Camaraderie of “Red Solo Cups” in the world of contractors!

* 4 min read

* Disclaimer: this blog does not intend to insult anyone or any nationality. It is mainly a funny perspective that was captured in drunken moments.

11:17pm: having drinks with coworkers and friends. I “like” it as much as a Facebook addiction!

Location: Undisclosed

I am having fun, drinking with a few friends. Suddenly, it dawns on me – the irony of life. Things have changed. The pendulum swung. I see Indians coming to work in Iraq. Iraq is a disrupted country going through post-war and post-election turmoil. Yet, Iraqi families have started to have maids in their houses. Iraqi citizens no longer desire, and are rejecting immigration to America – imagine offering a Mexican, who is trying to cross the border, a Green Card and his saying “No” to it. American and British citizens are becoming the Mexicans of Dubai working under Emirate Sheiks.

In the land of Extremistan, dominated by entertainment and sports figures who are enjoying lives above and beyond all others, and average people like myself are falling under the Bell Curve Distribution – NOT EVEN!

Actually day by day, I am being pushed away from a normal distribution, beyond the lower bound to a long tail, which has pushed me to exile myself to a 5-Star prison for the sake of money.

Red Solo CupsIt is my choice to live in it. However, my life turned to be six months of pause, then one month of play. I do have some benefits, such as I can leave my cell any time I like and I have a “landline” phone in my cell. I even have a Flat TV! Food is offered during certain hours, but I am free to go any time during the hours of operation. I can go to the gym or swimming pool whenever I desire. However, my room has no windows. Actually there are no windows in the entire building. Hence, there is no difference between 9:00am or 9:00pm in my cell. I don’t have a bathroom inside. My room’s ceiling has so many pipes and conduits running through it from the second floor. (Some of my coworkers are reminded of a darker time, during the Saddam Hussein Regime, being suspended from pipes in the ceiling. The reader can imagine the rest.)

Oh! Wait…I forgot to mention, compliments are accepted in a form of “Humm…you look sooo…but I’d like to keep my job!”

I do have the limited freedom to visit different international prisons such as the Italian, the Dutch, and the U.K. (I love the Italian).

I work in this prison too. Basically, I speak to make money. (Asking some people for their mothers’ name and phone number is one of the highlights of my work.) There are many cubical inmates here too. The land of freedom became the “land of unemployment”.

What f’d me were the corporate monsters. The continuously decaying jobs in corporations, the rising unemployment, the outsourcing of jobs, and the skyrocketing costs of living in America. An invisible enemy has boxed me in the “contracting world” at the corner of “too scared” and “too stressed” to support my struggling family back in America. This enemy has made my cubical inmates and me “prisoners of economy”. I have yet to see a Hollywood movie without one of these corporate monsters running a scheme to kill people.

Some have named contractors as the “cancer of the establishment”, chipping away jobs from secure government positions. Cutting “job corners” by employers has had a deep impact on people’s lives. Some of my coworkers are ready to stay in their jobs for the sake of medical insurance. They are margining the job competition. And those who are of old age are working here for extra income, running away from growing old alone.

Society is crushing us and we are considered to be…..(input your own take on contractors here), taking menial, dead-end jobs, living life in the margins of society. We are so lost in the fog of uncertainty. We don’t even have a way to calculate our future. Newton created Calculus to calculate the future position of moving objects. We have no such calculation for our futures.

From drinking ‘til late at night, consciousness abandoned me when I fell asleep and returned to me the next morning. I opened my eyes to find out that my Nokia phone was lying on the floor in parts. Hmmm…How did that happen?

In a school of bad times, a rare moment in economic history, and Facebook addictions, is a friend truly a friend these days? Is a Facebook friend a real friend? Or will a LinkedIn connection really help us find our next job? Little by little we keep losing…We’ve lost some of our friends…

In the middle of all this fog of life, saying “cheers” with a Red Solo cups is the most important thing. It builds a strong camaraderie above any policy and ethical code. The person next to you now could be your next manager or program manager that will hire you for your next job!

 

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P.S.: Currently, reading The Rational Optimist by Matt Ridley

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Life's Ironies, Random Thoughts

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June 3, 2014

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Raped by your own brain…Mental training from Stoic Philosophy

* 4 min read

You see an email from your manager with something like, “we need to talk tomorrow!” Your girlfriend pulls the same line, “we need to talk!” You missed a promotion. Or about to lose your job and waiting for the official email to inform you. There are endless examples that trigger your brain to race. And, some negative words have powerful effects on your emotions. They trigger negative responses in your body immediately. These words could be said verbally, as in a phone call or written on email, a text message, or on a Facebook post. Your brain will not stop thinking. I know this feeling.

Situations like these are common in everyday life. Our mind attaches to them. We cannot stop thinking about them. Thinking puts our mind on a never-ending mental treadmill.  It raises our blood pressure. It increases our stress level. Eventually, it gets us frustrated and upset. Worst of all, we are forming a habit, an automatic response, and it will be so difficult to break this habit.

The mind is a superb instrument. It programs itself constantly and continuously. It has the capability of destroying us. It takes us over. It uses us. In the words of Erik Tolle: “It’s almost as if you are possessed without knowing it.”

External events, words, or circumstances affect our brain. They assault our brain. We will never be able to stop external attacks on our brain. But, minimizing the impact of external attacks on our brain is main reason of this blog.

I learned two ancient techniques. One technique is from Epictetus – a slave, and the other from Marcus Aurelius – a Roman Emperor. These two techniques have stood the test of time, and they work for me, and help me get stronger. I am exercising their techniques in everyday situations and events. When I say, “I exercise them”, I do mean it like lifting weight. I mean it like I am training my body at the gym. I take advantage of every mental discomfort: negative words spoken to me, undesirable events, or adverse circumstances, and I use them to train my brain to resist negatively thinking and reacting to it.

First technique is from Epictetus (AD 55 – 135). He is a Stoic philosopher, born in Greece, and lived in Rome. Epictetus used a negative example to generate a negative imagination. Here is what he said:

Epictetus

“Don’t surrender your mind. If someone were to casually give your body away to any old passerby, you would naturally be furious. Why then do you feel no shame in giving your precious mind over any person who might wish to influence you?”

Read it few times, and think about it. It poses a question: Will you surrender your body for someone to abuse it? No, allow me to take it further, will you surrender your body to be raped?

NO! Absolutely not!

Then, why do you let people rape your brain with their words, events, emails, text, Facebook messages…

Don’t!

If any words tend to upset you, try not to get upset. Remember Epictetus in this example, you are giving your brain away to be raped. Would you want that? I will not allow anyone to rape my brain. I know it is difficult. I’ve failed many times, but I am triumphing more often now.

The second technique is from Marcus Aurelius (AD 121 – 180). He was a Roman Emperor, and a practitioner of Stoic philosophy.  He said:

Marcus Aurelius

“Choose not to be harmed – you won’t be harmed.

Don’t feel harmed – and you haven’t been.”

It is my choice to allow an email, word, or circumstance to affect me or not.

Some emails…words…circumstances do!

But I put forth my greatest effort to press on the “mental brakes” of my mind and remember two things: Will I allow this email to rape my brain? I will exercise my will power to choose not to be hurt.

As I build my physical strength with every repetition using weight lifting, I am building my mental strength with every situation. I will not allow anyone to rape my brain with words. I will choose to not be harmed by words!

Remember, the brain rewires itself and breaks the old habits, and emotions. We can train our brain to rewire itself to a new reaction – a reaction that gives us more tranquility.

Finally, please don’t simply use these quotes in your dialogue, or post them on Facebook. It is not about a “game”, making others read your posts on social media. It is about memorizing them and implementing them in our lives. It is about remembering them when we encounter a situation that triggers our brain to go into hypersensitivity drive!

 

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May 27, 2014

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I am testing God…I cracked the Jewish code…Philanthropic act!

* 3 min read

I am at the highest level of determination to make the best version of myself: spiritually, mentally, emotionally, and physically. I came this far; and I am not stopping now – in America, I can do it. This blog is about my spiritual development. I don’t want to live the rest of my fourth and into my fifth decade in a meaningless fragmented life without any blessing. Giving is where blessings start. Giving is about stealing Karma from Karma. It has a double reward. I would like to share with you my new “philanthropic theory” that God has promised to bless my life, and that of every person who gives.

I believe the answer is in the Jewish book – the Torah. God has blessed them because of a promise he made to them. Wait! I am not talking about the “The Chosen People of God” or the “Promised Land”; I am talking about a blessing of opening the “windows of heaven”.

I finally cracked the Jewish code. It is undeniably obvious that the Jewish people are the richest group of people in the world. Most bank owners, CEOs of fortune 500 companies, Hollywood moguls, U.S. Senators, and members of the U.S. House of Representatives are Jewish. Have you wondered why? I believe the answer is in Malachi 3:10!

malachi310

The subject of Religion and God is complex. Every geographical location on Earth has its own version of God.  And, every person born in that region will be programed with its religion, faith, culture, and values.  Every religious nation/group claims its exclusivity to “God’s Franchise Business”.  Therefore, based on pre-determined chance, I was placed in a geographical location programmed with Christianity as the faith and religion of my life.

Most people know what Jesus said about whoever gave a cup of water; he shall not lose his reward (Matthew 10:42). But in Malachi 3:10 we read: “’Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you a blessing until it overflows’” (emphasis mine). God commands his people to TEST Him. The importance of Malachi is that the only place in the Bible where God seems to contradict Himself. God has already commanded “You shall not put the LORD your God to the test” (Deuteronomy 6:16).

I am sharing my simple personal perspective outside the philosophical, theological, and other explanations. The formula is simple: God challenged His people to bet on Him, to give back 10%, and He promised to bless them. He asked them to TEST Him. Well, here is the deal: the Jewish people do not have exclusivity to this God.

Over the past five months, I have kept my part of the bet – I gave back financially to poor people. I am waiting to see if God will keep His part of the bet. I am not waiting for the “windows of heaven” to open and “pour out” blessings upon me, but I am waiting to have my needs and dreams fulfilled.

Philanthropy has two sides: Giving and humbleness. We cannot talk about our philanthropic act without mentioning the motive behind our giving. Giving comes from the heart, stamped with our emotional blessing accompanied with humbleness.  It is not about seeking world’s attention. It is a reflection of the inner heart.

I approached philanthropy from a religious perspective. I do believe that philanthropy is not only for rich people like Bill Gates and Angelina Jolie who give to poor nations and third world countries more than their own leaders provide for their people – which countries do have money, either from grants or internal wealth, but is distributed via corruption between their elites. All these philanthropists testify to the blessing of “giving”. Every person can do a philanthropic act. Every global citizen can give back (money, skills, water, phone calls, Facebook likes, tweets, or editing blogs). I am giving, and I am testing God. I am waiting for the blessing to come to my life.

Warren Buffet once said, “The people I really admire are the small donors who give up a movie or a restaurant meal to help needier people.”

 

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May 20, 2014

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Nearly a “Black Hawk Down” experience…Leadership?

* 2 min read

We are a collection of stories. We forget many of our life’s stories. But some of stories, we get to tell to our children and grandchildren. Some of our stories are short, but they are told for a lifetime. These stories are tattooed on our brains. I re-experience the personal story in this blog every time I mention it to friends, family members, co-workers, and now, to social media followers.

Around mid-2007, CNN and all the other major news channels came close to running a major breaking news headline in evening hours, something similar to: “Black Hawk Down in Baghdad! First two-star general killed, two pilots, a captain, and a linguist” – luckily that did not happen.

Black Hawk Down

I was accompanying a two-star British General who was a Deputy Commanding General, Multi-National Forces – Iraq (MNF-I), from “Washington” helipad in the Green Zone to Victory Base Complex (VBC). It was in the late evening hours of the day. Baghdad was dark without electricity. Our Black Hawk pilots were wearing night vision goggles. I was sitting next to the general at the back of the helicopter. The helicopter was at ready-to-fly status, rotary wings at high speed. Seconds before take-off, I decided to pull out my camera to get ready to take pictures above darkened Baghdad. In a moment of extreme stupidity, I took a picture of the captain who was sitting across from me.

Suddenly, the pilots and the captain started to scream at me through the headsets, something like:

“You idiot! You were about to kill us”

“You stupid! How can you take a picture at night?”

“You were about to blind us in mid-air”

Apparently, I could have blinded the pilots in mid-air, causing the Black Hawk to crash. The strong camera flash at night could’ve caused temporary flash blindness to the pilots who were wearing night vision goggles. Out of an innocent mistake, I could have caused a major problem. I ended up delaying the flight a few extra minutes until the pilots recovered their sight.

After we arrived at our destination, and I got my butt handed to me, I experienced my first leadership lesson – forgiveness. I had broken the rule innocently, and everybody knew I had no malicious intent in doing so. I was forgiven, and continued working with the same general.

I know it is a story about making something out of nothing, but stories like this make us unique. Stories about moments like this will last for our lifetime. They are souvenirs from our past. We treasure the experience for our lifetime.

 

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May 14, 2014

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Thank you DHL!…Holy Pope Francis blessed my clothes!

* reading time is 2 +  a GOOD laugh

On April 14, I shipped approximately $6,000 dollars worth of personal items to my house using DHL service at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. Ten days later, my mother called me and told me that “this girl from DHL has called the house four times… and she needs you to call her back ASAP”  I called the lady, and was informed that my package has been held by U.S. Custom; they need some personal identification so that the package is released. I provided the identification. My packaged was released. I thought the story ended!

On April 25 around 10pm Iraq local time, my mother called me and informed me that my package was received. I had told her previously that I sent my vacation clothes. After she opens the package, she discovered the content does not belong to me. She called me again to inform me about the bad news.

Somehow by unknown reason, my mail was switched with Vatican mail. Wait!!! Not any mail, but Diplomatic Italian Embassy mail! I ended up with sensitive items from the Italian Government. This is a huge security issue. This is Geneva law violation.

image

After few screams between myself and my mother, I called DHL and started to scream.

I was highly irritated, even though I am frustrated, I can still laugh about it. I am writing the story as events continue to unfold. I have been in suspense the past few days. I am waiting for the Holy Pope Francis (I love him) to come out wearing my Gucci belt, Paul & Shark t-shirts, Diesel Jeans, and Prada glasses. I am looking for a mathematician to calculate the odds of something as strange as this happening to me. Where are the mathematicians when I need them? I place the odds of the story I’m about to tell you more close to lottery odds.

Things happen for a reason. This is one of the stories that became a dot in my life. I hope to connect this dot to other dots later. I feel super lucky now. I should start playing poker; go places; pass job interviews; or be able to pick up on any girl I like.

From this point and on, things will turn my way!

I am blessed…My clothes have been blessed!

As the writing of this blog, DHL investigation is still going on to find out how it happened. But, we know what happened.

This is a VERY big deal.

Someone may get fired at DHL because of this!

I can imagine a few archbishops standing over my DHL box praying something like this:

“Thank you Jesus for sending these expensive clothes!”…”Thank you Jesus for even sending us these fashion brands!”…”You see, Jesus loves us, and sent us a gift from heaven”…”Thank you Jesus for the free gifts”

“Can you send us cash next time?”…”How are we going to tell the Holy Pope about this?”

Me: “Nooooooooooooooooooo!!!!”…”It is my clothes God!!! I need them back!”

I am still waiting to get my clothes back!

This blog to be continued…

Happy Ending!

On May 5, as Mexicans were celebrating Cinco de Mayo day in the United State, I was celebrating the arrival of my clothes in Baghdad. Even though there were mistakes in the process, I testify to the integrity of DHL business. My clothes arrived to my house without any missing items – to this I am thankful.

 

 

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April 29, 2014

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Trapped between insults and thank you…Chicken or beef?

* reading time is 2

– Flying 45,000 feet above Europe on Turkish Airways having a flashback of the last 24 hours.

You arrived at your cubical office. You are feeling cold and hot – confused. It is sixty four degrees outside. While waiting for your computer to boot up, you put your iPhone on silent mode. You take a data hit: 8:10am, three voice mails, 15 emails and 20 cc emails, $3,251.22 in checking account, five bills to pay on top of monthly mortgage. You have been four months working away from your family across the Atlantic Ocean, your wife just got laid off, your kid needs money, and four months living alone overseas – you get a total amnesia!!! You look again at your work badge. You see “N” – It stands for “Non-direct”, but you know deep inside you, it means – “Nothing”

lookupandyouwillgetup

Mark, who is your manager, comes to your cubical and tells you a very quick “good morning”, then another hits: “Can we talk privately?”

Looking straight at him talking, you see him. I mean you do see him, but you cannot hear him. Then, you start to feel something. It is something you are eating, but you are not eating. It tastes bad!

It hits you again – It is the “Shit Sandwich” – You are trapped between insults and thank you.

Mark: “Thank you Nino for doing a good job the past two years.” (Slice of bread number one)

“- I am sorry. You have been let go!” (The shit – the meat)

“- But, I appreciate the value you have been contributing to this job.” (Slice of bread number two)

You: complete silence – all you think of is “Water”.

Suddenly, you wake up from your data-amnesia-coma by a flight attendant from flight 735 Turkish Airway facing your next biggest question:

Flight attendant: “Sir, Chicken or beef?”

You: “Hummm? – Chicken please!”

You ate the chicken, but you didn’t sense the taste.

The next ten hours will be a fight of your life – a fight between you and emotions. Your emotions rise and fall – you are going through an emotional roller coaster.

Your mind is running on fear-unknown-uncertainty-insecurity. Your mind projects you into the future and brings you back to reality.

You are fighting for your life…for you are a survivor!

It is an epic battle of your life… your battle Royale!

You hear the sound of your heart beat!

You don’t know what is next!

If you have not been in this, then sooner or later you will face similar situation. I’ve been there. I know how it feels. I wasn’t prepared.

The question remains: What is going to be your order?

 

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Humor, Life's Ironies, Random Thoughts

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April 22, 2014

5 Comments

Karma gets its debt instantly from me!

* reading time is 3 mins + thinking

She was the cause of firing seven people, but her 9th life must have been up. She made problems at every place she worked. And, I ended up scratching the left side of a beautiful BMW out of jealousy. And, why me?

Here is my view about this “Karma” thing!

I believe the universe has a place called “Karma Bank”. And believe it or not, it has a compound interest of good and bad.

I know the word “Karma” has a religious meaning much deeper than my usage here. I also know many people are allergic to religious language. I understand; I get allergic to some religious discussions. I take pills for it. But, this is not a religious blog, and I am using the word “Karma” only in the sense of: “I do bad things, I get bad things back. I do good things, I get back good things.”

I know a coworker for almost a year and half. She worked in a very prestige place. She was on holiday in America mostly likely spending a lot of money. She maybe went around informing people about her new position. Then in the climax of her happiness on her holiday while enjoying time with her family; she got an email from corporate informing her that “Her service is no longer needed.”

I am sure by now you feel bad for her. But allow me to share her employment history. Her reputation in our linguist community is bad in Iraq. She has abused her position and personal connection with higher command to remove any person she didn’t like. She is known to have been the cause of firing seven people from their jobs in her previous assignments. About two months ago, I witnessed her tactical job coup on her last coworker causality by taking his position. Many of our coworkers and clients were very happy to see her removed from our contract.

This is a personal blog with a personal title. So to be fair, I have to share my personal debt-cashing-Karma. I will share one of the earliest stories from my own life. It is one of the earliest signs where I started to notice a strange behavior.

Imagine you are one of the people who are going north on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, and three minutes before it ends, you see on your left two people pushing a car at around 3:00am in cold weather. You feel bad for them – wishing it not to happen to you. I am one of these two people who did a bad thing. I remember very well, one day after leaving a night club in Chicago in my early 20s, I saw this beautiful new BMW parked on the side of the street. I looked at it; out of an anger and jealousy, I keyed the left side of the car. My personal justification at that time was “I was poor”. I cannot afford to buy a nice car to show off in front of girls to go out with me – not for myself to drive, but for girls!

It cost me about $500 to fix my car, which I am sure was equal to the deductible insurance amount for the owner of BMW.

These were during my asshole years.

I can tell you a few more stories like this, until I started to notice these strange phenomena. I do bad things, bad things happen to me. I screamed to someone during the day, by the end of day, rest assure, someone screamed back at me – or a few days later.

Now, I believe in this “Karmic Bank”. It has debt and credit. On a daily basis, I try to deposit goodness in my personal account. If I do something bad, I try to balance my Karmic debt. This might sound funny, stupid, unrealistic, or call it as you like, but for the past 15 years I am paying attention to this, and NOT one day has failed me. Whatever vice you indulge in, remember karmic compound!

I don’t like my negative Karmic debt to be compounded. I like my positive debt to be compounded. I like good things to happen to me. And, good things do happen to people like me!

One last thing, please don’t take my parking spot, you might find that you have a flat tire when you get back- just kidding J

It is my choice to be good, and not in fear of anyone else, but for the sake of living a good moral life.

Ponder on these:

karma has no deadline

: My Karmic Law:

– For every good action, there is an equal or more goodness reaction back!

– For every bad action, there is an equal or more badness reaction back!

: Compound Karmic:

– Karmic compound is powerful – think of your compounded bad deeds.

: Religious perspective

– Your offspring might be paying for your vices. Jewish faith has this believe.

– A needed cup of water will not go unrewarded it. Christian faith

: Connecting dots:

– You took advantage of someone; someone will take advantage of you.

– You cheated someone with money; you will end up losing money somewhere else.

– You ignored someone; you will get ignored by someone else.

 

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April 15, 2014

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April 9…fall and rise of Baghdad

* reading time is 3 mins.

April 9, 2014 – Baghdad

Have you wondered about the rise and fall of ancient Roman or Greek, or other empires? Are you inspired by the thought of the ancients? Have you wondered about how these empires came to power and ruled for years, then fell? Have you imagined how people lived in those empires? How did each of those citizens live his/her life?

While I was walking on those ancient streets of Italy, I was wondering about the ancient Roman citizens, how they lived and walked the same streets. Augustus, Cato, and Constantine walked those streets.  History recorded and gave us those ancient names, but history ignored the names the stories of the ordinary people. Each Roman citizen had a story to tell. As well, each citizen of Baghdad has a story to tell.

On April 9, 2003, Baghdad fell for 23rd time (this includes foreign invasion and internal coups) in history. The city fell from a dictatorship and risen into new democratic country forging itself into a new nation though the struggles of internal conflicts. I am part of this history. I was part of the historical decisions that shaped the rebuild of Baghdad. As every year passes by, I wonder about the rise of Baghdad. The political, economic, and geo-ethnical challenges are facing the ancient city now.

With Donald Rumsfeld

click for more pictures

This is my personal story about witnessing the fall and rise of Baghdad during my time. By this writing, I am pressing into History’s footnotes. I refuse to be buried in the “cemetery of dead history”.

As this year marked the 11th anniversary of the fall of Baghdad, we are witnessing history in making. Only a few people are born in this corner of the Universe. And for those who been part of American liberation of Baghdad, or ordinary citizen living in Baghdad, I say we are living an extraordinary history – a modern Epic of Baghdad.

Baghdad’s roots extend as far as the cradle of civilization to where we are today. History owes a huge historical debt to Baghdad.  After many ancient Romans closed the schools of philosophy in Rome and Athens, many of those ancient works of Aristotle, Socrates, and others were preserved in Arabic translation in Baghdad, and then retransmitted to Europe by way of Andalusia. It is because of ancient Baghdad; we can read about Aristotle’s and Socrates’ philosophy.

We are the NEW ancient.

When the weight of old age settles down on me, my thread of life breaks, and as I lay to rest, I write my name in this chapter of life before history begins writing its next chapter.  One hundred or one thousand years from now, people will wonder about us and talk about Baghdad’s fall as ancient history. I was embedded as a linguist for the U.S. Army for four years and worked two years with the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad. I witnessed the liberation of Baghdad from its historical tyrant known as Saddam Hussein.  As many sat on the throne of Gaius Julius Caesar after his death, I sat on Saddam’s throne. (pictures)

I am writing a line in this history. My name with many others who were part of this will live forever in this corner of the Universe.

Let it not be forgotten!

The Tyranny of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and the Forgotten Rights of the Poor, by  William Easterly is a good book to read

look for a guy with red sweater 2:54

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April 9, 2014

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One brain workout…Inspired by James Altucher

* Reading time is 2 min.

I like to have brain-sex and make baby ideas. But, before I share with you James Altucher’s secret brain workout, I would like to write a few words about James.

I am an avid reader and until few months ago, James Altucher was an unknown to me. And now, James is a rock star in my world of social media philanthropist, startups, books, blogging, podcasting, twitter…

One day, I was sitting reading a book. I don’t remember which book, but my coworker recommended and insisted that I read James Altucher’s book, titled “Choose Yourself”. And, I remember my conversation with the coworker went something like this:

Coworker: “Ninos, you should really read James Altucher’s book titled ’Choose Yourself’”

james-altucher-why-i-self-published-a-bookMe: ”’Choose yourself?’ What a title!…Is it one of those self-help books? I read many of those. I don’t need another one.”

Coworker: “No…No…You really would love the book. It’s different.”

I can predict the beginning chapters of these self-help books very well. They all have a preacher’s theme, which basically starts along the lines of one recipe with 3 items:

1- Past times were different, time has changed. Now, more than ever I need to read this message.

2- I am in trouble, and if don’t read to this; I will be in big trouble.

3- Do what I say, and you will be saved. With some hidden messages, buy my other books and subscribe to my email list, or reserve your ticket to my next show.

As I promised, this blog is about the secret of Altucher’s brain workout. His brain workout method is:

7 days a week, 1 set, 10 repetitions

It is very hard, but a very effective method. It means, every single day, allocated some time in one sitting, try to generate and write 10 ideas. You can even write down the stupidest ideas you can think of. The point is to exercise your “Idea Muscle” and make it stronger. After 12-24 weeks of doing this, your brain will be an idea machine.

A funny way of putting saying this is that your ideas will have sex with each other, and you will come up with more new ideas. Eventfully, you will end up executing one of those ideas. With a bit of luck, you will be making a lot of money.

Tips:

Stay Curious: no workout training is complete without a few tips. In one of Altucher’s latest blogs titled “The Most Important Message I Live My Life By”, he recommends to “Stay Curious”. His curiosity starts with the words: “What if?” For example, “What if I switch careers completely? What would I do next?”

Larry Page didn’t say, “I’m going to make another search engine.” He said, “What if I made a search engine that ranked pages by looking at all the high-ranking pages that refer back to a page as opposed to just counting word appearances?”

Trio placing: This is my personal technique. I realized that I am more creative after the following three action items: warm shower, meditation, and a happy moment. Usually, before I sit down and exercise my “Idea Muscle”, I go out and joke with friends and get in a good mood. Secondly, I take a warm shower and stay a few extra minutes under the shower to relax my body. Thirdly, I meditate for five minutes in quietness (I use “Calm app”) followed by 12:56 minutes of my favored relaxing music (I listen to CD2000, Andantino by Alan Roubik).

I found the above technique to help me generates many of my blogs, comics, nice action items, and ideas.

Here is one of my “What if” idea:

If I had the money, then I would create an intelligent Spelling & Grammar 2.0. I am not a native English speaker. I will live the rest of my life handicapped by spelling (check my comic). Secondly, I say things that may sound awkward to a native speaker. I have two other languages in my brain: Aramaic and Arabic, with two cultures inside me.

Spelling & Grammar 2.0 would not only help me in spelling, but would point out that I used the wrong word. I often make a mistake between “previous” and “pervious”. My eyes cannot see the difference. Secondly, I have a feeling that I will spend the rest of my life getting the English prepositions correct in writing. Here are few examples: Is it “on accident”, or “by accident”? Is it “parking” or “barking”? I can go on and on…

Two last things, if you implement my idea, please let me know about it and promise me to give me a life subscription And, I started my list of “Ideas in the shower”.

And, Oh!…Yea, some red wine will help too with music 🙂

 

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April 2, 2014

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I am supplement-aholic on 49 pills a day!

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I entered my room and immediately started to laugh when I saw how my maid organized my pills on a tray. They were organized by size. Since then, I have started to wonder if I have become a supplement-aholic. I consume an average of 49 pills a day ranging from concentrated vitamins to workout supplements. Every person that enters my room or with whom I share this information, is shocked.

Here’s how it all got started: I have a strong motivation, driven by a desire to be the best of what I can be – mentally, emotional, physically, and financially. We may not have control over our financial situations for many reasons. But, I truly believe, we have 100% control over our mental, emotional, and physical status.  I train myself on these three levels every day in every situation as much as I can.

When I discuss this topic with people around me, they all have the same common response:“It is bad for you, I don’t believe anymore in what doctors, researchers, or pharmaceutical companies are saying. All these companies are driven by self-interest to make money.” They are not willing to accept my point of view that medical advances and new research comes out every day with new knowledge.

The interesting part is that every single person with whom I interact believes I am crazy. Most likely, you do too by now. They believe most of these studies are fake, sponsored advertisements, and hold no credibility. It seems that with these people, the industry has lost all credibility. And why not! For years they have heard doctors say: “An apple a day, keeps the doctor away”, until another doctor says: “No, it (referring to the apple) is all sugar (bad!)”. Or yet better, for thousands of years, humans have eaten bread. But, now doctors are preaching a new anti-gluten movement.

I consume these pills and workout supplements, because I trust in these new studies presented by these doctors in their books such as Dr. David Perlmutter, author of the book, “Grain Brain”.

I imagine a funny future for the restaurant and food industry for people like me. In the future, I’ll go to a restaurant and rather than having salt and pepper on the table, I will see a few supplements such as Green Tea, Alpha-Lipoic Acide 600, or Omega 3 fish oil. Or, the waiter will ask me if I would like to add a spoon of protein (30g of MP core series) to my orange juice. Or better yet, an extra menu listing all types of vitamins and supplements with prices.

Me: Hi, can I have chicken salad?

Waiter: Sure, what type of vitamins would you like to add?

Me: how about 2 pills of Turmeric, 2 of Best alpha-Lipoicacide (doctor’s best..Please!), and 1Resveratrol 500mg.

Waiter: Sure, will that be all, sir?

Me: No! How about 1 scoop of Cookies ‘N Cream protein (Muscle Pharm..Please) with my Stress-b VitaminWater?

Waiter: Sure, sir! Will that be all?

Me: For now yes! I will think about the deserts later 🙂

 

What do you think?

Articles, Random Thoughts

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March 18, 2014

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