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تنويه: كُتبت هذه التدوينة في اليوم الأول للهجوم الدموي الهمجي الإسرائيلي على سكان غزة. هذه التدوينة تتكلم عن الخيارات وقت التهدئة والهدوء النسبي وليس أثناء العدوان الإسرائيلي الدموي.

أنا فلسطيني وأحب فلسطين حتى آخر قطرة دم في جسدي. وجزء من الحب أن تنصح من تُحب حتى لو كانت كلماتك قاسية قليلاً. أنا أعرف أن كلامي قد لا يروق لبعض الناس، وخصوصاً في هذا الوقت، ولكن علي أن أقوله.

إن ما يحصل في غزة جريمة بكل ما تعنيه الكلمة. إنها جريمة بحق الفلسطينيين والعرب وحتى البشرية جمعاء. فهل يُعقل أن يُقتل أكثر من مئتي إنسان في ساعات قليلة بدون حق؟ أيعقل أن يستمر قتل الأبرياء والأطفال بدم بارد؟ أيعقل أن يستمر العالم بالسكوت وإدانت المُعتدى عليه والإشادة بالمعتدي؟ هذه جريمة على أكثر من مستوى.

ولكن دعونا نكون موضوعيين للحظة. هذا الوضع ليس جديداً علينا، فقد تكرر مراراً على طول السنين ولم يتغير به شيء. عندما ندفن شهداءنا هذه المرة، دعونا نفكر قليلاً.

ما هو الحل؟ وماذا علينا أن نفعل؟ هل نستمر برمي “صواريخ” القسام الفارطة؟ ماذا أنتجت هذه المواسير الطائرة؟ هل سمحت لأي نفس في غزة بأن تأكل وتنام؟ هل سمحت للأب في غزة بأن يوفر حياة لعائلته؟ البارحة تم إطلاق 80 من هذه المواسير ما أسفر عن قتل إسرائيلي واحد. ماذا كان الرد؟ إسرائيل إستعملت أسلحة حقيقية وقتلت أكثر من 200 من أًطفالنا ورجالنا ونسائنا.

يا إخواني الزمن تغير: إسرائيل أقوى الآن من أي زمن مضى، والدول العربية أضعف من أي وقت ماضي، والفلسطينيين في غزة أجوع وأمرض من أي وقت ماضي. إسرائيل مدعومة عالمياً بالمال والسلاح من مُعظم دول العالم وأقواها، ونحن لا. فيا إخواني دعونا من أوهام أن الـ”حرب” ستجدينا أي نفعاً.

يا إخواني، إسرائيل دولة لا تهتم بقتل الأبرياء، ولا تحترم الهدنة، ولا تحترم القوانين الدولية. فما هو الحل؟

إذا كنت تتبع إستراتيجية ثابتة في لُعبة ما، وكان خصمك يفوز عليك دائماً، فهل تُغير إستراتيجيتك ؟

دعونا نكون واقعيين، نحن ضعفاء وهم أقوياء. نحن لسنا أنداداً لهم عسكرياً فلماذا نستمر بهجماتنا؟ صحيح أن العمليات والـ”صواريخ” تُذعر البعض في الشارع الإسرائيلي، ولكنها تؤدي إلى قتل المئات في الشارع الفلسطيني. صحيح أن المفواضات لم تكن مجدية 100% ولكن الخيار العسكري أدى إلى منع الأكل والدواء وحتى الحج عن أهل غزة. قولوا لي ما هي فائدة هذه العمليات والـ”صواريخ” ؟ لا فائدة لها، فعندما يُذاع خبر إطلاق “صواريخ” فلسطينية على إسرائيل، يبرر العالم إستخدام إسرائيل صواريخ حقيقية للرد. إذا هذه الصواريخ لا تضر أحداً سوانا.

أعرف أن الكثير سيصيح ويطالب بالإنتقام من مجزرة اليوم، ولكن إلى ماذا سيؤدي هذا الإنتقام ؟ ألن ترد إسرائيل مجدداً وتقتل المئات منا وتجدد حصارها القاتل ؟

يا إخواني، لكل زمن ولكل عراك إستراتيجية. غاندي تمكن من هزيمة أكبر إمبراطورية في زمنه بدون اللجوء إلى السلاح لأن الهند لم تكن نداً عسكرياً لبريطانيا آنذاك. فهل سنتعلم؟

We often account for randomness or variance in our life whether we are aware of it or not. For example one might describe any of these events as random: will you wake up happy and in a good mood tomorrow? how will a piece of fruit taste when you eat it? if you flip a coin will it come up heads or tails? will you bump into somebody you know on the street today? what will your favorite blogger blog about next? and when? …etc. However randomness is not only used to talk about the future, it is also used to explain the past. For example, evolutionary steps have been explained in terms of random genetic mutations that were deemed beneficiary for survival.

We all incorporate randomness into our thinking. May be it is our way of saying “this is too complex to calculate, let’s assume it could be anything”. However, does randomness really exist ? Is there such a thing as a truly random event ? This question can be expanded into the more profound “is there any uncertainty in the future ? can we predict the future accurately ?”. Certainly, if there is no randomness in life then predicting the future is possible. Otherwise it is not because a small random event can trigger a chain of bigger events; which in Chaos theory is known as the Butterfly Effect.

So the question is, can we model things in life accurately ? For example, my outlook on life is influenced by my parents behaviors, my teachers at school, my classmates, the people i meet in the street, what i see on tv, what i read on the Internet, and how i have behaved in the past …etc. So if we built a model to include all of this, will it predict what i will do in the future ?

Let us expand this a bit. You may be feeling happy right now. You are feeling happy because the events of this day from the moment you woke up until now have resulted in you feeling happy. Actually, you are feeling happy because the events from the day you were born have resulted in you being happy at this moment. Actually, you are feeling happy because the events from the moment the universe was created have resulted in you feeling happy at this moment. This is similar for what you will feel next, eat next, think next ..etc. Think of it this way, what you wore today, and what you will have for lunch are the results of everything that ever happened in the universe up until the moment you woke up !!

If we built a model to encompass everything in existence; If we modeled everything at the sub-atomic level and up, on earth and in space, will it justify what happened in the past and what will happen in the future ? Will it model how people feel and think ? Will it model how your ancestors looked and how will your children look ? Will it model what will you do next ? what will you eat for lunch ? and how you will feel about it ? Will it model whether a coin flip will result in heads or tails ? will it predict whether you will ever come across this article ? whether you will read or not ? and at what point will you stop reading ?

The big bang theory proclaims that the universe came into existence from a point of singularity. Before the bang there was nothing. Absolute nothing. After the big bang, things started coming to existence. Not only tangible things such as planets, stars, and galaxies; but also things such as light, gravitational force, and electro-magnetic force ..etc. If you were able to model everything from that point of ‘bang’ until now, wouldn’t you know everything that ever happened in life, and everything that will ever happen ?

From a control theory point of view, life has been a feedback-based system with no external input. As far as we know, nothing after the big bang has been a result of external input from something outside the universe. This means that we can conceptually build a mathematical model to correctly simulate what happened from the point of big bang up to today and even further into the future. Isn’t that amazing ?!! You may find it trivial, but i found it truly profound.

This means that whatever you thought and did in the past, and whatever you will think and do in the future is all accounted for. I have previously struggled with understanding the principle of qada2 and qadar (القضاء والقدر) .. after all, how can you be self-determined and still have your fate and actions predicted. Now my understanding is that all of our lives are a result of a mathematical system that controlled everything from the point of inception. We may still choose to do whatever we want, but that model already accounts for what we think and how we choose and will thus choose the same thing as we did.

All of mankind’s forays into science are just uncovering small aspects of this big model that combines all of us. At this point, i don’t believe that there is anything truly random, i.e. there is nothing that given the same exact circumstances could be executed twice and result in different outcomes. I am starting to believe that whatever we assume is random is really predictable given enough time and computing resources. However, maybe i am thinking about it in the wrong way, and maybe i have been doing too much work simulating networks than i am starting to think everything can be simulated.

Anyway, here is a brain dump for you. You might have found it extremely trivial and well known. But to me it came as a profound and pleasant surprise. In any case, the next time you put on a sweater, know that the actions of the entire universe have resulted in you wearing that sweater in that day.

I think this is my personal sign that i have grown up. Restraint! The other end of the dialog was sitting there making wild inaccurate claims, patronizing me, and softly attacking me. Not once, not twice, but many times. For a solid half an hour. Two years ago i would have fired back at the first instance. But this time i remained quite. As the conversation grew longer, my internal conflict escalated: “Don’t take that! Type! Yell! Do something!” a voice inside me was shouting. But i remained quite. Let time show them the error of their ways.

I knew i had done nothing wrong. I knew it was not my mistake. The other end of the dialog was not my boss, so i did not stay quite out of fear, respect, or protocol.

I knew i could have talked back, for hours if necessary. But i also knew that discussion was futile. So i fought my inner demons and stayed quite. I showed restraint. I can not say that i am completely satisfied yet. Part of me still wants talk back. But i am generally happy with my decision: Restraint!

I woke up this morning only to find out that both my parents have created Facebook accounts . Talk about a morning surprise!

Over the years my family has been slowly coerced to becoming a high-tech wired group; after all, internet, email, palms/blackberries, and VoIP are all in use. Yes we are truly a nahfeh . I’ve gotten quite used to waking up on some days to find 7 forwarded emails from my mom in my inbox.

However, transition and adoption of new tech is rarely smooth. Things do take getting used to. I sometimes do wonder how do people who were not in contact with high tech gadgets in their teens or 20s deal with such things. After all, they grew up without seeing value for such things, and have adapted to going about their daily routine without such “interference”.

Perhaps what is even more interesting than the view of our parents and other people from their generation, is our view on things when we get in their position. We (pretty much all the readers of this blog) have all grown up in the age of computers and rapid technological jumps. So we are quite accustomed to frequently changing to new things, using new websites, new gadgets ..etc. So will we have an easier time adapting to our children’s technology in 10, 20, or 30 years ? I don’t know. I guess only time will tell. But for now, i will just go post something on my father’s wall

This all started a couple of months ago. Our little corner of the blogosphere was in its periodic slump, and i thought to spice things up. Being the mischievous kid that i am, i decided to write a little applet to break Qwaider’s famed and/or touted spam protection mechanism. (Un)fortunately, i got extremely busy immediately thereafter, and dropped the idea.
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