So what is going to happen in the Middle East?

So what are the most powerful countries in the world going to do? Are they going to attack Syria? Are they going to warn it again and stay still? Nobody can say for sure. It seems to me that they will be attack on the country, probably on very specific targets, but it is not clear who is going to conduct them. My best guess is the United States and probably with the UN behind them. To be perfectly honest I would like to be on Obama's shoes at this moment and take a decision in one way or the other.
I am not in favor of Bachar Al Assad, obviously. On the contrary I am against him and his regime.But what can the international community do? Can we let him kill his people just because they want to oust him and his regime? No. But he doesn't want to stop and talk with his people whom he calls "terrorists". Finally what we called the "Arab Spring" has been a total failure in all the countries. Yes dictators have been overthrown and I don't think that they are a lot of people who are missing them. But if we look at the result, it has been a disaster.And what makes the result worse is that the people elected after the fall of the dictators are not better. At least once they get to power and start putting their politics into action. What surprises me, and sadly of course, is that instead of going forward and creating great institutions and governments, Arab countries are building worst regimes than those they had. And for the moment there is not a lot of democracy emerging.
One can only hope that things would go better but it is only a dream. And once again the famous Martin Luther King's speech, "I have a dream", a speech that he said 50 years ago, is still "a dream" in Arab countries. So maybe the question is: when will Arab countries have a man like Martin Luther King or Gandhi or even Nelson Mandela. A great man or woman, of course, who will only fight for the freedom in Arab countries and the rise of democracy. A real democracy like ancient Arabs knew very well.
So let me finish by saying "I have a dream. I have a dream where Arabs from all countries will struggle for only one reason: freedom and democracy. For all." But that is only a dream.

State of Mind

What is happening in the Middle East right now? Will we go to war? What is Syria doing to its citizens? It is too easy just to say that they are terrorists and that the government has to get rid of them. What are the western countries going to do? A war is unlikely and it could be very tricky. One goes to war but cannot get out of it.
This year has been a very bad year for me and I do hope that things will bet better from now on. I still want to move out from here and two countries attract me: England and the United States. England is easier because I am a European and therefore I can live and work there without any problem. The USA is more problematic as I don't have the greencard nor the Passport. But it is still the place I would like to go and live in.
But bottom line I need to stop worrying and getting tense for no reason. In fact things are getting better, work wise. I am going to give regular lessons  at an engineer school and I have already 30 hours of English I am going to give plus the Arabic lessons that start this coming Friday. So we'll have more money shortly and then we'll be able to have our own apartment.

At the same time, I need to sort out my health problems. Mainly that strange feeling I have during the day. As if I was going to faint. I think it is just something in my head and that needs to be sorted out. Next week I have the first test done, the electroencephalogram which should give the doctor information about what is happening in my head. Then I need to do the magnetic resonance imaging.
I do think that I have to be as relaxed as possible in order to get better. Otherwise, this starts getting in my head and it has to stop.

Arab Spring: Where are we Two Years after it Started?

Almost two years that the Arab Spring started, it is interesting to do an overview of what it brought to the region and to the world. First some Arab countries got rid of their presidents-heads of state who were ruling with an iron fist and no democracy for the people. Obviously everyone will name Tunisia, Egypt and Lybia. Those three countries are now free to elect new presidents and members of their parliaments and governments. It is, whatever some people might think, a great step ahead as it showed that Arabs were and are searching for democracies to live in. The former stance that some western countries were saying about the lack of maturity of Arab people, although completely false, is no more valid. Goverments interests were above what the Arab people were really looking forward to: living in peace and in a "normal" regime that would take their interests, their needs and their opinions in account.
However, a lot of other Arab countries are still living in tough dictatorships or at least regimes that don't give the people a lot of freedom to express themselves. Corruption and favoritism are still very much in use in those countries that d oone speaks about Algeria, Bahrein, Mauritania and to a lesser extent, Morocco.
Syria's situation is the most difficult one in the Middle East with, for the moment, no hope for any peaceful solution.
So what could the other Arab people do in order to stop the bloodshed in Syria and try to help the other countries to change their regimes, peacefully if possible?
First they have to understand that not one single country, western mainly, will help them. They have to start their revolution themselves.
Second they must unite in their country to show only one opposition to the regimes.
But no solution will be found if the people don't start speaking loud against their regimes and showing that they only want fairness, equality and responsibility from their leaders.
Is it a dream? Probably as the worst political dictators have been overthrown. But one thing remains: corruption. It seems that it still is the cancer that eats a lot of Arab countries and their leaders and regimes. So maybe the best solution would be to fight against corruption first before looking for democratic regimes. The only danger would be that other Arab people would stop fighting for their rights thinking that their leaders will never give up power. And they should think of the famous song by the late Freddy Mercury and the Queen: "The Show Must Go On".

US Presidential Elections

Obama has been re-elected for a second term president of the USA. Well, after all it is well deserved. Obama has been a good president and he will probably a good one after his last term. He did things and tried hard to do others. No president can fulfill all his or her promises. What a lot of people forget is that in a democracy a president is not the only one who makes laws. He has to work with his own party and also with a chamber whatever we call it. In the US, a president has to work with the Congress, the House and the Senate. The Congress is not always on the same political side than the president, and that is fortunate. Otherwise we are in a dictatorship. And a president cannot just ignore the Congress and all the elected people who might be against his proposals. Once again, we are in a democracy and not in a dictatorship. And the other good thing of this election is that having a president who is black is not an accident but it is now almost normal. Now the US must, in the future of course, have a woman president, a Latino, Asian, Arab American president and not to forget a Native president. But it is already a very good sign to have an African American president.
I am happy for the USA.

New French Government

Now that France has a new government after the election of the new president, the country will go back to normal. And normality is exactly what this new president is showing. François Hollande is just the right president that France needed. A normal guy, polite, smart and who has good ideas to implement in order to try to get the country out of the crisis it is in. One can already feels that the atmosphere in the country is completely different than a few weeks before. Fortunately French people did not make the mistake Americans made by voting twice for G. W. Bush. The problems faced by the country and by Europe are huge but only someone who thinks twice and who wishes to do well for the majority can succeed. Someone who does not think of himself but thinks of the people and to improve their life. Obviously it does not mean that he'll fix the problems quickly but everybody knows that he'll do his best. And that is what is important.
So good luck to you, Hollande.

A new era in France

A new era is starting in France since François Hollande has been elected president. People seem more relaxed and less stressed by the political climate. It is obvious that Hollande will have a lot of problem to take care of and it is also sure that he won't be able to satisfy everybody. But first his party, the Socialist Party, has general elections next month that will give a new majority to the House of Parliament. At least that is what he hopes. If he gets the majority, then he'll be able to govern easily. If not he'll have to form alliances with other parties in order to govern. The worst scenario for him is that the current ruling party wins the elections and gets the majority. In this case, he'll have to appoint a prime minister who belongs to it. The best scenario is that his party wins the majority. Then he'll be able to rule the country as he wants but above all to keep the promises he made during the campaign. But in any case, we got rid of the current president and it is a great thing for France. Fortunately, French voters didn't make the mistakes American made when they voted Bush twice.

French Elections 2012

WOW. Congratulations to François Hollande, the new president. We got rid of sarkozy and his racist and incompetent government. We did not do like the Americans who voted twice for Bush. Our Bush has been ousted by French people. At the same time, he deserved it. An arrogant little man who thinks highly of himself and who despises everyone should not be president of a country. And his last days of campaign showed that he only wanted one thing: to keep his job. Thanks God we, French voters, decided that enough was enough. And we voted for his challenger, François Hollande, the socialist politician, to head the country. It was beautiful to see the diversity of people who went to Bastille Square in Paris where a huge gathering had been planned for Hollande, in case he wins. And he won. Hundred of thousands of people, all races, all skin colors, all ages and of course as many women and girls as men and young boys came to the party. And people were happy which is the most important thing. The good thing with Hollande is that he is a modest person, not arrogant and rather intelligent. Now the real job starts but at least French can come back to normality in relation to the way that the country will be run.
Congratulations François Hollande.