Beckham Posh Ali G

A Better Iraq According To An Iraqi!

There is a young man, Hammar who is about 30 that plays on the same pool team as Rob here in Itaewon, Korea. He is married to an American girl and has been in Korea since about 2006.

We were talking to him tonight and Rob asked him what he thought about Iraq now and before under Saddam Hussein's rule. Rob felt a little arkward asking Hammar, but he really wanted to know.

What ensued was truly unbelievable. He told us stories of rape, murder, torture and absolute terror that happened to anybody at anytime and anyplace under Hussein's rule. It can be described only as absolutely shocking.

I had an idea that things were bad, but my god! I sat there and just listened to what Hammar was saying. He was a doctor in Iraq and is a doctor here. He was working for 2 dollars a month!!!!!!

He spent 7 days one time in jail because one of Hussein's private policemen came to the hospital drunk and was insulting everyone at the hospital while being cared for. Hammar said something to him and he ended up being in jail for 7 days. He said that he was lucky to get out and that he wasn't killed. The fact that he was a doctor, may have saved his life.

So, to all the people around the world that say Iraq was better under Hussein, you need to talk to someone like Hammar and understand the animals that Hussein and his entourage were. They controlled the country by pure terror. In Hammar's own words, " Holy fuck, Iraq today is so much better off, but we as a people have no idea what democracy or freedom is. Everything is new to us and it will take us a while to figure out what to do with these new things. Other countries don't want us to succeed and it is in their best interests to try and get us to fail."

An unbelievable night's conversation that taught me a lot and made me realize how lucky I am to be able to live free and without fear. Anyone else reading this blog should feel that way, too.

To all the people that want America out of Iraq. Shame on you!!!!!! Maybe the results are not happening as fast and as smooth as expected, but America had and has the right idea about bringing democracy and freedom to that part of the world, where there are lots of countries that rule their people by pure terror and that needs to be changed, even if it takes force at times.

Enough said. Thank you Hammar for educating me about your life and your country and restoring some faith in the American ideal, be it right or wrong in anyone's opinion.

A Promise To Blog More Often

I have been so busy of late that it really has been a task to blog as often as I used to. Given the fact that I can't blog on my breaks in work as the computer there is an absolute relic, then it is quite a task to keep up with my old rating of blogging so often.

I had a good weekend. Went out with the lads on Friday night, Saturday night and met them for dinner at Marakesh, the Morrocan Buffet on Sunday afternoon. We were all pretty shattered and ended up going home about 11pm, which is early by our standards.

Rob starts a new job tomorrow and for everyone else, it is the Monday blues, as such!

Nothing much happened over the weekend. Watched some football at Hollywoods and most places were packed to the rafters due to the St. Pat's Day celebrations and the combination of 6 Nations Rugby being on. We banged up the Irish 33-10, which was great to see.......haha.

As I said, I have been working hard. We started a new semester and am getting used to new kids and new challenges. I got my visa renewed for one more year, so I am safe and happy at the same school until April 30th, 2009. Not sure what I will do then, but we shall see, shall we not!

The plan right now is to take 5 weeks off in August/September to go to Canada and then take my son to England along with all the family for our Jonathan's wedding. We found out that our David's wife, Carmel is due in September, too.Congratulations Carmel and David and with our Jonathan's soon to be wife, Sarah having had a baby boy, Willy, both lads will be Uncles and Husbands within the same year.....haha.

Great news all around and I am looking forward to seeing everyone and hanging out with family and friends in Canada and England while I am there.

Enough for now, as I am off to bed. The new queen size bed is great and although I still have my insomnia, the quality of mini-sleeping has improved!!!!!!

Not Included In Liverpool's Poster For The 2008 City Of Culture!!!!

Feels A Little Bit More Like Home!

I have not had a queen size bed since about 2005 when I worked in Ulsan, but it wasn't mine, it belonged to the school.

I finally bought a brand-new queen sized bed and a little 3 seat sofa on Friday. One of my student's mothers was kind enough to call a place and then take me there, where I bought the two pieces of furniture and then had them delivered the same night.

I have had 2 nights great sleep on the bed.......should have bought the thing a long time ago, but anyway, it feels more like my home now. I will be here until the end of 2009 anyway, so it was a good choice.

I have also included some pictures of the students that I tutor and also from my school. Some of the students are leaving as they are going to middle-school and others are just going to the next year up.

I have been off from school since Wednesday and don't have to go back until Tuesday. Have taken it easy and haven't been to the gym at all since then. I will go tomorrow and start back into the grind again. I have kept the weight off that I have lost, which is great considering I haven't exercised.

I am keeping to eating good food and the odd cheat here or there. All in all, it is going well and I feel good. The inches are starting to come off my waist and I feel a little more nimble on my feet.....haha......

The weather here is fantastic. Spring is in the air that is for sure. The sun is shining today and I am going out with Karina and some of her friends. 3 fellas and 3 girls, so it should be fun. We are going to have some food and just hang-out. I am looking forward to it, really......!

Went out with Dave, Rob, Chris, Richie and Ryan and played some screen golf. Cut a long story short, I was using a driver, hit the golf ball and the head of the club went flying off. I did not hit the floor, did nothing wrong other than hit the ball the way you are supposed to. Well the golf place felt that we should have paid for the club! It was 2 years old and god knows how many other people had used it over that time.

They were insisting that we pay 200 dollars for the club!!!! I told them to go climb a tree and peel some bananas, they had that much chance of me paying for the club. Anyway, I left, steamed and finally the others left, too....... Not a nice end to a fun time and anyway, we won't be back at that place anytime soon.

After that, we all went to Carne station minus Ryan. It is a place that is unbelievable; all you can eat, all you can drink including spirits for 25 dollars!!!! They had meat, seafood, pasta, soup, desserts, unbelievable really and I stuffed myself on spaghetti, rice and garlic. Chris had been trying to get us to go there for a while and we finally went and I think I will be going again.

There are bottles of whisky, vodka, rum, wine etc.... and all you do is mix your own drinks. Plus there are kegs of beer and juice and coffee. Fantastic really, and a real bargain. I only had about 3 drinks while I was there, but the array of food and the choice that was available, made it worthwhile. Gonna go there again, that is for sure.

Went to Hollywoods after Carne Station and watched the Man U and then the Arsenal game at the same time. Jammy Gunners tied the game in the 93 minute.

Went home really early by my standards. I was home by 2.30am.......sounds funny when you think that is early...........