Palestinian Life in New York

A Woman Is No Man by Etaf Rum
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Etaf is the real deal. Born Palestinian and raised in a refugee camp as a child, she knows what her people are going through because she lived it. At age 19 she was married and at age 31after having having two children she went back for a writing degree.

Her debut novel is about Palestinian women living in the Bayridge area of New York. Starting with Ezra in a Palestinian village that is surrounded by two cemeteries, one Christian and the other Muslim. Ezra leads a typical life. Wearing a hijab and being religious she spend most of her time with her mother cleaning the house and preparing the food. Her father is rather abusive towards her mother and her. Often using physical violence to control them. She is also under pressure to get married and have children .

After several suitors she finally meets Adam from America . He marries her and takes her to the states. Ezra is expecting a better life but that is. Not what ensues. Seemingly trapped within her in-laws house her days are spent preparing food and cleaning the house. She lives with her husband in the basement of their dwelling. Adam is working a lot and comes home real late. There is not much of a relationship. Like her father back home he is forceful and. Physically abusive.

Her in laws were from Palestinian refuge camps. They had a hard life as well. Ezra ends up having 4 daughters. The eldest has ambitions to get into college. After her mother dies there is pressure on her to get married as well.

Through out this novel there are several themes that get touched upon. One is that Palestinian culture is hard on women. The husbands in this book are physically abusive. They are also addicted to alcohol at one point in their life. The women are expected to marry young and have children. Parents don’t want them going to college rather they want them to learn how to cook and clean. There’s is a heavy emphasis on honor.

As the story progresses people learn ugly truths about. Themselves and their families. In the end it is a story about personal liberation and standing up for yourself.

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Origins of the Gods

Gobekli Tepe: Genesis of the Gods: The Temple of the Watchers and the Discovery of Eden by Andrew Collins
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A short while ago there was an ancient temple unearthed in Southern Anatolia and it was called Goblek Tepi. It challenged and changed our perception of humanities history. Common though is that the first three civilizations were the Sumerians, Egyptian and Indi. This temple is saying that there was developed humanity even before the Sumerians.

The temple was hidden inside a tel or a mound as if it had been buried over purposely. It has a ring of stones an altar and several rooms to this complex place. Very complex . There are representation of twelve for each of the months and the temple design suggests rather advanced knowledge of astronomy. Back in those days the pole Star was the Signus Star but over the thousands of years things have changed we have a new Pole Star but the name eludes me.

Who built this temple? Why was it build and why was it buried? The author puts forth a very intricate and exciting hypothesis. Y pulling together various pieces of archaeology, mythology and historical record. It will challenge several notions we have about humanities development. I will say it makes more sense than ancient aliens.

In a nutshell, there was a group of Neanderthal/HumAn hybrids called the Swaderians who were basically reindeer hunters. They forged specialized arrowheads and they leave a trail going from the Carpathian Mountains all the way to Goblek Tepi. This group had an elite priesthood that wore hoods or feathers and they taught a bunch of hunter gatherers how to build a temple and many other elements of civilization. But why would a bunch of hunter gatherers want to listen to strange looking people from a distant land.?

There is a ring of stones that represent hooded figures. These figure are wearing the insignia of foxes. What do the foxes mean? Foxes are interchangeable with wolves. Both are known to be tricksters and in many mythologies wolves bring bad news. Transitioning into the Neolithic period the world was faced with disasters. Comets, a mini ice age lead to frightening times.

The Swaderians would migrate from there and spread into the Levantine and Armenia. They, according to the author would later become the watchers. What follows next is a reexamination if ancient texts that changes the setting of many mythology from the levant.

If tracing human development is your thing this book is definitely for you. I thoroughly enjoyed it. With ancient history it is hard to say that certain things definitely occurred and lots of it is speculation at best. The author met with some scholars and a few had differing opinions but that’s ok.

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Dracula’s Origins

Dracul by Dacre Stoker
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Vampires are among us. Written as a biographical narrative of Bram Stokers early life, the authors descendant went through his forebears journal and constructed this novel. Much like original Dracula this novel is written in different point of view. At times it will be a straight narrative and others will be from the journals and anecdotes of the novels characters. Dacre Stoker pulls elements from the original publication and from other horror stories. He has done his research as well. Such occult motif’s as the Hell Fire club and mention of Walpugisnaught add more genuine European flavor.

The most interesting part of the book comes after the story is told. The author states that when Bram first submitted his novel Dracula to the publisher that this is a true story. Some of the characters were based on people Bram knew that is for sure. Dacre refutes the notion that Dracula the vampire is an ancient evil far older than Vlad the Impaler. Before getting this book published in the UK Bram had to edit out a bunch of material, something like the first 101 pages but this only effected th UK edition. Other editions published elsewhere were not edited.

The story itself starts off in Bram’s youth where as a sickly child he. Is confined to his room. The Stoker family takes on a Nanny named Ellen. She is rather strange in that some days she appears young and others withered and old. Ellen takes many forays into the forest. One day they follow her and she disappears into the bog. After searching her room they find a map, dirt under her bed and everything appears to be untouched.

After she disappears she is ever on their mind. Over the years they have visions and interactions with her some of which are forgotten. As a child Bram was a sickly boy, she made him well.
You can guess how. Ellen is a dag due. She was also connected to a Patrick OnCuive, someone who hung himself in prison. Years later he turns up dead again.

The search begins for Ellen. Bram and his sibling gather up artifacts and begin their search. Emily, Thornley Stokers wife is being vampirized by a mysterious stranger. An old journal comes up connected Ellen with the dark stranger Dracul. Upon finding Ellen they go on a quest to the city of the damned near Munich in order to confront Dracul and help redeem Ellen and the ones she loves.
Excellent story and it would be great to see this expanded into a series or movie.

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Was Jesus Phoenician?

Jesus the Phoenician by Karim El Koussa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Who was Jesus? Was he the Messia or was he just a Jewish Rabbi or resistance fighter? Getting down to the nitty gritty we start to question if Jesus was even Jewish. Karim Al Kroussa speculates that Jesus was not only a non Jew but that he was Phoenician. While as a reader I am not entirely convinced of Jesus’s Phoenician identity the author does bring up several good points.

The author believes that Jesus was a member of a Phoenician healer sect called the Ashayas. These were the Galilee Essenes who believed in the loving god the Canaanite El. The Book of Isahia is really the book of the Asayas. In it there states that Immanuel is the name of the messiah. Not Jesus! I looked up Asayas on the internet and could not find any reference for them.
I would need more proof on the Book of Isahia being really the book of Asayas.

The author then goes into the Histroy of Mary’s parents and he believes that in one of the books they show her in a temple conversing with a divine figure that could be Gabriel, a priest or some other angelic being. The mother approached the bread and wine and the figure said she would have a child. That child Mary was then consecrated to the temple. This was not the temple in Jerusalem but one up north . The author makes good point when he states that often women did not have a big role in the temple and were not often accepted by the temples when it comes to Judaism. But in the Phoenician religion women were regarded as equal and Mary could have been held over to remain a version until the God El would impregnate her and give her Adon. Of course this story almost exactly mirrors the book of Samuel where in his mother cries in the temple for a child.

Geography does not lie. There is a Kfar Kana in Isrsel and a Kana is Lebanon near the city of Tyre. Nazareth was not yet a village and there was a Bet Lehen in Northern Israel. Joseph of Armimathea was from Remesh in Lebanon. In Lebanese Kana there is still rock portraits of the wedding. Jesus was born in the Northern Bethlehem in Galilee.

The author further notes that most of Jesus’s apostles and disciple were not Jews but rather followers from Other nations.The original disciples according to the author were Phoenicians except for two who were sent by the Jews to spy on him. The Galilee at the time was empty of Jews in fact the Maccabees rescued Jews from Galilee and it was empty of Jews until after the fall of the second temple.

The message of the Old Testament and the New Testament is like light and day. The Old Testament god comes off as a warrior god who is easily provoked to jealousy and will quite willingly punish if his laws are not obey. The Christian one is more loving and based upon forgiveness and mercy. The Christian way is Phoenician way. Upon this the author is correct.

It is not impossible that Jesus was not a Jew. After all Christianity is filled with Pagan concepts not present in Judaism and it is highly probable that he might not have been Jewish. After all he was not married and he grew is hair long.

None the less I am not entirely convinced Jesus was Phoenician. I am not entirely sure he really existed.


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Mini Biography of AlHazred

Ibn Khallikan's Biography of Alhazred by Siyah Qalam
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Not too often that I say this but don’t waste your money . This book is a big waste. For like 5 bucks you get what amounts to buying a 10 page pamphlet. It claims to be the biography of Al Hazred and it gives you only a brief over view of his life.

Basically Al Hazred was from Yemen and most likely Sana’a. His origins are a bit murky but what stands out is that he was purchased by the sultan at age 12. Al Hazred was supposed to be given everything a prince would be given. He was a gifted singer and was able to easily memorize verses of the Koran. His down fall was that he fell in love with the Sultans daughter. For this he was tortured and sent a way to die in Rub Al Khali or the empty quarter. It is believed he was taught his sorcery by the Jinn.

When he returned decades later to Damascus some wondered that his appearance did not change much at all. Some of Al Hazred statement were considered blasphemous and he was about to be sentenced to death until an act of piety convinced the Sultan other wise. After buying some Christian wine he was hurled to the air and torn to pieces.

There is some discussing his name and the lost alien city beneath Irene.

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Evil in the Rocks

Evil Archaeology: Demons, Possessions, and Sinister Relics by Heather Lynn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Evil, how do you define it? Is there an objective answer to this question or is the answer more subjective. Judeo Christian thinking would have us believe it is objective meaning that there is a definite right from wrong. God is good and the devil is bad. The ancient pagans saw things differently. The gods and demons were not so easy to tell apart. Both had their good point and their bad points. Pazuzu was a Mesopotamian demon was a bad boy that brought plague and pestilence in his wake. Yet Pazuzu was evil against evil. One of his jobs was to fight against other demons, especially Lamashtu.

The Gods themselves were not always good guy, or all good I should say. Goddesses like Sekhmet was considered as part of the good guys. When mankind was rebellious Hathor was turned into a lion goddess and she went on a killing spree taking out almost all of mankind. To placate her she was given pomegranate beer to settle her down and stop killing. Ammit a hippo goddess ate your soul in the afterlife if you were not good enough. The lines were blurred on that one there.

Both gods and demons demanded sacrifice, human sacrifice. The Celts would burn hundreds of people in Wicker Men to placate their gods in return for another year of abundance. Demons were given sacrifice in order to placate them not to use their powers against the community. A mock human sacfirice is held at the Bohemian Grove. Reminiscent of the biblical sacrifice to Molekh of young infant children. This could have been what gave rise to legend of Jinn.

Jinn are fire spirits and in fact they are comparable to Demons. Living mostly in desolate places like deserts, bathrooms, caves and abandoned dwellings, they used to be the rulers of the land. Jinn like demons can oppress and possess people. Places and things can be haunted. Always good to bless and remain at a high vibrational level. Great book.

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Statements of Deception

Spy the Lie: Three Former CIA Officers Reveal Their Secrets to Uncloaking Deception by Philip Houston
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When someone is lying to you it is rather difficult to spot the deception. Humans are not natural lie detectors. Unless you know the truth for certain will never be able to know if someone is lying. Some things that make it difficult are that we assume people tell the truth. Our biases also help blind us. In addition we try to absorb information but that still does not help.

The model for detecting deception is simple. The first point is ignore truthful statements that do not deal with the issue. Most people tell lies within five seconds of hearing unpleasant stimulus. Look for clusters of behavior when determining deception. Communication consists of verbal and nonverbal behaviors. If there are three indicators of deceptive behavior chances are the person is being deceptive. People will often mask their crime by telling the truth about something unrelated.

What does deceptive behavior look like? When we take an oath in court we agree to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. There are three kinds of lies, the first kind of lie is a lie of commission where we tell a bald face lie. The second lie is a lie of omission where we leave out part of the truth. The third is a lie of influence , wherein the deceived tries to make themselves appear truthful. Here are some tactics people will use when being deceptive. Such behaviors include failure to answer, lack of clear denial,refusal to answer, repeating questions, non answer statements, inconsistent statements, overly specific answers, extreme politeness, high concern and procedural complaints among others.

When a liar does not have the facts on their side they will resort to making what is called convincing statements. For example let us say that you accuse someone of stealing something. They will not respond by denying the theft rather they will say “ I would never do that I am an honest person.” They lack sticking to the facts.
Another tactic liars use when the facts are not on their side is going on the attack mode. They will act all indignant and verbally attack the person who is asking the questions.

As noted earlier communication consists of verbal and nonverbal cues. When a deceptive person is lying you can often discern their untruthfulness by their physical reactions. Some physical reactions might be a behavioral pause or delay when asked a direct question if they did something or not. There may be a verbal/nonverbal. Which means that they might say yes if they shake their head back-and-forth right to left that would be a disconnect. Another behavior to look at his hiding their mouth or their eyes. As people live they tend to get more nervous nervous behaviors can include throat clearing or swallowing before answering a tough question. Another behavior might be increased and to face activity. Moving th anchor points is a significant teller of whether one was speaking truth or lie, also increased grooming gestures.

Other tactics to fish out liars include presumptive questions where In the questioner makes an assumption and puts it in question form. Hopefully the liar takes the bait. The second question is a baiting question that causes nervous tension in the liar. For example if you were accused of robbing s certain house and the questioner asked would there be any reason a neighbor saw you near the house?

The book was written by three former CIA trainers . There are case examples to test your skills and see the concepts in application.

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