my essay in The Christian Science Monitor

Here's a link to my essay in The Christian Science Monitor, which is about living in the US with a dual ethnicity:

http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/0206/p19s05-hfes.html

Israel's Extensive PR Campaign

My Huffington Post article on the war in Gaza:

Israel's Extensive PR Campaign

Beirut

Though the restaurants and clubs are thriving, parts of Beirut are still scarred. Here is the "city view" from The Palm Beach Hotel, which is right near where the bombs that killed PM Rafik Hariri were detonated:

My Huffington Post article

Here's a link to my article on The Huffington Post, which is about my experience of traveling through the West Bank and Israel as a Palestinian-American:

Finding a Wall of Paranoia and Fear in Israel

Techosomatic.

Lately, I can't seem to get enough sleep. Today in particular, I simply could not stay awake. I went to bed last night at 10:30, and despite numerous soundings of my alarm clock this morning, I didn't wake up until 10:53. You'd think I would be wide awake after over 12 hours of sleep, but I could barely function. I drank my usual pot o' coffee, bathed, got dressed, made a tuna melt, went through Gmails, and then fell promptly back asleep for an hour and a half.

As my fatigue has taken hold, my blackberry has shown signs of fatigue as well. Even though it's been getting it's usual 8 hours of charge every night, for the past few days, its battery is half-empty by noon. And after a couple 15-20 minute calls, the "low battery" message appears on its screen, the bars all conspicuously absent from the battery icon in the upper left-hand corner.

They say mental or emotional factors can take a toll on the body, but can any of these have an effect on the cell phone? Are my Blackberry and I, like twins, so interconnected that when something happens to one, the other is affected? Is my chronic fatigue spreading to my phone, or is it the other way around: as my cell phone battery depletes, I too, am depleted. Who's the chicken and who's the egg here? Depending on which way the causal arrow points, I'm either going to have to start on the NoDoz or pay a visit to T-Mobile.

I'll Have What She's Having

My article about anti-Arabism in the GOP:

http://www.janera.com/janera_blog.php?id=80

Early Bird Special.

You would think that after the hanging Chad debacle eight years ago, the debacle that cost Al Gore the election and subsequently led to two wars, one of which was clearly unnecessary, rampant anti-Americanism throughout the world, the complete mishandling of a natural disaster, and the cherry on top, a failed economy, the debacle that even resulted in an HBO movie starring an Oscar-winning actor, Florida would've made an effort to get it right this time around. I mean, they've had EIGHT years. Casting a ballot is an act that should be made as easily as possible, something that a fifth grader, or even Sarah Palin, could do. So far, it's been characterized by day-long lines, broken machines, and a general loss of enthusiasm toward the American democratic system.

This sort of dysfunctionality discourages people from voting at all, and we can't afford to have otherwise eager voters stay at home this time around. The stakes are too high--the currents of potential disaster too strong (see Sarah Palin above), and we need all hands on board. Given the poll numbers, as well as a recent study showing that in battleground states more Democrats than Republicans vote early, I have faith that most these hands will be pushing the button for Obama. I'm also confident that by 2012, Florida still won't have gotten it right.