s examples to a Sudanese context. Other than the hundreds of the overpaid “extra” UN workers, which businesses are thriving due to “disaster capitalism?” In the US for example, GE’s advantage is twofold: it is involved in the weapons industry, while simultaneously gaining from the “atmosphere of fear and crisis” it spreads through media outlets—GE owns NBC. Klein described disaster capitalism perfectly when she said: “its war against evil everywhere with no end. That’s a war that can’t be won, and you couldn’t ask for a more profitable business plan. The only thing that threatens it is peace.” I can’t help but wonder, what is Sudan’s GE?