كلام علي النت

2015-01-26T07:23:00.002-08:00

مواطن غير لائق اجتماعياً
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بينما كنت جالسا مع أحد أصدقاء الطريق ننتظر سويا قدوم القطار تبادلنا اطراف الحديث عن الوظائف والواسطة وما كان يحدث بسببها حكي لي هذا الصديق حكاية حدثت عام 2002 لشاب مكافح اندهشت لها بشدة لغرابتها ومدي الظلم الذي عاناه ...
هذا المواطن يدعي عبدالحميد شتا
خريج كلية الاقتصاد والعلوم السياسية كان يحضر رسالة الماجستير ويقدره أساتذة الكلية ويتوقعون له مستقبل باهر، السبب أن له العديد من الأبحاث المنشورة والتى قدمها فى كثير من المسابقات ونال عليها المركز الأول، حصل على أعلى الشهادات كطالب مثالى فى دورة تشجيع روح العمل الحر لدى شباب جامعة القاهرة، شهادة تقدير أخرى بعد انتدابه للمشاركة فى منتدى الشباب بقرطاج، شهادة فى دورة فى مجال تكنولوجيا المعلومات حصل فيها على درجة امتيـــاز، شهادة رابعة لمشاركته فى تنظيم الدورة التأهيلية للالتحاق بالسلك البلوماسى، شهادة اجتياز امتحان TOIFEL وحصوله على 530 درجة.

المشكلة أنه تقدم إلى اختبارات جهاز التمثيل التجارى واجتاز كل اختبارات الشفوى والتحريرى والهيئة بنجاح وكان ترتيبه المبدئى "الأول" على 43 شابًا وصلوا إلى التصفيات النهائية، المفارقة أن الـ42 الذين نجحوا معه فى الاختبارات كانوا ضمن كورس من كورسات الكلية التى كان مكلفًا من قِبَل وكيل الكلية بالإشراف عليهم، يعنى كان يدرس لهؤلاء الذين ينافسونه على الوظيفة، المؤلم أنه سقط اسمه من كشف الناجحين ولم يتم اختياره ملحقا تجاريا، السبب أنه غير لائق اجتماعيا لأن أبوه فلاح بسيط وفقير يا دوب يلاقى قوت يومه، لا يملك من الحياة إلا ثلاثة قراريط ورثاً عن أمه، له أخ مدرس ثانوى وآخر كان طالب فى السنة السادسة فى كلية الطب، النتيجة أنه لم يستطع تحمل الصدمة وقرر الانتحار فى لحظة توقف مفاجئ للتفكير، جعلت مخه يتوقف تمامًا عن التفكير، أقسم الأب فى لقاء معه بأن ابنه مؤمن ولم يكفر يومًا، لست هنا لمحاكمته أو تحديد مدى قوة إيمانه لأننا كلنا مسئولين عن موته، إنما أتساءل ماذا يجب على الشاب أن يعمل لكى يأخذ حقه وما يستحقه وهل الأوضاع تغيرت أو حتتغير مع الوزير الجديد؟ لا تنس قراءة الفاتحة على روح عبد الحميد شتا

2015-01-26T07:13:00.003-08:00

اصعب مدير ممكن تتعامل معه هو المدير الجاهل و الغير مرن و الذي يفكر في نفسه و لا يحمي احد من فريق عمله ,
هناك حكمه تقول :- رجل يدري و يدري انه يدري فذاك عالم فسالوه .... ورجل يدري و لايدري انه يدري فذاك ناسي فذكروه .......ورجل لايدري و يدري انه لا يدري فذاك جاهل فعلموه ........ ورجل لا يدري ولايدري انه لايدري فذاك احمق فاجتنبوه
ومن هنا يتوقف علي شخصية هذا المدير
وممكن ناخذ بميدا :-
if you look the good things in any ugly come quickly to you

2015-01-26T07:11:00.003-08:00

أصدقائي الاعزاء ،،،
أود الحديث اليوم عن موقف حصل من احد دكاترة الجامعة ،،بإحدي كليات جامعة المنصورة، ومن يريد التعليق أتمني ان يكون في حدود الاحترام

بداية أود كبداية للموضوع أن استعين بما قاله الدكتور (طارق حسن السقا ) بتجارة حلوان في بداية احدي محاضراته وهي :((( الانبهار بحضارة الغرب ذوبان للشخصية وفقدان للهوية ))))).....
كذلك عميد الأدب العربي طه حسين الذي سافر لفرنسا وحصل علي الدكتوراه من جامعة السوربون على دراسته فلسفة ابن خلدون الإجتماعيه ، كان بيرفض فكرة ان مصر عربيه و كان مدرك ان الثقافه المصريه بتختلف عن الثقافه العربيه.فكان بيعتبر الثقافه المصريه تنتمى لثقافة حوض البحر المتوسط ( مثل اليونان و ايطاليا و فرنسا و غيرها ). ورغم ذلك لم ينصاع خلف ابهاره بالحضارة الغربية ولم ينسي يوما أنه ولد في مصر بل اخذ يدافع عن شعبها ضد الظلم الاجتماعى و القيود الحديدية بين الطبقات.

أما عن موضوعنا ،، فعندما يسافر دكتور جامعي لخارج مصر ثم يعود متأثرا بحياة الغرب التي هي شاذة عن عاداتنا وتقاليدنا كمجتمع شرقي له ثقافة مستقلة به فهذا في حد ذاته اكبر المشاكل فقد عاد احد الدكاترة الذي كان مسافراً لفترة طويلة إحدي الدول الغربية ، وعندما عاد وبدأ يتفاعل مع موظفين الكلية كان له رد فعل معاكس تماماً نظر للموظفين والموظفات نظرة نفور فقال في تعليقاته :
(((((أن هناك مجموعة من الموظفين والموظفات لا تليق ملابسهم بالمظهر العام )))) اعتقد السامع بأنه يقصد بذلك اؤلئك اللواتي يرتدين الفيزون وما شابه بما يخدش الحياء العام ،،،
لكنه قال :
((((( ان هناك موظفات وما ترتدينه من عباءات لا يصلحن سوي ان يكون بائعات جبنة))))))
((((( وان هناك رجال وما يرتدينه من ملابس بسيطة سوي أن يكونوا فراشين وعمال)))))))))
فهذا الانسان يسخر من اخيه الانسان ،،
فهذا الذي يسخر منه قد يكون أب أو أم أو اخ أو أخت يكافحون من اجل توفير المال الحلال لينفقوا به علي اسرهم .
وأنهم يؤثرون أبنائهم وذويهم علي أنفسهم ،، وهناك منهم من يعيش حياة بائسة وشقاء وضيق حال .
فمثل هذا الدكتور يبدو أنه يعيش الواقع الافتراضي وانه لا يعيش الواقع الفعلي الذي يعيش هو فيه مع من يسخر منهم ....
اتق الله

نساء محاربات

2014-12-22T15:27:00.002-08:00

كتب احمد حمام

نساء محاربات

(النساء والحرب )

على مر العصور وبتتبع تاريخ الحروب التي نشبت نجد أن من السمات الأساسية لأي الحروب ، هي الخراب والدمار بكل أشكاله، بالإضافة إلي انتشار العنف والقتل والتشريد والتعذيب والتشويه والاغتصاب ، والإعدامات التعسفية والإكراه علي ممارسة الجنس والدعارة وانتهاك لأعراض النساء والمذابح والاعتداءات السافرة ، فالحرب لا شرف لها تحدث فيها انتهاكات كثيرة لحقوق الإنسان . والغريب أن معظم هذه الانتهاكات تكون ضد المدنيين العزل من السلاح ، ولعل أبرز مثال علي ذلك ما حدث في حروب البوسنة والهرسك ، وعلي الصعيد العربي نذكر فلسطين والعراق ولا ننسي مذبحة صبره و شتيلة في لبنان .

وتأتي أوقات كثيرة وأثناء الحروب تكون الجبهة الداخلية ضعيفة ومفتوحة أمام الأعداء ، الأمر الذي يستلزم مكافحة هؤلاء الأعداء داخليا في وقت تتلاشى فيه الاعتبارات الأخلاقية و الاجتماعية. فكيف يستطيع هؤلاء المدنيين الدفاع و حماية أنفسهم وأسرهم ...؟ ونجد أن النساء يشكلن النسبة العظمي من أعداد المدنيين فلماذا لا نستفيد من نقاط الضعف ونحولها إلي مراكز قوة ، فلماذا لا نستفيد من هؤلاء النساء ، باعتبارهم جزء لا يتجزأ عن مجتمع يساهم في معركة حق .

إذا كان الرجل هو الذي يحمل علي عاتقة النزاع المسلح فقد جاء الأطفال والنساء ليشاركوه هذا الدور الهام . فاستطاعت المرأة أن تلعب دورا بارزا في الحروب علي امتداد التاريخ وخاصة في الحرب العالمية الثانية ، و أيضا حرب الخليج عام 1990-1991 فقد بلغ مجموع النساء اللاتي خدمن في الجيش الأمريكي في تلك الحرب حوالي 40 ألف امرأة مقاتلة. وقد بلغ القوام العسكري لقوات الأمم المتحدة في كوت ديفوار 024 8 فردا ، يقدر عدد النساء الأفراد منهم 77.ومن أشهر القادة التي شاركوا في عمليات التمرد في دارفور كانت امرأة وتدعي مريم عبد الله وتبلغ من العمر 55 سنة، ومؤخرا أذاعت قناة روسيا اليوم (RT) تقريرا إخباريا يكشف عن مشاركة النساء الفلسطينيات في الأذرع العسكرية للمقاومة الفلسطينية

فالمرأة تشارك طوعا أو كرها في النزاعات المسلحة، فلقد لعبت النساء على مرّ التاريخ دوراً عظيما في الحروب فمنهن من حملن السيف تقاتل دفاعاً عن عقيدتها أمثال (أم عمارة ، هند بنت عتبة .. )، ففي حديث أم سُليــم بنت ملحان زوجة أبو طلحــة لرسول الله (ص) : ( يا رسول الله أتخذُ ذلك الخنجر إن دنى مني أحد من المشركين بقرت بطنه وأقتل هؤلاء الذين يفرون عنك كما تقتل هؤلاء الذين يقاتلونك فإنهم أهل لذلك ) وكان ذلك يوم حنين حيث أبلت بلاءً حسناً كانت تسقي العطشى وتداوي الجرحى وتحمل قِرَبَ الماء وهي مع هذا حامل بابنها عبد الله ، وفي يوم أحد قاتلت ببسالة حتي أنها أصيبت بجروح جما
وفي العصر الحديث فهذا يمكن أن يتم من خلال مؤسسات شرعية كمؤسسات الدفاع المدني ومؤسسات المجتمع المدني وخصوصا مؤسسات المرأة ، ويشترك فيها المتطوعين من النساء والرجال من مختلف الأعمار الذي يساهمون بدور فعال أثناء الحرب ، أما في أوقات السلم فنجدهم يساهمون في البناء والعمار، أن المرأة جزء لا يتجزأ عن المجتمع وبالتالي تساهم في معركة الحق ضد الباطل عبر الزمان وعبر المكان فهي مربية الأجيال وهي صانعة الأبطال وهي المقاتلة إذا دعت الضرورة والحال.

مفاعل نووي فوق القمر

2014-12-22T15:25:00.003-08:00

مفاعل نووي فوق القمر

كتب احمد حمام

منذ أن انتهي برنامج أبوللو الأمريكي لاستكشاف القمر انصرف الأمريكيون عن مواصلة الاهتمام به لأن ما تجمع لديهم من معلومات وصور وأيضا ما جلبه رواد الفضاء من صخور القمر وتربته لم تعط أي إشارة مشجعة علي وجود أي علامات للحياة عليه ، ولكن عاود اهتمام الأمريكيين بالقمر عندما أعلنت أمريكا عن حدث فضائي هام وهو اكتشاف بحيرات جليدية على سطح القمر .

وقد تم اكتشاف بحيرة ماء متجمدة في منطقة كبيرة تعادل مساحتها مساحة جزيرة قبرص بكاملها والسبب الرئيسي في عدم ظهور هذه البحيرة ، رغم التقاط ملايين الصور لسطح القمر بواسطة سفن الفضاء التي دارت حول القمر أن هذه البحيرة تقع في الجانب المظلم من القمر ، حيث تنخفض درجة الحرارة عليه إلي أقل من 30^º مئوية تحت الصفر وقد ظل الماء متجمداً لأنه لا يتعرض لآشعة الشمس .

وقد ثبت عدم وجود الماء علي سطح القمر في أي مكان آخر ، ولذلك رجح بعض العلماء أن تكون هذه البحيرة قد تشكلت نتيجة اصطدام مذنب كبير بسطح القمر منذ ملايين السنين فأحدث به حفرة عميقة تجمع فيها الغازات والمياه ثم تجمدت .

وإذا رغبنا في المستقبل في بناء الحياة فوق سطح القمر فيجب بناء مفاعل نووي فوق القمر ، حيث أن
المفاعل النووي سيولد الكهرباء اللازمة لتحليل الماء كهربيا إلي غاز الأكسجين وغاز الهيدروجين ويتم استخدام الأكسجين في خيمة كبيرة تملئ بغاز الأكسجين ويتم الحياة في هذه الخيمة ، ويتم تدفئة هذا الأكسجين بالكهرباء الناتجة من المفاعل النووي، كما يتم تسخين هذا الماء بالكهرباء الناتجة من المفاعل النووي ، بحيث نحصل علي الماء اللازم للحياة من هذه البحيرة المتجمدة .

إن بناء مفاعل نووي هو الطريق الأول لإقامة الحياة فوق سطح القمر، ويجب أن يكون المفاعل صغير الحجم وخفيف الوزن ويتم تبريد المفاعل النووي بالماء من هذه البحيرة ، ويتم إقامة الخيام التي يعيش فيها البشر بالقرب من هذه البحيرة ، ويمكن في المستقبل زراعة الأرض في القمر باستخدام الماء ، حيث يتم زراعة النباتات في الصوبات التي هي عبارة عن خيام بها غاز الأكسجين ، وبها أيضا غاز أكسيد الكربون بنسبة صغيرة حوالي 0.04 % ، ويتم نقل الكربون النقي في سفينة الفضاء أومكوك الفضاء إلي القمر وحرق هذا الكربون بالأكسجين الناتج من تحليل الماء كهربيا وبالتالي نحصل علي غاز ثاني أكسيد الكربون اللازم للحياة فوق القمر .

وعندما تتم الزراعة فوق سطح القمر من خلال استخدام كشافات كهربية قوية تعمل بالكهرباء الناتجة من المفاعل النووي ، مع وجود الأكسجين وغاز ثاني أكسيد الكربون في الصوبات ، يتم إقامة رواد الفضاء أولا فوق القمر في
الخيام ، ويلي ذلك إقامة السياح في هذه الخيام ، وبذلك يحقق البشر حلمهم الكبير بالعيش فوق القمر

رياح الساعة العاشرة

2014-12-22T15:23:00.003-08:00

رياح الساعة العاشرة

كتب احمد حمام

في تمام الساعة العاشرة صباحاً وأثناء وقوفي في احدي الشوارع الواسعة هبت رياح قوية باردة اقشعر لها جسدي من شدة البرودة محملة بالأتربة فهذا كان متوقعا ، فقد تنبأت الأرصاد الجوية بذلك ، وإن كان الأمر به شيء غريب لأن التغيرات الجوية أصبحت غير مستقرة ، ففي عهد ليس بعيد كانت الفصول المناخيه واضحة المعالم فالشتاء مثلا كان يأتي بأهم سماته الظاهرة والمميزة كالأمطار والرياح الباردة وإن حدث تحسن في الأحوال الجوية فقد نشعر يدفئ نسبي في درجة حرارة الجو أما الآن ونحن في فصل الشتاء يأتي علينا أوقات نشعر فيها بحرارة الشمس العالية وأوقات أخرى نشعر ببرد شديد فلا ندري أنحن نحيا في فصل الصيف أم الشتاء . وإني لأتساءل لماذا هذا التغير في الأحوال الجوية ؟ ان ما يحدث من تغيرات بيئية – وبالأخص تآكل طبقة الأوزون ووصول الأشعة البنفسجية بكميات متزايدة إلى سطح الأرض - تؤثر بصورة أكيدة على الأحوال المناخية فى الطقس، وخاصة عند ارتفاع درجات الحرارة والتي تزيد بدورها من معضلة تلوث الهواء حيث أن درجة حرارة سطح الأرض تؤثر على حركة الهواء صعوداً وهبوطاً وبالتالي على حركة التلوث الجوى بين التشتيت والتركيز ، فيتبع صعود الملوثات عملية التسخين المستمرة للطبقة السفلية من الغلاف الغازي الموجود على سطح الأرض أثناء ساعات النهار والتي تبلغ ذروتها خلال شهور الصيف ونتيجة لذلك يحدث انتشار للملوثات مع حركة الهواء، أما هبوط تلك الملوثات وعدم انتقالها مع الهواء ينشأ من عملية التبريد المستمرة أثناء ساعات الليل والتي تزيد خلال فصل الشتاء مما يؤدى إلى عملية ترسيب لهذه الملوثات.

ومن الأضرار الناتجة عن تآكل طبقة الأوزون علي سبيل المثال لا الحصر : الضباب الدخانى" الذي يبقى معلقاً فى الجو لأيام ، ضعف جهاز المناعة عند الإنسان ، الإصابة بالالتهابات الجلدية المزمنة ، تأثر الحياة النباتية والزراعية والبحرية ، وأهم هذه الأضرار وهو موضوع الحديث " ظهور ما يسمى بظاهرة الاحتباس الحراري"

الاحتباس الحراري: وهي ظاهرة تشبه ما يحدث في البيوت البلاستيكية للنباتات فمثلا في الليالي حيث يكون الجو غائم في الليل نجد الجو دافئ في الصبح ولكن المشكلة الحقيقية أن الظاهرة أصبحت عامة على كل الكرة الأرضية مما يسبب ذوبان جزءاً من الجليد القطبي فطبقات الغلاف الجوي أصبحت مليئة بالغازات السامة ولاسيما غاز ثاني أكسيد الكربونco₂ و غاز كلوروفلوروكربون الذي يرتفع في الجو حتى يصل إلى منطقة الأوزون حيث يحتجز هناك بسبب منع تلك الطبقة لمرور الغاز والشيء المعلوم بأن الأرض تمتص الحرارة من الشمس في النهار وتطرحها في الليل وهذا ما يلاحظ طبيعيا في الصحراء أي حرارة مرتفعة في النهار وبرودة قارصة في الليل ولكن مع تكثف غاز ثاني أكسيد الكربون في الجو يسبب احتجاز الحرارة في الجو مما يجعلها دائما في زيادة مستمرة وهذا ما يؤدي إلى ذوبان جزءاً من الجليد في القطبي المتجمد الشمالي والجنوبي ... فحل هذه الظاهرة يكمن في إيجاد حل لتآكل الأوزون. فنجد بعض من الدول قامت بمنع استخدام الرشاشات ؛ فنجد السويد من أولى الدول التي تمنع استخدام الرشاشات (مثل المبيدات الحشرية) التي تحتوي على كلوروفلوروكربون(CFC) في 23 يناير, 1978- حيث له فترة انحلال طويلة من 50 إلى أكثر من 100 سنة- تلتها بعض الدول مثل الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية, كندا والنرويج. وقد نفذت المجموعة الأوروبية اقتراح مشابه. حتى في الولايات المتحدة, ما زال غاز كلوروفلوروكربون يستخدم في أماكن أخرى مثل الثلاجات والمنظفات الصناعية حتى بعد اكتشاف ثقب طبقة الأوزون بالقطب الجنوبي في سنة 1985. بعد محادثات ومعاهدة دولية (بروتوكول مونتريال), تم وقف إنتاج كلوروفلوروكربون (CFC) بشكل كبير ابتداً من 1987 وبشكل كامل في عام 1996. وفي 2 أغسطس 2003, قام العلماء بالإعلان ان استنزاف طبقة الأوزون قد بدأ يتباطأ بعد حظر استخدام الكلوروفلوروكربون (CFC). فتحتاج طبقة الأوزون لرجوعها بشكل كامل لعدة عقود. فحالياً يتم تركيب مكونات تحتوي على (C-H) لتحل كبديل لاستخدام الكلوروفلوروكربون (CFC) مثل هايدروكوروفلوروكربون (HCFC), حيث ان هذه المركبات أكثر نشاط ولحسن الحظ لا تبقى فترة كافية في الغلاف الجوي لتصل إلى طبقة الستراتوسفير حيث تؤثر على طبقة الأوزون.

الإدارة فن لا يمتلكه الجميع

2014-12-22T15:21:00.000-08:00

الإدارة فن لا يمتلكه الجميع

سياسة الباب المغلق

كتب احمد حمام

إن الإدارة فن لا يمتلكه الجميع ، هكذا يؤكدون خبراء التنمية البشرية ، فإذا كنا نسمع في كثير من الأحوال صرخات تصدر من مدريري شركات ومؤسسات تعلو وتشكو من تصرفات موظفيهم ، إلا أن القول بأن عكس ذلك يكون حقيقيا في أحيان أخرى ، فقد تعلو صرخات وشكاوى الموظفين ، خصوصاً عندما يكون رؤسائهم من النوعية العصبية الفاسدة ، فالكثير من الموظفين يصادفه مدير فاشل لا يعرف كيف يتعامل مع موظفيه فقد يكون دكتاتورياً ، لا يجيد فنون التواصل مع موظفيه ، فيجلس في مكتبه العاجي ، عاشق لجمال النساء والصبايا الصغار ،ولنفاق الرجال، وعندما تجتمع تلك الصفات في شخص ، فإنه بالتأكيد فاشل إداريا حتي إن كان ناجح مهنياً ، هذا الفشل يظهر في بعض التصرفات ، كأن يحيط نفسه بسياج من الأشخاص المحيطين به ، الذين يمنعوك من الوصول والتحدث إليه ، فنجد أبوابه دائماً موصدة ، فإذا كان لك طلب أو أمر يتعلق بالعمل ، كان حتماً أن تتحدث أولاً إلي كل هؤلاء ، وتبدأ بالتنقل من هذا إلي ذاك ، الأمر في النهاية الذي يدفعك إلي أحد الأمرين ، الأول الاستغناء عما تريد ، والثاني أن تتحمل وتصبر حتي يصل طلبك إلي هذا المدير.

ولعل ما يميز هذا الفشل أننا كثيراً ما نسمع ألفاظاً اعتاد عليها أي مدير غير ناجح مثل ، "" الناس دايماً مستعجله ليه ؟ - روح وتعالي بعد بكره – اترك الورق ده لبكرة " فأين حكمة المدير في إدارة دفة الأمور ، فمن المعروف أن منصب المدير له مسئوليته وتفرض علي الشخص القائم بهذا المنصب التزامات جمة ليس من شأنها أن تجعله معرقلا للأمور ومعقداً لها أو متساهلا فيها طبقا لميوله ورغباته الشخصية .

وهناك من المواقف إن دلت فإنها تدل علي قلة الحيلة ، وضيق الأفق ، كأن مثلا : يأتي المدير إلي مكتبه صباحاً وهو في شدة الغضب والعصبية ويدخل إلي مكتبه متجاهلاً تحية من يقابله ، ويغلق باب مكتبه عليه ، وينادي علي سكرتيرته ، ويصدر تعليماته بعدم دخول أحد إلي مكتبه معللاً ذلك بقوله " أنه لا يريد أن يتسخ المكتب " ، وأيضا يتم تجميع جميع "البوستة" مرة واحدة لأنه لا يريد أن يمسك القلم بين الحين والآخر حتي لا يشعر بالضيق والصداع ، كذلك إذا جاء شخص يسأل أو يستعجل أمر ما، أو أمضاء مستند انتهي أم لا ، فعلي السكرتيرة أن تضلل بقولها أنه في اجتماع ولم ينتهي بعد .. ، أما بخصوص مقابلة الموظفين للمدير ، فإنه لا يريد أن يقابل أحداً – باستثناء بعض الفئات - ، ومن له طلب عليه أن يتركه عند السكرتارية .

هكذا منع ذلك المدير وقطع علاقاته بالموظفين ، وأوصد الباب أمامهم ، فبدلا من أن يكون ذلك الباب حلقة وصل بينه وبين موظفيه ، وسبب في سريان مجرى العمل ، أصبح عائقاً له ، ومن هذا المنطلق نستطيع القول أن مثل هذا المدير قد طبق وبلا شك " سياسة الباب المغلق " فقد بني حاجزا بينه وبين مرؤوسيه من خلال أشخاص محيطين به ، وبدلا من أن يكون حديثه يتسم باللطف والأدب ، فقد يكون عكس ذلك ، وبدلا من أن يتعامل مع أفراداً يقترحون ويفكرون ويطورون ، أصبح يتعامل مع أفراداً يرضخون للأوامر ولا يناقشون

السبسي رئيسا لتونس والمرزوقي يهنئه

2014-12-22T15:00:00.000-08:00

علنت الهيئة المستقلة للانتخابات في تونس، اليوم الاثنين، فوز الباجي قايد السبسي (88 عاما) برئاسة الدولة ليصبح أول رئيس بعد الثورة يتم اختياره مباشرة من الشعب. وجاء فوز السبسي بعد تصدره بفارق مهم على الرئيس المنتهية ولايته المنصف المرزوقي الذي هنأ منافسه.

وقال رئيس الهيئة شفيق صرصار، في مؤتمر صحفي بمقر الهيئة بالعاصمة تونس، إن السبسي حصل بعد فرز كل الأصوات في الداخل والخارج على 55.68% (نحو 1.7 مليون) من الأصوات مقابل 44.32% للمرزوقي (1.3 مليون صوت).

وأضاف صرصار أن عدد الأصوات الصحيحة للناخبين بلغت 3.1 ملايين صوت من جملة 5.3 ملايين مواطن يحق لهم التصويت. وبلغت نسبة المشاركة 60.11%.

وتابع أن الخروقات التي سجلت خلال الاقتراع لا تؤثر على النتائج النهائية, مشيرا إلى أن باب الطعون سيفتح ابتداء من مساء الاثنين. وكان مدير حملة المرزوقي (69 عاما) قد تحدث أمس عن ارتكاب الحملة المنافسة مئات الخروقات, ووصفت بعضها بالخطيرة.

ومقارنة بالدور الأول, زاد السبسي رصيده من الأصوات بنحو أربعمائة ألف صوت، في حين أضاف المرزوقي أكثر من مائتي ألف صوت.

وكان السبسي، وهو مرشح حزب نداء تونس (الفائز بالانتخابات التشريعية الماضية) قد حصل في الجولة الأولى التي أجريت يوم 23 نوفمبر/تشرين الثاني الماضي على 39% من الأصوات مقابل 33% للمرزوقي الذي ترشح بصفته مستقلا.

ووفق النتائج الأولية, فقد تقدم السبسي بفارق كبير أحيانا في تونس الكبرى ومحافظات الشمال الغربي والوسط الشرقي, في حين تفوق المرزوقي بفارق كبير أيضا في أغلب الأحيان بمحافظات الجنوب كلها, وبصورة أقل في محافظتي القيروان والقصرين (وسط).

وكانت حملة السبسي بادرت منذ مساء أمس إلى الإعلان عن فوز مرشحها ما دفع أنصاره إلى الاحتفال. وأثار الإعلان احتجاجا من قبل حملة المرزوقي, وتسبب في مواجهات بمحافظة قابس (جنوب شرق تونس).

اعتراف بالنتائج
في هذه الأثناء, أعلن عدنان منصر مدير حملة الرئيس المنتهية ولايته أن المرزوقي اتصل هاتفيا بمنافسه, وهنأه بفوزه بمنصب الرئيس.

وكان طارق الكحلاوي، وهو عضو بحملة المرزوقي، قد قال في وقت سابق اليوم إن المرزوقي سيتوجه مساء اليوم بخطاب يهنئ فيه منافسه بالفوز, والشعب التونسي بترسيخ ديمقراطيته, وبالتداول السلمي على السلطة.

وأضاف الكحلاوي، في تصريح لإذاعة محلية، أن المرزوقي مقتنع بتقدم السبسي بعد إعلان هيئة الانتخابات النتائج الرسمية الأولية عصر اليوم.

وتابع أن المرزوقي سيتحول إلى المعارضة, وسيكون مدافعا "شرسا" عن الحقوق والحريات, وسيرفض "التغول الحزبي" على السلطة, في إشارة إلى وصول مرشح نداء تونس إلى الرئاسة, وامتلاكه أغلبية نسبية في البرلمان.

وكان المرزوقي أكد أنه سيقبل بالنتائج الرسمية مهما كانت. بيد أنه حذر خلال حملته الانتخابية من جمع الحزب الفائز كل السلطات في يده في حال فاز السبسي بانتخابات الرئاسة, مشيرا بالخصوص إلى خطورة انفراد الحزب الحاكم الجديد بتعيين أعضاء المحكمة الدستورية.

يُشار إلى أن حزب نداء تونس حصل على 86 مقعدا بالانتخابات التشريعية الماضية, تلته حركة النهضة بـ69 مقعدا.

وكان السبسي قد دعا مساء أمس منافسه إلى التعاون من أجل إخراج البلاد من أوضاعها الهشة اقتصاديا واجتماعيا وأمنيا، ونفى وحزبه أي نية للاستبداد بالحكم. وتوصف انتخابات الرئاسة التي أفضت إلى فوز السبسي بأنها الحلقة الأخيرة في انتقال تونس نحو ديمقراطية كاملة.

وتلقى السبسي تهنئة من الرئيس الأمريكي باراك أوباماالذي أشاد بالانتخابات وتعهد بالعمل
معه في الفترة المقبلة، كما هنأ وزير الخارجية الأمريكي جون كيري السبسي قائلا في بيان "لقد ضربت تونس لمنطقتها وللعالم بأسره مثالا مشرقا لما يمكن تحقيقه من خلال التفاني من أجل الديمقراطية والتوافق واتباع عملية سياسية حاضنة لكل الأطراف."

من جانبه رحب الاتحاد الأوروبي بفوز السبسي، وقالت وزيرة خارجية الاتحاد فديريكا موغريني في بيان إن الانتخابات "سطرت صفحة تاريخية في الانتقال الديموقراطي للبلاد".

السلمى: إغلاق الجزيرة مباشر مصر خطوة إيجابية نحو المصالحة مع قطر

2014-12-22T14:56:00.002-08:00

أكد الدكتور على السلمى، نائب رئيس الوزراء الأسبق، أن إغلاق قناة الجزيرة مباشر مصر هو خطوة إيجابية نحو المصالحة مع قطر، والتى أطلقها خادم الحرمين الشريفين، موضحا أنها خطوة إيجابية يجب أن يتبعها خطوات أخرى. وأضاف السلمى فى تصريحات خاصة لـ"اليوم السابع" أن على قناة الجزيرة مباشر مصر أن تعتذر للشعب المصرى عما قامت به خلال الفترة الماضية من حديثها عن مصر غير المقبول وغير الصحيح على الإطلاق. وأوضح أن هذه الخطوة يجب أن تتبعها خطوات جادة من احترام لإرادة وقرارات الشعب المصرى، وإنهاء دعم الإرهاب ودعم جماعة الإخوان ومساندتها والاعتذار للشعب المصرى وتصحيح المواقف السابقة التى اتخذتها قطر. وفى تطور جديد لتطبيق المصالحة بين مصر وقطر، أعلنت قناة الجزيرة عن بث آخر موجز أنباء لـ" الجزيرة مباشر مصر " من الدوحة، حيث عرضت آخر موجز لها منذ قليل، مع إعلان ثابت يوضح موقف القناة، دون إشارة إلى إمكانية تغيير تردد الجزيرة مباشر، وهو ما فسره محللون بتوقف القناة

2014-12-22T14:45:00.003-08:00

مشروع تحويل زيت الطعام المستعمل إلى بيوديزل

صرح المهندس محمد سعيد مساعد وزير التموين والتجارة الداخلية أن مشروع تحويل زيت الطعام إلى"بيوديزل" سيتم البدء به فى محافظة بورسعيد.

وأشار - فى تصريحات له - إلى أن الأكاديمية العربية للعلوم والتكنولوجيـا والنقل البحري ستقوم بتوفير 5 ماكينات لتحويل زيت الطعام المستخدم إلى بيوديزل فضلا عن تدريب القائمين على المشروع، على كيفية تحويل الزيت إلى سولار كما تم الاتفاق مع محافظة بورسعيد على تخصيص أماكن لها يعمل بكل ماكينة اثنان.

ولفت سعيد إلى أنه سيتم تحديد عدد الماكينات الموجودة بكل محافظة على حسب استخدام كل محافظة لكمية الزيت، منوها إلى أنه جارِ الآن التفاوض مع الصندوق الاجتماعي للتنمية لإتاحة قروض ميسرة للشباب للتمكن من شراء تلك الماكينات التي يترواح سعرها من 6 إلى 8 آلاف جنيه.

وأوضح أن الشباب الراغب في الحصول على الماكينة عليه التقدم بطلب إلى مديرية التموين أو الغرفة التجارية التابعين لها بكل محافظة.

وأضاف أنه على سيدات المنازل وضع زيت الطهي المستخدم فى نفس العبوات التي قاموا بشرائها وتقوم كل سيدة بإرسال عبوات الزيت إلى البقال التمويني الذي سيقوم بإضافة رصيد للمواطن يتراوح من 25 إلى 50 قرشا عن كل لتر.

ولفت إلى أن الشباب العاملين على ماكينة تحويل زيت الطعام المستعمل الى "بيوديزل" سيقومون بشراء زيت الطعام من البقال التمويني مقابل 25 قرشا عن كل لتر ، على أن تقوم وزارة التموين والتجارة الداخلية بشراء "البيوديزل" منهم.

وأكد سعيد أن تحويل زيت الطعام المستعمل إلى سولار سيعمل على إضافة عائد مادي للمواطن على البطاقة التموينية يحصل مقابله على سلع غذائية مجانية، مما يتيح له زيادة في قيمة الدعم كما سيوفر العديد من فرص العمل وزيادة العائد المادي للبقال التمويني.

2014-12-22T14:41:00.001-08:00

دعاء فاروق حزينة لتنحيتها عن تقديم "كلام من القلب"

كتب صبري حسنين

القاهرة: بدأت حياتها العملية مذيعة برامج منوعات في قناة "ART"، وقررت إرتداء الحجاب فجأة، وإستمرت في تقديم البرامج ذاتها لفترة، ثم إنتقلت إلى قناة "إقرأ"، لكنها لمعت أكثر، وحققت جماهيرية واسعة، من خلال برنامجها "كلام من القلب" على شاشة قناة الحياة. وبشكل مفاجيء سحب البرنامج منها، وأسند لمذيعة أخرى، الأمر الذي أثار العديد من علامات الإستفهام.

إنها الإعلامية دعاء فاروق، التي تؤكد في حوارها مع "إيلاف" أنها حزينة جداً بسبب قرار إدارة شبكة قنوات الحياة حرمانها من البرنامج الذي إرتبط به إسمها لسنوات، وقالت "قلبي بيتقطع عليه". ونفت وجود مشاكل وراء قرار إسناد البرنامج إلى المذيعة لمياء فهمي عبد الحميد، وإسناد برنامج "الدين والحياة" إليها.

وأعلنت دعاء أنها تلقت عروضاً لتقديم برامج على قنوات أخرى، لكنها رفضتها، مؤكدة أن ترك قناة الحياة مغامرة غير محسوبة. ووصفت قرار إغلاق القنوات الدينية، وقنوات المسابقات بأنه "في محله".

ـ فجأة تركت برنامج "كلام من القلب" الذي حقق لك جماهيرية واسعة، ماذا حدث؟
يعتبر برنامج "كلام من القلب" محطة مهمة في حياتي، وكان سبباً في زيادة انتشاري وتوسيع دائرة جماهيريتي في مصر، والوطن العربي. ولذلك أنا حزينة جداً أنه لم يعد برنامجي، و "قلبي بيتقطع عليه"، حيث رأت إدارة شبكة تليفزيون الحياة أن أقدم أنا برنامج "الدين والحياة"، وتتولى لمياء فهمي عبد الحميد، إبنة مخرج الفوازير فهمي عبد الحميد، تقديمه. وليست هناك أية أسباب أخرى وراء هذا القرار.

ـ لا يعقل ذلك، فلا بد من وجود سبب ما دفع إدارة "الحياة" إلى حرمانك من البرنامج الذي إرتبط بإسمك، وحققت فيه نجاحاً كبيراً؟
هذا شأن الإدارة، وبالتأكيد أن هناك مبررات قوية، لكني لا أعلم عنها شيئاً سوى أنها رأت أنه من الأفضل تنحيتي عن تقديم "كلام من القلب" وأن أقدم "الدين والحياة"، ولم يكن أمامي إلا الإمتثال للقرار، الذي سيكون مفيداً للجميع.

ـ ألم تنشب خلافات من أي نوع معك؟
لا، ليست هناك أية خلافات مع إدارة "الحياة" أو مع زملائي وزميلاتي، ولكن ما حدث أن دعاء عامر التي كانت تقدم برنامج "الدين والحياة" إنتهى تعاقدها مع القناة هذا الشهر "أكتوبر"، ورفضت الإستمرار، رغم أن إدارة قنوات الحياة أعلنت تمسكها بها حتى آخر لحظة، وبالتالي صار هناك فراغ في تقديم برنامجها، وقررت الإدارة أن أسد أنا هذا الفراغ، وأقدم "الدين والحياة".

ـ لم تكن فكرة البرنامج جديدة، بل موجودة منذ زمن طويل، فكيف إستطعت التغلب على هذا الأمر؟
أستطيع القول إن هذا البرنامج أحدث طفرة في نوعية البرامج الإجتماعية التي تناقش مشاكل الناس الأسرية أو العاطفية، خاصة أن فكرته لم تكن جديدة بالفعل، بل سبق أن قدمت في الراديو عشرات المرات، وفي العديد من القنوات، لكن المهم هو طريقة التناول. ويرجع السبب في إقبال الناس على البرنامج إلى أنه كان يناقش المشاكل المجتمعية بشكل عصري، بعيداً عن القوالب الجامدة، ويخاطب كل فرد على قدر ثقافته، ولا يتعالى عليه، ولا يقدم نصائح غير قابلة للتنفيذ، عملاً بمنطق "اللي على الشط عوام"، بل كنا نغرق مع الناس في مشاكلهم. ونبحث لها عن حلول بما يتناسب مع تقاليدنا وتعاليم ديننا.

ـ هل تلقيت عروضاً لتقديم برنامج "كلام من القلب" باسم آخر على قناة أخرى؟
نعم تلقيت عرضاً أو إثنين لتقديم برامج مشابهة على قنوات أخرى، لكني رفضتها، لأني حالياً أعمل في القناة هي الرقم واحد في مصر، وأنا في "الحياة" مذيعة لامعة، ولدي جماهيرية واسعة، أستمدها من جماهيرية القناة.
وبالتالي فإن الإنتقال إلى أية قناة أخرى مغامرة غير محسوبة. ولو تركتها في هذا التوقيت، حيث التألق والنجاح سيكون غباءً مني.

ـ إذن ما زال لديك أمل في عودته إليك، خاصة بعد حصولك على جائزة بسببه ضمن فعاليات مهرجان النجاح الماضي؟
للأسف يبدو أنه لن يعود إليَ، وأنا حقاً "قلبي بيتقطع عليه"، حيث كان سبباً في تكريمي ضمن مهرجان النجاح رغم أني مازلت في سن صغيرة، وكان ذلك حافزاً لي لبذل المزيد من الجهد فيه، وتطويره، لكن الحمد لله على كل شىء.

ـ بدأت حياتك العملية بتقديم البرامج الفنية والمنوعات على قناة "ART"، ما سر التحول وإرتداء الحجاب وتقديم البرامج الدينية والإجتماعية؟
ليس هناك أي سر، سوى أني قررت إرتداء الحجاب ذات يوم عن إقتناع. وقدمت طلباً إلى الشيخ صالح كامل للإنتقال إلى قناة إقراء لتقديم برامج دينية، فقال إنه ليس لديه برامج للمحجبات، وأخرى لغير المحجبات، وقرر أن أستمر في تقديم برنامج المنوعات الذي كنت أعمل به، وبالفعل بقيت أقدمه لمدة عام، وإستضفت العديد من الفنانين، وأنا محجبة. والحق أن الشيخ صالح كان صاحب رؤية بعيدة في هذا الأمر، حيث كان أول صاحب قناة يسمح بظهور المذيعات المحجبات على قنوات غير دينية، وإحتذت به العديد من القنوات بعد ذلك. فقد كان معروفاً أن المذيعة إذا قررت إرتداء الحجاب، ستجلس في بيتها، ولن تجد عملاً لها على شاشة أية قناة.

ـ في إعتقادك، هل المذيعة المحجبة قادرة على تقديم أي نوع من البرامج؟
أؤكد أنه منذ أن سمح الشيخ صالح كامل لي ولمجموعة أخرى من الزميلات تقديم البرامج بالحجاب، تغيرت مفاهيم الناس والغرب عن المحجبات عموماً، والإعلامية خصوصاً. فقد كان ظهور المذيعات المحجبات على الشاشة ممنوعاً في السابق، وكان مقصوراً على كبيرات السن. وأعتقد أنه حدثت طفرة في البرامج الدينية والإجتماعية فيما بعد، فقد كانت في السابق لا تحظى بقبول الجمهور، لأنها كانت غير جذابة، وتخاطبه بلغة أهل الفقه الجامدة.
أما الآن فهي تحظى باقبال الشباب والفتيات، لأنها تناقش مشاكلهم وهمومهم بمنتهى الحرية والصراحة، وبأسلوب راقي بدون اللجوء للتكفير، أو بث مشاعر الإحباط والقنوت من رحمة الله في نفوسهم، وهذا هو الدين الإسلامي الصحيح، فالرسول يقول"إن الدين يسر"، ويقول أيضاً "يسروا ولا تعسروا". وأؤكد أن المذيعة المحجبة قادرة على تقديم جميع البرامج، والدليل أني قدمت برامج فنية ومنوعات لمدة عام بعد ارتدائي الحجاب على شاشة "ART".

ـ ما رأيك في إغلاق نحو 14 قناة وتوجيه انذرات إلى 20 قناة أخرى مؤخراً، وأغلبها قنوات دينية؟
لم أكن أشاهد تلك القنوات على الإطلاق. ولذك لم أشعر بالدهشة أو الغضب لغيابها. وأعتقد أن إغلاقها قرار في محله. فقد كان بعضها قنوات لا تقدم أي مضون، وأقصد قنوات المسابقات، حيث كانت المذيعات تظهرن وهن ترتدين قمصان نوم، وتتحدثن بطريقة مثيرة لغرائز الشباب، وكن يشتمن الجماهير، ويرد بعض الشباب عليهن بشتائم قذرة، وكل ذلك على الهواء مباشرة. "إيه القرف ده". إن هذه القنوات كانت تساهم في هدم ثوابت المجتمع. ولذلك أعتبر قرار الأغلاق قرار تصحيحي إذ لم يكن من الصحيح السماح لها بالصدور من الأساس.

ـ لكن غالبيتها كانت قنوات دينية، لم تتابعيها بحكم أنك مذيعة برامج دينية؟
أنا أحب الوسطية، وتتميز برامجي التي قدمتها طوال مشواري، وكذلك برنامج "الدين والحياة" الذي أقدمه حالياً بالوسطية أيضاً. ولم يكن هذا موجوداً في تلك القنوات على الإطلاق. فالمشايخ الذين كانوا يظهرون عليها يتسمون بالتشدد، ولعل الدليل على ذلك أنهم يرفضون مصافحة المرأة، أو ظهورها على الشاشة، ويرفضون خروجها للعمل، ويحرمون الكثير مما حلله الله. ولست أدري ماهية التجاوزات التي ارتكبتها، لكني لا أتفق مع ما كانت تقدمه من تعاليم تخالف وسطية الدين الإسلامي الحنيف.

ـ قدمت العديد من البرامج على "ART" و"إقرأ" و"الحياة"، كيف تختارين أفكارها؟
منذ أن كنت في مجموعات قنوات راديو وتليفزيون العرب المملوكة للشيخ صالح كامل، و أنا من إختار أفكار البرامج، وأعد حلقاتها "من الألف للياء"، فقد كنت أشرف على فريق الإعداد. لكن الأمر مختلف في "الحياة" فالبرامج ملك القناة، وهي من أفكار القائمين عليها، ولا أحد يستطيع القول إن البرنامج الفلاني ملك له.

ـ أي البرامج تفضلين مشاهدتها في مختلف القنوات؟
أفضل متابعة البرامج الحواري، وخاصة برنامج "العاشرة مساء" الذي تقدمه منى الشاذلي.

An insult to Islam or trade .. Dolls tray of worshipers warheads donkeys

2014-12-18T13:17:00.003-08:00

Islam is exposed to fierce war since the revelation that the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, can hardly go through a period of time and only exposed to Islam and Muslims to insult explicit, but in this strange new Alisah they were made in cooperation with the Egyptian traders.
Recently spread on social networking sites a picture of dolls heads donkeys performing prayer, and these publications include the following:
Said, "is Yao Zhang," director of the company that these dolls are made that his company did not intend insulting Islam sales, but was this a result of a request traders Egyptians produce dolls illustrate the naivety of the Muslim Brotherhood, where follow their leader, the Muslim Brotherhood taking advantage of this political situation in Egypt to achieve more profit.
Which prompted the Chinese company to thousands of dolls manufactured and exported to the Egyptian market, which has seen widespread dolls and considered by most Egyptians ill-explicit to Islam and Muslims; where that prayer is not obligatory belong to the Brotherhood certain, but it is the duty belonging to Muslims all.
We here at the site of Egypt Fife call on the Egyptian government to prevent these dolls from the Egyptian market and accounting work to be entered into Egyptian territory; China has been insulted Islam, whether intentionally or unintentionally, we the Egyptians not to insult our religion by allowing the dolls to stay on the land of Egypt .
This While there are sites published the same story under the title "head shop Trathiat replaces bays with a donkey." But note that the first of our reservation to insult the congregation, then to any person whatever the orientation.

Ministry of Health: 1557 cases of measles so far

2014-12-18T13:15:00.004-08:00

Dr. Hossam Abdel Ghaffar, spokesman for the Ministry of Health announced in his interview on Channel life today, there are 1557 cases of measles distributed at the level of the Arab Republic of Egypt until now, also pointed out that the ratio makes Egypt so far with countries classified by the Ministry of WHO as one of the a few states measles - according to the World Health Ministry characterization of her -.
Dr. Hussam also explained that it is good that the media follow-up so people know that they have to move quickly to treatment; where it should be explained to the parents that they vaccinate their children, and that in the case of symptoms of measles should move them to the hospital immediately for treatment.

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إهانة للإسلام أم تجارة.. دمى صينية لمصلين برؤوس حمير

2014-12-18T13:02:00.000-08:00

يتعرض الإسلام لحرب ضروس منذ أن نزل الوحي على رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم، ولا تكاد تمر فترة من الزمن وإلا ويتعرض الإسلام والمسلمين إلى إهانة صريحة، ولكن الغريب في هذه الإساة الجديدة أنها صدرت بالتعاون مع تجار مصريين.
انتشرت مؤخراً على مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي صورة لدمى برؤوس حمير يؤدون صلاة الجماعة، وهذه المنشورات تتضمن ما يلي:
صرح “هو ياو تشانغ” مدير مبيعات الشركة التي صنعت هذه الدمى أن شركته لم تنوى الإساءة للإسلام، ولكن جاء هذا جراء طلب تجار مصريين إنتاج دمى توضح مدى سذاجة الإخوان المسلمين حيث يتبعون قائدهم الإخواني مستغلين بذلك الأوضاع السياسية في مصر لتحقيق مزيد من الربح.
الأمر الذي دفع الشركة الصينية إلى تصنيع آلاف الدمى وتصديرها إلى السوق المصرية والتي شهدت انتشاراً واسعا للدمى والتي اعتبرها معظم المصريين إساءة صريحة للإسلام والمسلمين؛ حيث أن الصلاة ليست فريضة تخص الإخوان بعينهم، ولكنها فريضة تخص المسلمين جميعهم.
ونحن هنا في موقع مصر فايف نطالب الحكومة المصرية بمنع هذه الدمى من الأسواق المصرية ومحاسبة من عمل على إدخالها إلى الأراضي المصرية؛ فإن كانت الصين أهانت الإسلام سواء بقصد أو بغير قصد، فيجب علينا نحن المصريين ألا نهين ديننا الحنيف بالسماح لهذه الدمى بالبقاء على أرض الكنانة.
هذا وفي حين أن هناك مواقع نشرت نفس الخبر تحت عنوان “محل تراثيات يستبدل رأس الخليجين برأس حمار”. ولكن ننوه أن تحفظنا الأول تجاه إهانة المصلين، ثم تجاه أي شخص مهما كان توجهه.

هل ستؤثر صحة أحمد حلمي على مشاركته في لجنة تحكيم "أرابس جود تالنت 4"؟

2014-12-18T12:21:00.001-08:00

تتّجه الأنظار إلى شاشتَي MBC4 و"MBC مصر"، لمشاهدة انطلاق الموسم الرابع من برنامج المواهب المتعدّدة والمتنوّعة “Arabs Got Talent”. في الوقت الذي يراقب أعضاء لجنة تحكيم البرنامج: نجوى كرم، وناصر القصبي، وأحمد حلمي، وعلي جابر، ما يَحدث على المسرح بعينٍ فنية ناقدة، بهدف اكتشاف الإمكانات الفعلية والمهارات التي تتمتّع بها المواهب العربية المشارِكة، علماً أن مهام التقييم والفرز والاختيار تقع كلّها على عاتق اللجنة، ومن ضمنها طبعاً خيار اللجوء إلى "البَزر الأحمر" (Red Buzzer) في حالات عدم التأهُّل والاستبعاد.
أما مفاجأة الموسم الرابع من البرنامج، فتتمثّل في "البَزر الذهبي" (Golden Buzzer) المستحدَث، والذي يُتيح لأعضاء لجنة التحكيم استخدامه، لمرّة واحدة في كل حلقة من الاختبارات الأولية، بهدف ضمان انتقال موهبة متميّزة، مباشرة إلى مرحلة التصفيات نصف النهائية، من دون المرور بمراحل التأهُّل، قُبيل الحلقات المباشرة.
وفي السياق نفسه، ستتوالى المواهب المبدِعة بالظهور تباعاً منذ الحلقات الأولى للبرنامج، مُعلِنة عن ولادة موسمٍ جديد قويٍّ يحمل عدداً وافراً من الطاقات من مختلف الفئات العمرية، التي تم اكتشافها في مجموعة من الدول والعواصم العربية، إضافة إلى بلدان الاغتراب في أوروبا وأميركا وكندا، حيث تتواجد جاليات عربية.. وهو ما أعطى لعددٍ كبيرٍ منها فرصة المشاركة في البرنامج.
وفي جانبٍ متصل، وفي ما يتعلّق بالعارض الصحي الذي ألمّ بالنجم المصري أحمد حلمي، ومسألة خضوعه إلى عملية جراحية في الولايات المتحدة، فقد طمأن حلمي عشّاقه ومحبيه ومتابعي "Arabs Got Talent" عن صحته، وأوضح أنه يمر الآن بمرحلة تعافٍ، مؤكّداً عودته إلى البرنامج مع بداية الحلقات المباشرة، علماً أنه كان أصرّ على تسجيل الحلقات الأولى، خلال مرحلة الاختبارات التأهيلية، وذلك قُبيل سفره لإجراء العملية الجراحية التي تكلّلت بالنجاح.
يعرض برنامج "Arabs Got Talent" على MBC4 و"MBC مصر"، كل سبت في تمام الساعة 06:00 بتوقيت جرينتش، 09:00 بتوقيت السعودية.

As the Digging Ends, a Desire for ‘Eureka’ Dwight Garner Weighs In on the ‘Serial’ Podcast Finale

2014-12-18T12:17:00.000-08:00

Listening to the first season of “Serial,” Sarah Koenig’s breakout true-crime drama, a spinoff of “This American Life” that’s become the most popular podcast in the history of the form, has been like observing a lo-fi but formidable space launch.

All the parts have ticked and glistened. In Ms. Koenig, an unlikely star has been born. The story she’s intimately told over the course of 12 episodes has made plenty of us drive a bit wobblier (a lot of podcast listeners tap into their car stereos via Bluetooth) and feel the occasional tingle of campfire-narration awe.

Yet stories, especially nonfiction murder inquiries like this one, require endings. A question has burned from the start: Would Ms. Koenig be able to guide “Serial” home — that is, would it arrive at resolution about the guilt or innocence of the imprisoned young man, Adnan Syed, at its center — or would it pull a slow fade into indeterminacy, like the Philae comet lander, which ditched in the shade and slowly lost battery power?

Mike Pesca, on a recent Slate podcast, practically begged Ms. Koenig for closure. “Don’t let this,” he said, “wind up being a contemplation on the nature of truth.” (Slate, which has its own litter of podcasts, has covered “Serial” as assiduously as the British tabloids cover a royal birth.) Ms. Koenig has been candid about the fact that definitive answers — she’s performed her investigation in something like real time, tightrope walking without the benefit of a net — may be impossible to come by.

On Thursday morning, our long national nightmare of suspense ended. The 12th and final episode of the first season of “Serial” beamed online at 6 a.m. I won’t be fully able to duck spoilers here, so proceed with caution. As absorbing as this final episode was, somewhere out there, Mr. Pesca surely has his head in his hands.

The last episode was a tangled and heartfelt yet frustrating hour of radio in which Ms. Keonig hemmed and hawed and pored back over old evidence and asked, “Did we just spend a year applying excessive scrutiny to a perfectly ordinary case?” The answer to that question, apparently, is no and yes, and yes and no. Unlike the conclusions of Agatha Christie novels, real life can make only murky puddles.

For those who haven’t kept up, the “Serial” podcast is about a murder that happened almost 16 years ago in Baltimore County, Md. Hae Min Lee, a smart, attractive and athletic senior at Woodlawn High School, disappeared after school on Jan. 13, 1999. Her body turned up almost a month later in a city park. She had been strangled.

Her 17-year-old ex-boyfriend, Mr. Syed, was popular, outgoing, a Woodlawn High homecoming prince. He was arrested in the crime and eventually sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years. The case against him was hardly airtight, but the key witness, a friend of Mr. Syed’s named Jay, said he had helped him bury Ms. Lee’s body in the woods. Mr. Syed has always maintained his innocence.

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Those are the basic facts, yet the story Ms. Koenig has told has been far more winding, complicated and offbeat. She’s poured through court testimony, cellphone records and police interrogation tapes. She has interviewed friends, family members, lawyers and forensic specialists. She has poked an array of holes in the state’s case, even finding a potential alibi that was overlooked in court. She took a deep dive into the Islamophobia that may have been at work in the case. Would the American-born Mr. Syed, who is of Pakistani descent, have been convicted had he not been a Muslim?

You could tell Ms. Koenig has often thought that Mr. Syed is probably innocent, or at a minimum, received from his lawyers a halfhearted defense. She came to like him, and so did we. But as she put it in one episode, “What if he is this amazing psychopath, and I’m getting played?”

The soul of “Serial” has been in the way Ms. Koenig has done her digging so transparently, airing niggling doubts along the way. She’s incorporated new evidence, sometimes from people who called her only after having their memories jogged by the most recent podcast. As she has moved along, she has uprooted the way murder mysteries are usually told. She’s allowed us to feel like Harper Lee, riding shotgun with Truman Capote as he reported “In Cold Blood,” before he, too, conveniently mangled facts in his telling.

“Serial” plowed up entire fields of odd detail for listeners to linger over. The man who discovered Ms. Lee’s partly buried body, a potential suspect who is referred to as “Mr. S.,” turned out to have a penchant for streaking. A phrase that popped out of the mouth of the “Serial” producer Dana Chivvis during a re-enactment of a crucial event — “There’s a shrimp sale at the Crab Crib” — became a tasty Internet meme. I made the mistake of Googling the phrase, and now T-shirts bearing the slogan follow me across the Internet. At the conclusion of the final episode of “Serial,” Ms. Koenig, channeling Henry Fonda in “12 Angry Men,” remarks that, “As a juror, I have to acquit Adnan Syed.” Yet she’s a journalist, not a juror. She adds: “So just as a human being, walking down the street next week, what do I think? If you ask me to swear that Adnan Syed is innocent, I couldn’t do it. I nurse doubt.” Many will listen and conclude, “They got the right guy.”

“Serial” has demonstrated the bedrock truth of Calvin Trillin’s assertion in his book “Killings” (1984) that “when someone dies suddenly shades are drawn up.” A murder “gives us an excuse to be there, poking around in someone’s life.” The human details tend to be why we’re there. They’re what resonate, even if the whodunit elements never catch fire.

Endings aren’t as important to me, in terms of fiction at any rate, as they are to many people. (I’ve had mighty arguments on this topic with friends.) If a writer has kept me hooked on a long westward cross-country drive and blows a tire at the Nevada-California border, I rarely hold a grudge. I bail out on most writers back in Scranton.

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This is a way of saying that no matter how “Serial” stuck its landing, I had decided by Episode 3 that I would follow Ms. Koenig’s work wherever it took her. She is an agile writer of cool, declarative sentences. Her voice — literate, probing, witty, seemingly without guile — is an intoxicating one to have in your head.

She has come on like equal parts Janet Malcolm, Nancy Drew, Patricia Cornwell and the Errol Morris of documentaries like “The Thin Blue Line.” I liked to imagine her, as if she were Claire Danes in “Homeland,” haphazardly taping bits of evidence along an apartment wall while pounding syrah and cranking John Coltrane’s “A Love Supreme.” Even the stop-and-start verbalizations and vocal fry — overused crutches on public radio — sound good on her. The sound “Serial” has made is a personal one, that of a smart woman puzzling it all out.

If a part of the impact of “Serial” has been watching Ms. Koenig’s rise, another part has been watching the revivifying of an old form, the radio serial. She’s made a show that seems dowdy and postmodern all at once. Each episode found its own length, from 28 to 56 minutes. There’s a primal pull to radio drama that many of us had nearly forgotten. We were eager on some level (perhaps too eager) to submit to the spell that “Serial” cast.

Ms. Koenig is a producer on “This American Life,” Ira Glass’s popular public radio show. It’s a broadcast I’ve long been of two minds about. The best of its segments bang the nail cleanly home. A great many others blow a uniquely grating sort of wind and deliver more style (usually imitations of Mr. Glass’s own) than substance.

In “Serial,” Ms. Koenig has managed to put her understated style fully in service of her substance. Which is not to say that the show didn’t have its lacunae. Among other things, it never really brought Ms. Lee, the crime’s victim, to life. (Despite multiple efforts, Ms. Koenig told us, the victim’s family never spoke with her.)

Her hunch about this story, despite an inconclusive, “Sopranos”-like ending, has paid off. “Serial” has replaced “This American Life” as the most downloaded podcast on iTunes, with an average of nearly three million listeners per episode. After an online fund-raising effort, a second season is in the works. A writer for The Guardian has called the fever around the show “the Beatlemania of the nebbishy public radio long-form nonfiction world.” Ms. Koenig, in this world, is for now Paul and John at the same time.

The backlash against “Serial” is sure to commence momentarily (in a few places, it began weeks ago), which may end up being a tonic for the show and for everyone else. We’ll see knockoffs of all stripes in the near future.

“Serial” isn’t truly over. There’s still untested DNA evidence. Mr. Syed hopes for appeals. Like the sleeping Philae comet lander, the case may yet catch some sunlight and blip back to life.

For now — though we are left bereft and a bit baffled by the ending of “Serial” — it’s pleasant to recall the way Ms. Koenig announced in Episode 4, before wading through a bit of long and technical courtroom testimony, “I’m going to try very hard not to bore you right now.” With few exceptions, she never did.

http://www.nytimes.com

Cuba Frees American Alan Gross, Held for Five Years

2014-12-17T15:11:00.002-08:00

by Andrea Mitchell and Erin McClam

In a historic thaw of a relationship chilled since the early days of the Cold War, the United States announced plans Wednesday to restore diplomatic and economic ties with the communist island of Cuba.

The changes came with the abrupt release of an American government contractor, Alan Gross, who had been imprisoned in Cuba for five years. He stood when his plane cleared Cuban airspace and stepped off in the United States to hugs on the tarmac.

At the same time, the United States released three Cubans jailed for 15 years on spying charges, and Cuba released a U.S. spy held there for two decades.

President Barack Obama declared that the United States was ending an "outdated approach" after five decades of isolation failed to accomplish the goal of a democratic and prosperous Cuba. The United States and Cuba severed diplomatic relations in 1961, two years after forces led by Fidel Castro overthrew the Cuban government.

"Neither the American nor the Cuban people are well-served by a rigid policy that's rooted in events that took place before most of us were born," Obama said from the White House. "It's time for a new approach."

Obama said that the United States would relax travel, banking and commerce restrictions, and he instructed Secretary of State John Kerry to start talks to re-establish diplomatic relations, including the eventual opening of an American embassy in Havana.

"Noboby represents American values better than the American people," Obama said, "and I believe this contact will ultimately do more to empower the Cuban people."

A ban on travel to Cuba by American tourists can only be lifted by Congress, but Obama promised to talk to lawmakers about ending the full economic embargo. In the meantime, other licensed travelers will be allowed to bring home Cuban cigars.

Obama also told Kerry to review the U.S. designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism, which has been in place since 1982.

While Obama was speaking in Washington, President Raul Castro went on Cuban television to welcome the restored relationship. But he said there were still profound disagreements, including on human rights, and he said the two countries must live with their differences "in a civilized manner."

The American policy shift was the culmination of 18 months of talks between the United States and Cuba in Canada, and a pivotal meeting in the fall at the Vatican, senior administration officials said. Pope Francis, who personally sent letters to Castro and Obama lobbying for greater openness, offered his congratulations.

Cuba agreed to release Gross, 65, on humanitarian grounds, a senior Obama administration official said. Gross went on a hunger strike earlier this year, and his wife said this month that he was "literally wasting away" in confinement.

In a dramatic flight to freedom, he was escorted by his wife, Judy, three members of Congress and the Secret Service. Gross stepped off the plane late Wednesday morning at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington.

He thanked Obama for helping secure his freedom, and he voiced support for the re-opening of diplomatic ties.

"To me, Cubanos, or at least most of them, are incredibly kind, generous and talented. It pains me to see them treated so unjustly as a consequence of two governments' mutually belligerent policies."

From the plane, Gross called his sister and daughters and told them he was free. On the plane were bowls of popcorn, a snack he had missed during his captivity, and a corned beef sandwich with mustard on rye, plus latkes and applesauce.

"Today is the first day of Hanukkah," Gross said, "and I guess so far it's the best Hanukkah that I'll be celebrating for a long time."

Judy Gross said earlier this month that her husband had lost more than 100 pounds and gone mostly blind in one eye. She has been critical of the Obama administration's handling of the ordeal. Gross has refused most visitors, although he did meet with two U.S. senators in November.

Gross was working as a contractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development, which works to promote democracy in Cuba, when he was detained in 2009. His family has said he was working to expand Internet access for Cuba's small Jewish community.

Gross was sentenced in 2011 to 15 years in prison for undermining Cuba. Castro called him a spy.

Senior U.S. officials took pains to say that Gross was not being released as part of a direct swap. Separately, senior U.S. officials said that the three Cubans were being released in exchange for what U.S. officials described as an "intelligence asset."

The spy's name and other details remained classified, but Obama and intelligence officials described his work as instrumental, including in the arrest and conviction of the three Cubans who were released on Wednesday.

"In light of his sacrifice on behalf of the United States, securing his release from prison after 20 years — in a swap for three of the Cuban spies he helped put behind bars — is fitting closure to this Cold World chapter of U.S.-Cuban relations," the office of James Clapper, the director of national intelligence, said in a statement.

Bureau of Prisons records showed that the three Cubans — Ramón Labanino, Antonio Guerrero and Gerardo Hernandez — were released on Wednesday.

A lawyer for the three, Richard Klugh, said he had not spoken to his clients before they boarded a plane to Cuba. He told NBC News that he was certain they were relieved to have "an arduous experience" behind them.

"After 16 years of imprisonment, two years of solitary confinement and so much time spent in dangerous prisons, this is not a slap on the wrist," he said.

Labanino and Guerrero have received visits from family while they were jailed, but Hernandez has only seen his wife once in 17 years because she was deported after his arrest, Klugh said.

"There is no words to express how he must feel," the lawyer said.

They were part of a group known as the Cuban Five. The two other members, Rene and Fernando Gonzalez, were released in 2012. The five were arrested in 1998 and accused of belonging to a spy cabal called the Wasp Network that had infiltrated anti-Castro exile groups in Florida.

s it announced the policy changes, the White House called on Cuba to relax the political, social and economic restrictions on its own 11 million people.

There have been signs in recent months of a warming between the two countries. Obama and Castro will attend a summit in Panama in April, the first to include both leaders, and Secretary of State John Kerry has praised Cuba's efforts to fight Ebola.

Obama has eased travel restrictions in recent years, but he has left in place a decades-old economic embargo.

The announcement was certain to have repercussions throughout American politics and the emerging 2016 presidential campaign. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla. and a potential candidate, said the policy change was "the latest in a long line of failed attempts by President Obama to appease rogue regimes at all cost."

Pakistan In Shock After School Attack That Killed More Than 100

2014-12-17T02:45:00.001-08:00

In one of the worst terrorist attacks in Pakistan's history, militants belonging to the Pakistani Taliban on Tuesday launched a brazen attack on a military-run school in the city of Peshawar. Officials said the eight-hour siege left at least 141 people dead, most of them students.

Tehrik-e-Taliban claimed responsibility for the deadly assault, saying the attack was a response to the military's recent offensive against the militants. "We selected the army's school for the attack because the government is targeting our families and females," Muhammad Umar Khorasani told reporters. "We want them to feel the pain."

Tuesday's attack started around 10 a.m. local time, when gunmen entered the Army Public School and Degree College in Peshawar and opened fire on students and teachers. Security forces quickly rushed to the scene.

Explosions and gunfire were heard inside the building several hours after the attack had started. According to Reuters, several of the attackers detonated suicide vests as the gunfight between militants and security forces intensified.

Peshawar police announced a little after 6 p.m. local time that the attack was over and all of the gunmen had been killed.

Pakistan's army said that while some reports said the militants had taken students hostage, the attackers never released demands. "Their sole purpose, it seems, was to kill those innocent kids. That's what they did,” Major General Asim Bajwa said during a press conference.

The uncle and cousin of injured student Mohammad Baqair, center, comforts him as he mourns the death of his mother, who was a teacher at the school attacked by the Taliban in Peshawar on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

As the day progressed, families rushed to local hospitals to locate injured students and retrieve the bodies of those who were killed.

"My son was in uniform in the morning. He is in a casket now," one grieving father, Tahir Ali , cried out as he came to collect the body of his 14-year-old son from the hospital. "My son was my dream. My dream has been killed."

Traumatized children who were lucky enough to escape alive recalled the bloodshed. "While we were being moved out, we saw bodies of our classmates lying in the corridors," one student told DawnNews .

"We were in the examination hall when all of sudden firing started and our teachers told us to silently lay on the floor," one student inside the school at the time of the attack told a private television channel . "We remained on the floor for an hour. There was a lot of gunfire. When the gunfire died down our soldiers came and guided us out."

Shahrukh Khan, 16, was shot in both legs while hiding under a desk as the attackers moved through his classroom, picking off students. "I folded my tie and pushed it into my mouth so that I wouldn't scream," he told Agence France Presse .

Pakistani army troops cordon off a road leading to a school under attack by Taliban gunmen in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Mohammad Sajjad)

Reuters explains that the school targeted by the militants was run by the Pakistani army. The student body included a few students who were children of civilians, but most children were the sons and daughters of soldiers. At least 500 students aged between 10 and 20 were present inside the building at the time of the attack.

Schools and other symbols of education have been a frequent target of radical militants in Pakistan, the Guardian points out, as they are seen as representing both the government and un-Islamic traditions. In October 2012, Taliban militants shot then 15-year-old Malala Yousafzai , a young activist for girls' education. "She was pro-west, she was speaking against Taliban and she was calling President Obama her ideal leader," a spokesman for the Pakistani Taliban told Reuters in the wake of the assassination attempt. "She was young but she was promoting western culture in Pashtun areas," he added.

The Taliban pointed at casualties at the hands of the Pakistani military to justify today's brutal assault. The battle between the army and the Taliban intensified this summer when the military launched an offensive against the militants in the North Waziristan tribal area in the wake of an attack on the Karachi international airport. More than a thousand fighters and civilians have reportedly been killed since the start of the offensive, named Operation Zarb-i-Azb. The Taliban has responded to the offensive with brutal violence, including a suicide attack on a ceremony at the Wagah border post.

Major General Asim Bajwa vowed on Tuesday the army will continue its fight against the militants and will eventually eradicate the group. "Extremely saddened, our resolve has taken new height. Will cont go after inhuman beasts, their facilitators till their final elimination," Bajwa wrote on Twitter .

The Pakistani military carried out several raids on Tuesday, including 10 bombings in the tribal areas.

Pakistanis were shocked by Tuesday's events. Prime Minister Nawal Sharif traveled to Peshawar on Tuesday and announced three days of national mourning. "These are my children and it is my loss," he said.

Many Pakistanis took to social media to express their condolences and call for unity in the wake of the tragedy.

Yet the attack also put the spotlight on the rampant insecurity in the country.

"The question that doesn't stop ringing in the head is this: what could we have done that we didn't do to save our children? A lot," journalist Syad Talat Hussain wrote on Twitter .

Women supporters of the Muttahida Quami Movement pray during a candle light vigil for the victims of a Taliban attack on a school in Pakistan on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

Tuesday's attack drew condemnation from leaders around the world.

President Barack Obama condemned the attack "in the strongest terms." "Our hearts and prayers go out to the victims, their families, and loved ones," Obama said in a statement.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said the attack defies belief. "It is a dark, dark day for humanity when something on this scale happens with no justification," he added.

Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai said in a statement that she was "heartbroken" by the violence.

"Innocent children in their school have no place in horror such as this," she said. "I condemn these atrocious and cowardly acts and stand united with the government and armed forces of Pakistan whose efforts so far to address this horrific event are commendable. I, along with millions of others around the world, mourn these children, my brothers and sisters -- but we will never be defeated."

2014-12-17T02:39:00.002-08:00

The Voice Season 7 wraps tonight, after some star-making performances by finalists Matt McAndrew, Chris Jamison, Craig Wayne Boyd, and Damien. Though we’ll know for certain who will be crowned winner before the 11 o'clock news starts tonight, the iTunes charts already show some potentially revealing results!

Matt McAndrew’s original song, “Wasted Love” dominated the chart last night and again today. Close behind him was Craig Wayne Boyd’s original, “My Baby’s Got a Smile on Her Face” in the No. 2 spot and Chris Jamison at No. 3 with his raunchy soul tune, “Velvet”. Damien trailed at No. 8 with his original song, “Soldier”.

If it was based solely on who grabbed the top spot on the chart, that’d be one thing, but all downloads count, and any song that sneaks into the Top 10 gets a 10x multiplier. This is significant since Chris managed to grab the No. 5 spot with his duet with Adam Levine on Robin Thicke’s “Lost Without U” (and for good reason — it was pretty amazing).

Matt also had two Top 10 songs, but the second, his duet on “Lost Stars”, barely squeaked in at No. 10. If Chris’s downloads at the No. 3 and No. 5 spots surpass Matt’s bookended top singles, it could be quite a sleeper! One thing’s for certain, though — things are looking mighty good for Adam!

However, let’s not forget that Blake’s fans vote in droves, or that Craig nabbed the second spot on the chart. It’s not over for these country crooners. The only safe bet, as we await the airing of tonight’s episode, is that Damien will most likely be going home with a new single and a fourth-place finish.

Who do you think will win The Voice? Come back here later tonight to find out who came out on top!

مسابقة " ملكة جمال البدينات " توجه إنذاراً إلى "ندا سلام " بعد ضبطها داخل فندق بالمهندسين

2014-12-17T02:37:00.002-08:00

وجهت إدارة ملكة جمال البدينات منذ قليل إنذار شديد اللهجة إلى " ندا سلام " صاحبة لقب ملكة جمال البدينات فى مصر العام الماضى وذلك بعد ما تداولته الصحف عن ضبطها ضمن شبكة لممارسة الأعمال المنافية للأداب داخل فندق بالمهندسين ، حيث جاء إنذار الفتاة الفائزة بقيام إدارة المسابقة باتخاذ الإجراءات القانونية ضد الصحف التى نشرت الخبر المسىء إليها وإلى إدارة المسابقة والتي قررت منحها فرصة لمدة 48 ساعة للرد على ما نشر طبقا للقانون.

وأشار بيان إدارة المسابقة أنه فى حالة عدم إتخاذ الفائزة باللقب العام الماضى بالإجراءات القانونية خلال 24 ساعة وأفادت إدارة المسابقة رسميا بشأن ما نشر ، فإن الإدارة ستقوم بسحب الجائزة من " ندا سلام " حفاظا على اللقب وسمعة المسابقة ، وأن المسابقة سوف تعتمد ما جاء بالصحف رسميا مما يترتب على ذلك من أثار قانونية ومنها فسخ العقد المحرر بين إدارة المسابقة و الفائزة وإلزامها بالشرط الجزائى حفاظا على سمعة المسابقة وإدارتها .

فى الوقت نفسه أكدت صاحبة فكرة مسابقة ملكة جمال البدينات لـ " صدى البلد " أنها ليس لديها أى فكرة عما نشر بالصحف وان إدارة المسابقة ستكون صارمة فى حال ثبوت ذلك .

وكانت قد القت الإدارة العامة لمباحث الأداب بالجيزة القبض على ملكة جمال البدينات ضمن 8 فتيات تم ضبطهن فى شبكة دعارة داخل فندق بمنطقة المهندسين

medicare benefits

2014-12-16T17:36:00.000-08:00

medicare benefits
Medicaid in the United States is a social health care program for families and individuals with low income and limited resources. The Health Insurance Association of America describes Medicaid as a "government insurance program for persons of all ages whose income and resources are insufficient to pay for health care." (America's Health Insurance Plans (HIAA), pg. 232). Medicaid is the largest source of funding for medical and health-related services for people with low income in the United States. It is a means-tested program that is jointly funded by the state and federal governments and managed by the states,[1] with each state currently having broad leeway to determine who is eligible for its implementation of the program. States are not required to participate in the program, although all currently do. Medicaid recipients must be U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, and may include low-income adults, their children, and people with certain disabilities. Poverty alone does not necessarily qualify someone for Medicaid.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act significantly expanded both eligibility for and federal funding of Medicaid. Under the law as written, all U.S. citizens and legal residents with income up to 133% of the poverty line, including adults without dependent children, would qualify for coverage in any state that participated in the Medicaid program. However, the United States Supreme Court ruled in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius that states do not have to agree to this expansion in order to continue to receive previously established levels of Medicaid funding, and many states have chosen to continue with pre-ACA funding levels and eligibility standards.

Medicaid in the United States
Thank you very much and good morning.
Ladies and gentlemen, if we want to
understand Medicaid, we must look at
the overall picture. We can’t do it in isolation.
What I would really like to have you do is
to think about how you could change the system
because the system has got to be changed dramatically
to survive.
Health care in America, I believe, is the best in
the world. Now, you can find countries that do
better in prenatal care. You can find a country that
does better on longevity or on mental disease and
defect. In any one area of health care, you can find
a country that is probably doing something better
than the United States. But overall, holistically, if
you are going to become sick, you will want to
receive care in a U.S. city such as St. Louis because
you have got an outstanding, outstanding health
care system here. You’ve got some of the best
researchers, some of the most talented people in
the world right here in St. Louis. So if you are
going to get sick, no matter where you are in the
country, you will want to get back to St. Louis to
be taken care of. I think it is pretty common for
Americans to feel this way. If our health care system
is this good, we surely want to preserve it.
The health care system in America is under a
great deal of stress and strain. It’s not onlyMedicaid,
it’s the total system. Right now we are spending
$2 trillion on health care. You may want to take
some of these figures down because I think they
are really relevant. Two trillion dollars is what we
expend now on health care. That’s 16 percent of
our gross domestic product (GDP). And within
seven years that’s going to double to $4 trillion and
that’s going to go to 21 percent of GDP in America.
When you reach this level, you put a lot of companies
in St. Louis and in the Midwest out of any
kind of competitive advantage in the international
arena, because health care costs for countries
around the world are much smaller percentages
of GDP than those in the United States.
For instance, Japan is the second largest economic
power right now, soon to be overtaken by
China. Right now, Japan is spending about 71/2
percent of GDP on health care and may reach 8
percent when we reach 21 percent here in the
United States. If we are going to be competing
against Japan, we are going to see what is already
taking place in the automobile sector: At the beginning
of this year, General Motors was the largest
automobile manufacturer and seller of cars in the
world. They pay $1,725 per automobile to sustain
their employee health care system. Toyota, a
Japanese company, spends $225 dollars per automobile.
So every car that GeneralMotors sells costs
an extra $1,500 for the company to produce.
We have seen the toll this has taken on General
Motors and Ford. According to business projections,
Toyota was not supposed to overtake Ford until
the end of this year; they overtook Ford in January
of this year. They were not supposed to overtake
General Motors until the middle of next year; they
overtook General Motors and became the largest
automobile manufacturer in the world in April of
this year. This is indicative of the challenges that
the high price, high cost of health care will impose
upon all manufacturers and firms that sell internationally—
especially over the next seven years,
with the doubling of our health care costs. If you
are in business or if you are in the Federal Reserve
System, you have got to be concerned about the
terrible cost of health care and how you are going
to be able to allow America to continue to compete
internationally, especially with the Chinese.
So it is an immediate problem.
The second immediate problem involves
employer-provided health care coverage: During
and after the secondWorldWar there was a law
passed that enacted rules and regulations preventing
businesses from increasing wages. Companies,
in order to keep their best employees and continue
to recruit good employees, offered health insurance.
A lot of companies started offering first-dollar
coverage, which means that all of an employees
health care was paid for by company health insurance,
which was sponsor owned and negotiated
by the employer. Over the years, insurance costs
have gone up and companies have started to withdraw
from comprehensive employee coverage,
especially in the past 10 years. The 82 percent of
employees who have historically been covered by
company health care plans has been declining to
about 60 percent. It’s probably on its way down
to 45 percent. For companies with 50 or fewer
employees, it’s already in the low 50s.
As coverage by employers decreases, there
will be more pressure on Medicaid—more uninsured
and more government control of health care.
And because the cost of health care is going to
continue to rise, the problems are going to get
worse: Fewer people are going to be covered by
employer-provided health insurance, and co-pays
are going to increase. The good side of that is that
there has been an upsurge of attention and interest
across America in consumer health care. For the
first time, higher co-pays and/or less employer
contributions to health insurance are prompting
health care questions: How much is this procedure
going to cost? Do I need this patented drug or can
I get a generic drug? For the first time in America
we are starting to educate ourselves about health
care and we are starting to ask questions, which I
think is extremely positive. Even though the
employers are backing off, the fact of the matter is
that this employer withdrawal is starting to make
employees and consumers much more knowledgeable
about health care.
The third big driver that you have to take into
consideration is going to directly impact Medicaid
because so many states and so many policymakers
are expecting the federal government to take over
Medicaid.What I am going to tell you is going to
point out that Medicaid is not going to be helped
by the federal government. The reason being is that
by the year 2014, seven years from now, Medicare
starts to go broke. Medicare right now takes up 21/2
to 3 percent of GDP. In 75 years that’s going to
jump to 15 percent, and the unfunded liabilities
of Medicare in 75 years are going to be $68 trillion
dollars. To put this number in it’s proper perspective,
the entire GDP in America right now is a little
under $13 trillion. So this surge in costs is huge,
and Medicare is going to start going bankrupt in
the year 2013 or 2014.
Congress has been taking the money out of
Medicare. And, likely until 2013 or 2014,Medicare
will continue to shed an excess of funds. That
excess money has gone into the United States
Treasury. Do you know what happens to money
that goes into the United States Treasury? It’s spent.
Congress has spent this money and continues to
do so. Come 2014 there will be no more excess
money coming in, and Medicare is going to come
over and say, “Pay us: Those IOUs that you have
been giving out for 28 years...Write us a check.”
Congress will say, first off, that they don’t have any
excess money coming in. Moreover, the Medicare
surpluses were being used to fund other government
programs. The first thing Congress will have
to do is to take other taxpayer monies to supplant
the money that Medicare was funding in those
programs. Secondly, on those IOUs to Medicaid,
they won’t have any money to pay them. The Iraq
War has cost us $8.5 billion per month and that’s
not going to be paid off for many years, even if we
stop the war this year. Medicare has got the first
draw on those IOUs that the government has sent
and Congress doesn’t have the money.
In 2014, Congress is going to be faced with
three objectives, I believe. They are going to have
to first come up with the money, and there are
several ways to do this: They could go to a complete
price control system and a rationing of health care
on elective surgeries, on elective appointments to
your doctor—which they can do—and ratchet down
the cost. ButWashington University in St. Louis,
for instance, is going to be adversely impacted
because there will be no money coming in. Or they
could go to a government-controlled, nationalized
system, which some of you in this room support.
I don’t. The reason I don’t support it is because it
will stifle innovation completely. I want to find a
cure for breast cancer because my mother-in-law
died from it, my wife had it, and my younger
daughter had it. I want to find a cure for breast
cancer, and I don’t want to stifle innovation, so
I’m not for a nationalized health care system.
Another option is to raise huge amounts of
taxes. Congress could roll back all of those tax
breaks we’ve been given. If they were to reinstate
those taxes and then double them, that would
stabilize Medicare. That’s the background. Those
governors and state legislators that believe that
Washington is going to fix Medicaid by coming in
with new dollars—well, it’s not in the cards.
I ask you now to put your hat on and say you
are a governor. You’re the governor of Missouri,
and you want to be able to fix Medicaid and take
care of the uninsured and underinsured in this
state. Let’s take a look at Medicaid. Medicaid is a
combination program. It was instituted as a result
of Medicare, to follow it and supplement it. To fill
in the gaps. It was sort of a strange phenomenon.
The federal government pays about 55 percent on
average of stateMedicaid costs. But that percentage
varies by state. Some states get 70 percent, other
states get 50 percent, but on average it’s 55 or 45
percent. The federal government pays 55 percent
and for that payment they say there are 32 programs
or policies that states can add on and have complete
discretion over and we will fund 55 percent;
but there are some mandatory programs for children
andmothers that we are going to require every
state to have and we are going to set those rules.
Medicaid is a partnership between the federal
and state governments in which states have the
option of putting in voluntary programs, which
every state has a portion of. My home state of
Wisconsin has got the maximum. Other states do,
too. Missouri does not. Anyway, you can put in
these voluntary programs,which the federal government
will fund at 55 percent on average, and you
have to fund all the mandatory programs put out
by the federal government as well.With that as a
background, then, how do we fix the system and
how do we change health care and at the same
time specifically fix Medicaid?
I tell governors, think boldly. Be bold and
courageous. Because, just stop and think practically,
if you have an entity and you are in business
and somebody comes up to you and says I will give
you 55 percent of your cost and all you have to do
is come up with 45 percent, how much of that
money will you take? Me, I would take as much as
I could get. I would put every voluntary program
in. I would put in as courageous and as aggressive
a program as I could have for my state because the
federal government is going to pay 55 percent.
The federal government quakes when I say
this because they don’t want states to think that
way. But if you stop to think about it, if you are a
banker or in a business and somebody comes in
and says if you want to expand your business I’ll
give you 55 percent and all you have to come up
with is 45 percent, wouldn’t you take as much as
you could get? It’s an open-ended proposition on
Medicaid, and that’s why I don’t understand the
timidity of governors. It’s a blank check, and if you
consider health programs for children, it’s even a
better deal. The federal government will give you
70 percent for those, and all you have to come up
with is 30 percent. If you want to go into technology,
there are some programs for which the federal
government will give you 90 percent and all you
have to come up with is 10 percent. I, for the life
of me, do not understand why states don’t completely
bankrupt the federal government. It’s a
wide-open thing.
I tell you this as a background, and then I look
at welfare reform because I started welfare reform
in this country.What I did is I brought welfare
mothers into the governor’s residence in Madison
and I asked them why they didn’t work. They said,
“If we go to work we lose our health insurance.” I
said, “If I give you health insurance will you go to
work?” They said, “Yes, but if I go to work who is
going to take care of my children?” I said, “If I pro-
vide you with day care will you go to work?” They
said, “Yes, but I dropped out of school when I was
thirteen and I have no job skills.” I said, “If I give
you job skills, day care, and health care, will you
go to work?” They said, “Yes, but most of the jobs
are in the suburbs and I live in the central city.” I
said, “I’ll provide you transportation.Will you go
to work then?” They said, “Yes.”
And welfare reform was born.When I started
welfare reform, governors and policymakers in this
country said it couldn’t be done: “Welfare reform
cannot take place. It’s a way of life and you are just
going to get hurt, Tommy.” I said, “No, I’m going
to try it because I want to give people a chance to
get out of poverty, and the only way to get out of
poverty is by working.” I didn’t want to be cruel. I
wanted to be compassionate and give people the
assistance to help themselves. It was born at the
dinner table at the mansion in Madison with the
welfare mothers.
Once I started, the governors who originally
told me not to do it saw that I was getting some
success and they started copying me. John Engler
said, I’m smarter than Tommy Thompson. If he
can do it, I can do a better job. Then Arnie Carlson,
then Terry Branstad, and it spread across the
country. Then the federal government noticed the
states were getting good recognition and reducing
welfare and decided they had better get into the
act. They would have never done it except for the
fact that the states had done it.
Why do I tell you that story? I tell you that
story because when I was secretary of Health and
Human Services,Mitt Romney came tome fromthe
state of Massachusetts, and Ted Kennedy, too, and
said if you could give us a waiver, Tommy, so that
we could use our disproportionate share money,
the federal dollars that come back to the federal
government, we can set up a health insurance programthat
will cover underMedicaid all of the uninsured
in Massachusetts. I jumped at it. I didn’t
know he was going to be my opponent. I jumped
at giving him the waiver, so that he could try something,
because in the back of my mind I knew what
was going to happen. It was the last waiver that I
handed out. Then I went on the speaking circuit
on health care.
I always put this out as a bet. I bet anybody in
the audience $100 to $5 that there will be 25 states
this year that are going to offer some kind of solution
on health care on the uninsured andMedicaid.
The reason I was so sure on this is because of my
experience on welfare. I knew that once a governor
does something and gets some good public recognition
and publicity, others are going to copy it.
Governors love to go to conferences. I did the same
thing. I was a governor for 14 years. You go to a
conference, you find out what’s the best program
out there that’s working, and then you run back to
your home state, change a couple of things, and
take credit for it. I knew that’s what happened on
welfare. I knew that’s what would happen in health
care, and that’s exactly what’s happening across
America:Massachusetts, Vermont, NewHampshire,
California,Missouri,Wisconsin,Michigan, Illinois,
Minnesota—you name it—Iowa—they are all trying
something new. Because one state started it, it’s
starting to spread.
Ladies and gentlemen, the beauty of this is that
great opportunities exist. Come 2008, the presidential
election is going to take place. Democratic
candidates are talking about a single-payer nationalized
system. Republicans, except for me, are talking
about putting a tourniquet on health care. I’m
talking about a complete transfusion and transformation,
and that’s where you come in today.We
are here today to talk about Medicaid. I’m trying
to set the stage for you so that you do know now
that we have problems facing us in 2014. The federal
government is not going to fix them, but the
federal government’s got a piggy bank and there is
no limit to what you can do innovatively in your
state to pull in federal dollars to help you fix your
problems in Missouri.
So let’s get started. Now we look at health care
and at the fact that you have a responsibility as
the governor of Missouri to make your health care
system effective, efficient, and expanded to cover
the underinsured and uninsured. Currently, $2
trillion is spent on healthcare, and Medicaid is 20
percent of your Missouri budget. You’ve got to
realize that, for every $1 in Medicaid costs, as a
governor you pay only 45 cents. A governor has to
think, I have a real opportunity here. You look at
health care and you find out that 93 percent of
that $2 trillion is spent on patients who go to their
doctor or the hospital after they’re already sick. It
is called a curative system. The money is spent to
get you well after you get sick. That isn’t health
care. Consider your car: After so many miles, you
take it in for an oil change, grease job, etc. But you
don’t take your own body in for maintenance. You
wait until it collapses and go to the hospital;
you’ve got cancer and then it costs a heck of a lot
more money to get you well. There’s hardly any
money, only 7 percent of that $2 trillion, that is
used to keep you well. So don’t you think the first
thing we should do is have a transformation and
put the emphasis on wellness? Let’s see if we can
keep some individuals out of the hospital.
So, after transforming the system, after trying
to transform the curative system to a wellness and
prevention system, you look at the next big challenge.
And the biggest area, especially for poor
people, is chronic illness. Seventy-five percent of
the cost of health care, including costs forMedicaid
(in fact, especially costs forMedicaid) is for chronic
illnesses.WhenWillie Sutton and Jessie James were
asked why they robbed banks, they said, because
that’s where the money is. So if we want to fix
Medicaid, we want to be able to put the emphasis
on wellness butmost importantly on education and
getting people to understand chronic illnesses
because that’s where the big money is. You want
to change that. You want to have the best system
and the healthiest people in Missouri so you can
go brag about it.
The first thing you want to do is address the
biggest health care issue, which is tobacco use.
People don’t understand this, that tobacco use is
still the biggest problem related to chronic illnesses
in America. Four hundred and forty-three thousand
Americans died last year of tobacco-related illnesses.
Just as I did when I was secretary, when I
was governor ofWisconsin I went around in the
morning and took cigarettes out of my employees’
mouths as they were smoking outside the door.
Sometimes I got slapped. Sometimes I got cussed.
One day I walked around and an elderly gentleman
was taking a drag and didn’t know what to do with
his cigarette when he saw me coming. So he put
it in his pocket. It caught his shirt on fire, but he
stopped smoking. Then I got so irritated that I
banned all the smoking on all of the property
owned or leased by HHS. I made any employee
who wanted to smoke go over to EPA and smoke.
A complete embarrassment.
Let’s return to our imagined role as governors
now. Here’s what I would do if I were governor of
Missouri. I would put a dollar tax on every pack
of cigarettes sold, and I’m a Republican. That’s a
tax, ladies and gentlemen, but I wouldn’t let the
government have the money because 70 percent
of smokers want to quit.Which is a tremendous
opportunity, ladies and gentlemen, to put that
dollar-a-pack tax into a fund only for smokers to
draw down to quit. Can you imagine the change,
the transformation of public health if you did that,
for patches, for counseling, for doctors? And you
would be able to have a huge impact. On the federal
government level, I would require nicotine to be
regulated by the FDA. Baby aspirins: How many
of you take a baby aspirin every day? I do. Baby
aspirins have to be regulated by the FDA, and baby
aspirins are used to improve your health and circulation
system, while nicotine isn’t regulated
and it killed 443,000 Americans last year. Does
that make any sense to any rational person in the
public arena? So then we take care of tobacco.
The next big health issue is diabetes. Diabetes
is just huge. Eighteen million Americans last year
had type II diabetes, a lot of those in the Medicaid
arena. This year, 21 million. One year later and
it’s 21 million Americans. Costs went from $135
billion to $145 billion in both direct and indirect
cost for the health care system. There are 41 million
more Americans, ladies and gentlemen, some
in this room that are walking around that are prediabetic
and within five years will be diabetics,
and then the cost will go to $400 billion. One out
of every five dollars going into the health care system
will be needed for diabetes if we don’t make
changes.
Dr. Peck has spoken about the National
Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH is a great
research engine for the world, and we should
double its funding again, which would achieve
significantly better results than some of the other
programs funded by federal government expenditures.
But the NIH did a study that says, if you walk
30 minutes per day and loose 5 to 10 percent of
your body weight, you reduce the incidence of
type II diabetes by 60 percent.We can walk and
we can watch our body weight, which leads us
then to a third big challenge: obesity. Obesity and
diabetes are epidemic among minorities.
We need to look at obesity.We can look at the
mirror and say chunky is good, but slim is better. I
tell my business clients that have cafeterias, and
you should do it here on the campus ofWashington
University, give away salads or subsidize salads,
vegetables, and fruits for a buck a serving. Charge
$5 for hamburgers, $10 for cheeseburgers, and 20
cents per french fry and you will change the eating
habits of your employees. Let’s face it, if you are
able to bring a nutritionist in and start teaching
nutrition at the medical schools and make it a
detailed subject—and especially counsel minorities—
you have a tremendous chance to change
Medicaid and health care for the better.
That also leads into cardiovascular disease,
which is the number one killer of both men and
women today in America. Here’s an idea: It is not
radical, but it is common sense. I’ve started a diet
and you don’t have to pay any royalties for using
it. I want you to know that there are no food police
in St. Louis. Although your mother and father and
grandma and grandpa said you have to eat everything
on your plate, no law says you have to do that.
Take whatever you want and eat only half and you
will loseweight. This is Tommy Thompson, I’ve lost
15 pounds doing that. I know it hasn’t improved
my looks any, but it has improved my strength and
my ability to work harder. So we must take care of
chronic illness.
This is where governors like you, policymakers,
and businesses like the Centene Corporation come
in. Now, I don’t want you to think that I’m up here
promoting Centene, but I like Centene and it’s a
great company. I want you to know that Centene
manages diseases for Medicaid, and I’m not saying
that just for you to hire Centene. That is not the
thing I’m saying. You, as a governor, look at your
Medicaid population. Twenty-five percent of your
Medicaid population is using anywhere from twothirds
to three-quarters of your Medicaid budget.
These are the individuals that are severelymentally
and physically disabled, your diabetes population,
people with severe asthma, and they are using up
two-thirds to three-fourths of yourMedicaid budget.
Don’t you think it would be smart for you to
address that problem?
The best way to do it is to manage those diseases.
Hire disease managers. Do it yourself. Find
out if individual people on Medicaid are taking
their medicines. I’m going to give you a fact. This
is a Pfizer study, which absolutely amazes me.
Thirteen percent of Americans go in to see a doctor
for a sickness and get a prescription and never take
it to a drug store, never take it to a pharmacist.
Another 14 percent take the prescription to the
pharmacist and never pick it up. Can you believe
that? Twenty-seven percent of people see a doctor
for an illness and never go pick up the medicine.
Another 60 percent, after five months, discontinue
the regular use of medicines. They take it maybe
day after day, for a few weeks, but then stop.
If in fact you were able to manage just the
medicines and to find out whether people are
actually complying with what the doctor said, you
would have a tremendous reduction in cost, especially
for that 25 percent who are severely ill. You
have got to realize that you are going to get 55 percent
of the cost of hiring disease managers paid
for by the federal government; so, it only makes
common sense, I would think, if you are a reasonable,
visionary governor, that this is a great way to
improve the quality of health, the quality of life
of citizens while also holding down cost.
The next thing, ladies and gentlemen, in
Medicaid is the huge problem in information
technology. Doctors atWashington University,
you would not allow a student to enroll in your
school unless they had straight As. You will not
allow a slacker like me, a C+ student, to get into
medical school. Students attending this school
must have excellent grades. You want the best.
You want Dr. Peck to operate on you or Dr. Shapiro.
They’re smart. They’re brilliant. But there is one
subject that those individuals don’t have to get an
A in to be admitted into this wonderful medical
school.
Do you knowwhat that subject is? Handwriting.
And I’ll tell you, Dr. Peck, I don’t know how you
write but I would bet that your handwriting hasn’t
improved a bit in the past 50 years. Ninety-two
percent of doctors still write out prescriptions,
and one out of five of those prescriptions has to be
corrected at the pharmacy: one out of five. That’s
20 percent. Ninety-eight thousand Americans
died last year—not my figure, but the Institute of
Medicine’s and doctors’ own studies—as a result
of medical mistakes. Fifty percent of those deaths
were caused by the wrong medicine, the wrong
amount, at the wrong time, to the wrong person.
If we had e-prescribing, you could input a
patient’s name and other characteristics into an
electronic system and send and retrieve information.
And I know you know what palm pilots are
because I see so many of you looking at them as
I’m speaking. Put your name in, Dr.William Peck
(great guy, a little arrogant) and your wholemedical
history could be retrieved, including prescriptions
you’re taking. Let’s say he comes in with a common
cold and Dr. Shapiro examines him and he types
in “common cold,” or the cold that’s going around
in St. Louis now. It immediately comes up with the
three to five drugs that will take care of that, and
immediately any contraindicators will come up
with themedicines he is already taking. Dr. Shapiro
then will press another button and the bill goes to
Centene: no handwriting, just a button. Then he
presses another button and the script automatically
goes down to the pharmacist. For the 13 percent
of patients who don’t take the script down there,
it automatically goes down there. That’s the technology
of today, and you would reduce 50 percent
of those error-related deaths overnight. Medicaid
can help pay for that for your doctors, and your
patients will be able to get better quality of care
and therefore better quality of life.
The final aspect of information technology is a
paperless working environment. Do you know what
a 1040 is? Do you know what a W2 is? Large and
small employers all fill out the same form, a W2,
one form. How many forms does it take to file for
Medicaid? How many forms must be filled out to
go see a doctor when you are on Medicaid? How
many forms must be filled out when you go into
the hospital and apply for reimbursement? And
how many of you can even understand what those
forms say once you fill them out? And Medicare is
even worse. If we are smart enough to have the
most complex tax system in the world with one
form and the most complex employment system
with one form, don’t you think we should be smart
enough to have one medical form or go completely
paperless?We could save 10 percent of the cost of
health care and more than that in Medicaid if we
went paperless.
The final thing on Medicaid is that it is absolutely
appalling to me that we walk around in this
country with 47 million Americans that don’t have
insurance, and that’s going to go up to 50 million
unless something happens. You are in the role of
governor now, and you look at this situation, and
you look at the number of uninsured in Missouri,
which is around 1 million. You look at that and
first off you ask where they are going to go for
their health care.Well, they are going to go to the
emergency room. And what’s the most expensive
health care cost in the country? Emergency room
visits, right?
We have 47 million Americans whose first stop
for health care is the emergency room, the most
expensive. Does any rational Missourian think
that that is a smart system? If we go back to what I
originally started with about prevention, wouldn’t
it be nice to have somebody notwait until they have
to go to the emergency room but to be able to go
to a community health clinic in Missouri and
have a procedure, get a test done, or have cervical
and breast examinations? So let’s take a look at it.
Let’s fix this problem.
First let’s make an assessment of the many
uninsured that we have in the state, and a good
share of that percentage of that 1 million are eligible
for Medicaid. Instead of sending them to the
emergency room, we can give them a card and the
federal government is going to pay for 55 percent
of the cost. Don’t you think you should go out and
enroll as many of those people that are uninsured
or underinsured that are eligible for Medicaid and
get them on your Medicaid rolls? Governors think
just the opposite. Let’s find ways to get them off, so
let’s send them to the emergency room where its
going to costmoremoney.Who pays for people to go
to the emergency room? Hospitals, the University,
and everybody that has an insurance policy because
everybody pays for part of the uninsured through
their health insurance.
Let’s be smart.We are governors now. Let’s
make an assessment and put those people in
Medicaid wherever we can, and then let’s go out
and do something really revolutionary. Let’s put
all of the uninsured into a class. One third of the
individuals that are uninsured are individuals
between the ages of 18 and 33. It’s a good class,
they just don’t want to bother. I’m not going to get
sick, I’m 18 years of age, I’m 21 years of age. I’m
strong. I’m tough. I don’t want to pay a bill. So onethird
of them don’t have health insurance. Thirty
percent make over $60,000 per year. Insurance
companies like Centene would salivate over the
fact that they can get a million more subscribers
in Missouri under a managed care system.
Let’s be smart. Let’s tear down all the barriers
on health insurance, and anybody that is licensed
like Centene in Missouri can bid on any group,
require the states to put them up for an insurable
class, and allow the Centenes of the world to bid
on them. Don’t allow the state legislature, your
state legislature, or Congress to put any mandates
on what has to be in that policy. Let the private sector
bid on it and you would be absolutely amazed,
ladies and gentlemen, to see how many insurance
companies would come into Missouri, bid against
Centene to cover a million people, like we found
in part D for Medicare. You would be able then to
start covering the uninsured. And I think the uninsured
should be required to have health insurance
in the same way we’re required to have automobile
insurance. You would be able to cover the uninsured
in this way. I would also put a cap on costs
so you could attract small companies to come back
and offer health insurance, which, in this case,
should be put out for re-insurance.
What I’m telling you, ladies and gentlemen, is
that health care is exciting. It is exciting because
of what we can do. It needs the best minds and the
best ideas forMedicaid and for the total health care
system to have it survive and expand and continue.
But if you use my logic and if you use your own
innovative ideas on these types of programs, we
can cover the people in Missouri and we can make
sure they are covered and that they get the best
health care possible. It can be affordable and accessible
for all of your citizens. That’s what we have
to do to save the system and make it better.
Ladies and gentlemen, I want to take your
questions and I’ve already talked longer than I was
supposed to, but I just get pumped up and I’m passionate
about the subject. I just want you to know
that it is exciting to be in health care right now,
and the changes with the new innovations, the
revolutions that are taking place in health care,
are so stimulating and exciting that I can’t imagine
that more people are not involved.
Thank you very much.
FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF ST. LOUIS REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT VOLUME 3, NUMBER 1 2007

A word about Medicaid
You may think that Medicaid and Medicare are the
same. Actually, they are two different programs. Medicaid
is a state-run program that provides hospital and medical
coverage for people with low income. Each state has
its own rules about who is eligible and what is covered
under Medicaid. Some people qualify for both Medicare
and Medicaid. For more information about the Medicaid
program, contact your local medical assistance agency,
social services or welfare office.
Who can get Medicare?
Hospital insurance (Part A)
Most people age 65 or older who are citizens or
permanent residents of the United States are eligible for
free Medicare hospital insurance (Part A). You are eligible
at age 65 if:
• You receive or are eligible to receive Social Security
benefits; or
6
• You receive or are eligible to receive railroad retirement
benefits; or
• Your spouse receives or is eligible to receive Social
Security or railroad retirement benefits; or
• You or your spouse (living or deceased, including
divorced spouses) worked long enough in a government
job where Medicare taxes were paid; or
• You are the dependent parent of a fully insured
deceased child.
If you do not meet these requirements, you may be able
to get Medicare hospital insurance by paying a monthly
premium. Usually, you can sign up for this hospital
insurance only during designated enrollment periods.
NOTE: Even though the full retirement age is no longer
65, you should sign up for Medicare three months before
your 65th birthday. You can apply on our website at
www.socialsecurity.gov.
Before age 65, you are eligible for free Medicare hospital
insurance if:
• You have been entitled to Social Security disability
benefits for 24 months; or
• You receive a disability pension from the railroad
retirement board and meet certain conditions; or
• You receive Social Security disability benefits because
you have Lou Gehrig’s disease (amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis); or
• You worked long enough in a government job where
Medicare taxes were paid and you have been entitled to
Social Security disability benefits for 24 months; or
• You are the child or widow(er) age 50 or older, including
a divorced widow(er), of someone who has worked long
enough in a government job where Medicare taxes
were paid and you meet the requirements of the Social
Security disability program; or
7
• You have permanent kidney failure and you receive
maintenance dialysis or a kidney transplant and:
——You are eligible for or receive monthly benefits under
Social Security or the railroad retirement system; or
——You have worked long enough in a Medicare-covered
government job; or
——You are the child or spouse (including a divorced
spouse) of a worker (living or deceased) who has
worked long enough under Social Security or in a
Medicare-covered government job.
Medical insurance (Part B)
Anyone who is eligible for free Medicare hospital
insurance (Part A) can enroll in Medicare medical
insurance (Part B) by paying a monthly premium. Some
beneficiaries with higher incomes will pay a higher
monthly Part B premium. For more information, ask
for Medicare Premiums: Rules For Higher-Income
Beneficiaries (Publication No. 05-10536) or visit
www.socialsecurity.gov/mediinfo.htm.
If you are not eligible for free hospital insurance,
you can buy medical insurance, without having to buy
hospital insurance, if you are age 65 or older and you are—
• A U.S. citizen; or
• A lawfully admitted noncitizen who has lived in the
United States for at least five years.
Medicare Advantage plans (Part C)
If you receive your Part A and Part B benefits directly
from the government you have original Medicare. If
you receive your benefits from a Medicare Advantage
organization or other company approved by Medicare, you
have a Medicare Advantage plan.
If you have Medicare Parts A and B, you can join a
Medicare Advantage plan. Medicare Advantage plans are
offered by private companies that Medicare approves. With
one of these plans, you cannot have a Medigap policy,
8
because Medicare Advantage plans generally cover many
of the same benefits that a Medigap policy would cover,
such as extra days in the hospital after you have used the
number of days that Medicare covers.
Medicare Advantage plans include:
• Medicare managed care plans;
• Medicare preferred provider organization plans;
• Medicare private fee-for-service plans; and
• Medicare specialty plans.
If you decide to join a Medicare Advantage plan, you
use the health card that you get from your Medicare
Advantage plan provider for your health care. Also, you
might have to pay a monthly premium for your Medicare
Advantage plan because of the extra benefits it offers.
People who become newly entitled to Medicare
should enroll during their initial enrollment period (as
explained under Signing up for Medicare on page 10)
or during the annual coordinated election period from
October 15 – December 7 each year. The effective date for
the enrollment is January 1 of the upcoming year. There
also are special enrollment periods for some situations.
Medicare prescription drug plans (Part D)
Anyone who has Medicare hospital insurance (Part
A), medical insurance (Part B) or a Medicare Advantage
plan (Part C) is eligible for prescription drug coverage
(Part D). Joining a Medicare prescription drug plan is
voluntary, and you pay an additional monthly premium
for the coverage. Some beneficiaries with higher incomes
will pay a higher monthly Part D premium. For more
information, ask for Medicare Premiums: Rules For
Higher-Income Beneficiaries (Publication No. 05-10536) or
visit www.socialsecurity.gov/mediinfo.htm. If you do not
enroll in a Medicare drug plan when you are first eligible,
you may pay a late enrollment penalty if you join a plan
later. You will have to pay this penalty for as long as
you have Medicare prescription drug coverage. However,
9
you will not pay a penalty if you have Extra Help (see
below), or another creditable prescription drug plan. To
be creditable, the coverage must be, on average, at least as
good as Medicare prescription coverage.
People who become newly entitled to Medicare should
enroll during their initial enrollment period (as explained
under Signing up for Medicare on page 10). After the
initial enrollment period, the annual coordinated election
period to enroll or make provider changes is October
15 – December 7 each year. The effective date for the
enrollment is January 1 of the upcoming year. There also
are special enrollment periods for some situations.
Help for some low-income people
If you cannot afford to pay your Medicare premiums
and other medical costs, you may be able to get help
from your state. States offer programs for people who are
entitled to Medicare and have low income. The programs
may pay some or all Medicare premiums and also may
pay Medicare deductibles and coinsurance. To qualify, you
must have Part A (hospital insurance) and have limited
income and resources.
You can go online to get more information about these
programs from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services website. Visit Medicare.gov/publications
and find Get help with your Medicare costs
(Publication No. CMS-10126) at the “Your Medicare
Costs” tab.
Only your state can decide if you qualify for help under
these programs. To find out, contact your state or local
medical assistance (Medicaid) agency, social services or
welfare office.
You also may be able to get Extra Help paying for the
annual deductibles, monthly premiums and prescription
co-payments related to the Medicare prescription drug
program (Part D). You may qualify for Extra Help if you
have limited income (tied to the federal poverty level)
10
and limited resources. These income and resource limits
usually change each year, and you can contact us for the
current numbers.
You automatically qualify and do not need to apply
for Extra Help if you have Medicare and meet one of the
following conditions:
• Have full Medicaid coverage;
• Have Supplemental Security Income (SSI); or
• Participate in a state program that pays your
Medicare premiums.
For more information about getting help with your
prescription drug costs, call Social Security’s toll-free
number or visit our website. You also can apply online at
www.socialsecurity.gov/extrahelp.

Signing up for Medicare
When should I apply?
If you are already getting Social Security retirement or
disability benefits or railroad retirement checks, you will
be contacted a few months before you become eligible for
Medicare and given the information you need. If you live
in one of the 50 states, Washington, D.C., the Northern
Mariana Islands, Guam, American Samoa or the Virgin
Islands, you will be enrolled in Medicare Parts A and B
automatically. However, because you must pay a premium
for Part B coverage, you have the option of turning it down.
NOTE: Residents of Puerto Rico or foreign countries will
not receive Part B automatically. They must elect this benefit.
If you are not already getting retirement or disability
benefits, you should contact us about three months before
your 65th birthday to sign up for Medicare. You can sign
up for Medicare even if you do not plan to retire at age 65.
Once you are enrolled in Medicare, you will receive
a red, white and blue Medicare card showing whether
you have Part A, Part B or both. Keep your card in a safe
11
place so you will have it when you need it. If your card
is ever lost or stolen, you can apply for a replacement
card on the Internet at www.socialsecurity.gov or call
Social Security’s toll-free number. You also will receive a
Medicare & You handbook (Publication No. CMS-10050)
that describes your Medicare benefits and plan choices.
Special enrollment situations
You also should contact Social Security about applying
for Medicare if:
• You are a disabled widow or widower between age 50
and age 65, but have not applied for disability benefits
because you are already getting another kind of Social
Security benefit;
• You are a government employee and became disabled
before age 65;
• You, your spouse or your dependent child has permanent
kidney failure;
• You had Medicare medical insurance in the past but
dropped the coverage;
• You turned down Medicare medical insurance when you
became entitled to hospital insurance (Part A); or
• You or your spouse worked for the railroad industry.
Initial enrollment period for Part B
When you first become eligible for hospital insurance
(Part A), you have a seven-month period (your initial
enrollment period) in which to sign up for medical
insurance (Part B). A delay on your part will cause a
delay in coverage and result in higher premiums. If you
are eligible at age 65, your initial enrollment period
begins three months before your 65th birthday, includes
the month you turn age 65 and ends three months after
that birthday. If you are eligible for Medicare based
on disability or permanent kidney failure, your initial
enrollment period depends on the date your disability or
treatment began.
12
When does my enrollment in Part B become
effective?
If you accept the automatic enrollment in Medicare Part
B, or if you enroll in Medicare Part B during the first three
months of your initial enrollment period, your medical
insurance protection will start with the month you are
first eligible. If you enroll during the last four months,
your protection will start from one to three months after
you enroll.
The following chart shows when your Medicare Part B
becomes effective:
If you enroll in this month of
your initial enrollment period:
Then your Part B Medicare
coverage starts:
One to three months before you
reach age 65 The month you reach age 65
The month you reach age 65 One month after the month you
reach age 65
One month after you reach age 65 Two months after the month of
enrollment
Two or three months after you
reach age 65
Three months after the month of
enrollment
General enrollment period for Part B
If you do not enroll in Medicare Part B during your
initial enrollment period, you have another chance each
year to sign up during a “general enrollment period” from
January 1 through March 31. Your coverage begins on July
1 of the year you enroll. However, your monthly premium
increases 10 percent for each 12-month period you were
eligible for, but did not enroll in, Medicare Part B.
13
Special enrollment period for people leaving Part C
If you have a Medicare Advantage plan (Part C), you
can leave your plan and switch to original Medicare from
January 1 through February 14. If you use this option, you
also have until February 14 to join a Medicare prescription
drug plan. Your coverage begins the first day of the month
after the plan gets your enrollment form.
Special enrollment period for people covered under
an employer group health plan
If you are 65 or older and are covered under a group
health plan, either from your own or your spouse’s current
employment, you have a “special enrollment period” in
which to sign up for Medicare Part B. This means that you
may delay enrolling in Medicare Part B without having
to wait for a general enrollment period and paying the 10
percent premium surcharge for late enrollment. The rules
allow you to:
• Enroll in Medicare Part B any time while you are
still covered by a group health plan based on current
employment; or
• Enroll in Medicare Part B during the eight-month period
that begins the month after the employment ends or the
group health coverage ends, whichever happens first.
Special enrollment period rules do not apply if
employment or employer-provided group health plan
coverage ends during your initial enrollment period.
When you enroll in Medicare Part B while you are
still in the group health plan or during the first full
month when you are no longer in the plan, your coverage
begins either:
• On the first day of the month you enroll; or
• At your option, on the first day of any of the following
three months.
If you enroll during any of the remaining seven months
of the “special enrollment period,” your Medicare Part B
coverage begins on the first day of the following month.
14
If you do not enroll by the end of the eight-month
period, you will have to wait until the next general
enrollment period, which begins January 1 of the next
year. You also may have to pay a higher premium, as
described previously.
People who receive Social Security disability benefits
and are covered under a group health plan from either
their own or a family member’s current employment also
have a special enrollment period and premium rights that
are similar to those for workers age 65 or older.
Options for receiving health services
Medicare beneficiaries may have choices for receiving
health care services.
You can get more information about your health care
options from the following publications:
• Medicare & You (Publication No. CMS-10050)—This
general guide is mailed to people after they enroll in
Medicare and an updated version is mailed each year
after that.
• Choosing a Medigap Policy: A Guide to
Health Insurance for People with Medicare
(Publication No. CMS-02110)—This guide describes
how other health insurance plans supplement Medicare
and offers some shopping hints for people looking at
those plans.
To get a copy of these publications, visit
Medicare.gov/publications or call the toll-free number,
1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). If you are deaf or
hard of hearing, call TTY 1-877-486-2048.
15
If you have other health insurance
Medicare hospital insurance is free for almost everyone,
but you do pay a monthly premium for medical insurance.
If you already have other health insurance when you
become eligible for Medicare, is it worth the monthly
premium cost to sign up for Medicare medical insurance?
The answer varies with each person and the kind of
other health insurance you may have. Although we cannot
give you “yes” or “no” answers, we can offer information
that may be helpful when you make your decision.
If you have a private insurance plan
Get in touch with your insurance agent to see how your
private plan fits with Medicare medical insurance. This
is especially important if you have family members who
are covered under the same policy. And remember, just as
Medicare does not cover all health services, most private
plans do not either. In planning your health insurance
coverage, keep in mind that most nursing home care is not
covered by Medicare or private health insurance policies.
One important word of caution: for your own protection,
do not cancel any health insurance you now have until
your Medicare coverage actually begins.
If you have insurance from an employer-provided
group health plan
Group health plans of employers with 20 or more
employees are required by law to offer workers and their
spouses who are age 65 (or older) the same health benefits
that are provided to younger employees.
If you are currently covered under an employer-provided
group health plan, you should talk to your personnel office
before you sign up for Medicare medical insurance.
16
If you have health care protection from other plans
If you have TRICARE coverage from the Department
of Defense, your health benefits may change or end when
you become eligible for Medicare. You should contact
a military health benefits advisor or call the Defense
Manpower Data Center, toll-free at 1-800-467-5526
before you decide whether to enroll in Medicare medical
insurance (Part B).
If you have health care protection from the Indian
Health Service, Department of Veterans Affairs or a state
medical assistance program, contact the people in those
offices to help you decide whether it is to your advantage
to have Medicare medical insurance.
For more information on how other health
insurance plans work with Medicare, visit
Medicare.gov/publications to view the booklet Medicare
and Other Health Benefits: Your Guide to Who Pays First
(Publication No. CMS-02179) or call the Medicare toll-free
number, 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227). If you are
deaf or hard of hearing, call TTY 1-877-486-2048.

Wassily Kandinsky

2014-12-16T16:01:00.003-08:00

Known as the first truly abstract artist, he would have been 148 years old today

Renowned Russian artistcelebrating in its latest Doodle, only started painting when he was 30.

Wassily Kandinsky, the man whose 148th birthday Google is

Born in Moscow in 1866, Kandinsky grew up in Odessa and then studied Law and Economics before being offered a professorship at the University of Dorpat, Estonia. He left this position in 1896 and relocated to Munich seeking admission into the city’s Academy of Fine Arts. After initially being shunned, he entered the academy a few years later, where he flourished as a painter and an art theorist.

Kandinsky, who was inspired to take up painting by French impressionist painter Claude Monet’s iconic Haystacks and composer Richard Wagner’s opera Lohengrin, is known as the first truly abstract artist and often likened painting to music. “Colour is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with many strings. The artist is the hand which plays, touching one key or another, to cause vibrations in the soul,” he wrote in his iconic text Concerning the Spiritual In Art.

Kandinsky moved back to his native Russia following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, but returned to Germany in 1921 after being dissatisfied with the official theories of art under the communist regime. In 1933 he emigrated to France, where he lived out the rest of his days until his death in 1944

حانوكا

2014-12-16T15:53:00.000-08:00

حانوكا عبرية: חֲנֻכָּה ويعرف بعيد الأنوار كذلك هو عيد يهودي يحتفل به اليهود لمدة 8 أيام ابتداء من الخامس والعشرين من شهر كيسليف حسب التقويم العبري، ويتراوح موعده حسب التقويم الميلادي بين الأسبوع الأخير من شهر نوفمبر والأسبوع الأخير من شهر ديسمبر. حانوكا هو من الأعياد اليهودية الصغيرة حيث لايعتبر عطلة بل فترة سعيدة فقط، تتميز بالامتناع عن الحداد والتعبير عن الحزن، والقيام ببعض الطقوس الدينية الخاصة.

يستمر عيد الأنوار ثمانية أيام وتوقد في مساء كل يوم من أيامه شموع بأعداد متزايدة كل يوم في شمعدان معد خصوصاً لذلك الغرض. يتم إضاءة شمعة واحدة في اليوم الأول، ثم شمعة ثانية في مساء اليوم الثاني وهكذا حتى تكتمل إضاءة الشموع الثمانية.

تتلى عند إيقاد تلك الشموع صلاة شكر للإله لنصرته اليهود في عهد الأسرة الحشمونية (المكابيين) في تمردهم على الدولة السلوقية حاكمة المشرق حينها، تحت قيادة انطيوخوس الرابع عام 167 ق.م، وقد قام اليهود بهذا التمرد الذي استمر ثلاث سنوات، لما تعرضوا من تعذيب وتنديس لمقدساتهم إثر تحالفهم مع البطالمة أعداء الدولة السلوقية التابعين لها.

معنى اسم حانوكا هو "تدشين" باللغة العبرية، ويشير هذا الاسم إلى تدشين هيكل سليمان من جديد بعد ترميمه على يد الحشمونيين إثر نجاح التمرد.

ترد قصة تدشين الهيكل في سفر المكابين الأول (4: 51-57) وفي كتاب "تأريخ اليهود" للمؤرخ اليهودي الروماني يوسيفوس فلافيوس (الفصل ال12)، أما التلمود فيذكر هذه القصة ويضيف إليها شرحا لعدد أيام العيد، حيث يقول إن أيام العيد الثمانية تشير إلى معجزة حدثت للحشمونيين عند تدشين الهيكل واستمرت 8 أيام. حسب التلمود لم يبق في الهيكل ما يكفي من الزيت الصالح لإيقاد الشمعدان المقدس، وبرغم ذلك فإنه أنار الهيكل 8 أيام بالكمية القليلة من الزيت الباقي حتى تم تخضير الزيت الجديد. كذلك يذكر التلمود سببا آخر للاحتفال بالعيد عندما لاحظ آدم لأول مرة تقليص ساعات النهار في ذروة الشتاء فخاف ودعا إلى الله ليعيد نور الشمس. بعد مرور 8 أيام لاحظ أن النهار يمتد من جديد فقرر جعل هذه الأيام موعد فرح وشكر لله.

يذكر التراث اليهودي أسباباً للاحتفال بعيد الأنوار. وفقا لكتاب المكابيين الثاني تشير أيام العيد الثمانية إلى أيام عيد المظال (٦: ١٠). يضيف التلمود إلى هذا الكتاب سببا آخر لعدد أيام العيد التي تشير إلى معجزة حدثت للحشمونية عند تدشين البيت المقدس واستمرت ثمانية أيام. حسب التلمود لم يبق في الهيكل ما يكفي من الزيت الصالح لإيقاد الشمعدان المقدس، وبرغم ذلك فإنه أنار الهيكل ثمانية أيام بالكمية القليلة من الزيت الباقي حتى تم تحضير الزيت الجديد.

أفضل طريقة وفقاً لتلاميذ الحاخام هيلل (٣٠ ق.م.) توقد شموع بأعداد متزايدة كل يوم في شمعدان معد خصوصاً لذلك الغرض. يتم إضاءة شمعة واحدة في اليوم الأول، ثم شمعة ثانية في مساء اليوم الثاني وهكذا حتى تكتمل إضاءة الشموع الثمانية (التلمود البابلي "سبت" ٢١ب). يذكر التلمود البابلي ("عِبَادَةُ الأَوْثان" ٨أ) سببا لهذه العادة الجيدة. عندما لاحظ آدم لأول مرة تقليص ساعات النهار في ذروة الشتاء خاف ودعا إلى المولى تعالى ليعيد نور الشمس. بعد مرور ثمانية أيام كشف أن النهار يمتد من جديد فقرر جعل ثمانية أيام أخرى (التي توسيع ساعات النهار فيها) موعد فرح وشكر للخالق تعالى.

Hanukkah

2014-12-16T15:01:00.001-08:00

7 surprising things everyone should know about Hanukkah

Tonight is the first night of Hanukkah — which was probably the first Jewish holiday you heard of, whether you're Jewish or not.

Hanukkah is such a big deal in America — there's a menorah lighting on the National Mall, for pete's sake! — that you'd be forgiven for assuming it has always been the most wonderful time of the Jewish year. But you'd be wrong. As a matter of fact, the Maccabees themselves — the heroes of the Hanukkah story — would probably be downright angry over what the holiday's become.

Here's what Hanukkah is, what it isn't, and what it can be sometimes, but doesn't have to be.

1) There is no right way to spell Hanukah/Hanukkah/Chanukah/Chanukkah/Chanukka

All of these spellings are correct. As well as Hannukkah, Chanuka... you get the idea.

You'd think people would be able to live and let live on this one. After all, it's not a slight to Team Chanukah to say that spelling it with a Ch- is just as correct as starting with H-. But said team's members argue that Chanukah is correct, because it's the "traditional" spelling, while others assert Hanukkah is the correct "American" spelling. They are both wrong.

The reason for the confusion, of course, is the English alphabet. Hanukkah traditionally appears in Hebrew characters (חנוכה) or in Yiddish (which uses the Hebrew alphabet). So any transliteration to English is just an attempt to represent what the word sounds like in Hebrew. There's no phonetic difference between a k and a kk, or between an -a and an -ah. And that phlegmy, back-of-the-throat hhhhhh sound that starts the word? No one has yet figured out how to transcribe that into English letters. Ch- is sort of an approximation, but starting with the H- is just fine.

2) Hanukkah is a tiny, minor Jewish holiday

Here is how not-important Hanukkah is, from a religious standpoint, to Judaism. During most religious holidays, observant Jews have to abide by the same rules they do on Shabbat (Saturdays): no work, restricted use of technology, etc. Those rules aren't in play on Hanukkah. The only theological obligation on Hanukkah is lighting the candles on the menorah for each of the holiday's eight nights — the centerpiece of the holiday. Everything else that is associated with Hanukkah has just sprung up as custom over the millennia.

Why did Hanukkah become such a big deal for contemporary Jews? You likely know the answer to this one already: Christmas.

Early American Jews almost certainly didn't celebrate Hanukkah. But in the late 19th and early 20th centuries — as the first wave of American Jews began to settle in the US, and aspire toward the middle class — they began to make a big deal out of the holiday. Some scholars, like historian Dianne Ashton, argue it was a 19th-century attempt to get young people interested in synagogue (by bribing them with toys). Others think it was a more straightforward, 20th-century response to the popularity of Christmas.

From America, this newfound fervor spread to other Jewish diaspora populations. We think of America as being the "New World" for all arriving immigrant groups, but that's slightly different for Jews. Since European Jewish tradition was nearly extinguished during the Holocaust, American Jews have become some of the longest-standing keepers of Jewishness. Would Hanukkah be as popular as it is today in Israel, for example, if it hadn't been a big deal in America first? Who knows.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, celebrating Hanukkah with the Israeli army.. (Israeli Ministry of Defense)

3) Hanukkah presents are for kids — and they're not traditional

Traditionally, at Hanukkah, children got money from their parents and older relatives: in Yiddish, this is called Hanukkah gelt. When Hanukkah became an American holiday, parents began to give their children Hanukkah gifts, instead — though gelt's survived in the form of chocolate coins.

The idea of "Hanukkah presents" is another attempt to shoehorn Hanukkah into the Christmas script. Part of that pressure comes from outside Judaism — from a Christian majority that has at times pressured Jews to assimilate to become more "American" and at other times tried to find Jewish analogues for Christian traditions as a way to include Jews in holiday celebrations. But part of it comes from Jews themselves. As historian Ashton says of the early American Hanukkah celebrants: "They didn't see Christmas as something they could do easily because it's Christian, but they did want to do something like that because it was American."

This is the sort of facial expression that inspired parents to bribe their children with Hanukkah presents. (Hulton Archive/Getty)

There's nothing wrong with giving kids Hanukkah presents, or making a gingerbread "Hanukkah house," or even investing in one of the two Jewish counterparts to the Elf on the Shelf. It's just something that some Jews will choose to do, and some won't.

It's less common for adults to give each other gifts at Hanukkah than to give them to kids. But if you really want to do something for a non-Christmas-observing friend, just get her some gelt — in the form of gift cards, of course.

4) Latkes aren't the traditional Hanukkah food for everybody

Latkes (potato pancakes) are traditional for Ashkenazi (Eastern European) Jews. Sephardic (Mediterranean) Jews have traditionally eaten sufganyot — fried jelly donuts. That said, most modern Jews don't let tradition get in the way of delicious fried food — plenty of people eat both.

This will feed about three people. (Susan Watts/New York Daily News Archive/Getty)

How did one branch of Judaism come to celebrate the holiday by frying potatoes, and the other by frying donuts? Because the point is the frying, not what's being fried. Oil is central to the Hanukkah mythos — supposedly, it's why the holiday lasts eight nights to begin with. The legend is that while the Jews were at war with the Greeks and the Temple was under siege, there was only enough oil left to light the lamps for one day — but the oil miraculously burned for eight.

All of which brings us to...

5) Hanukkah was about war before it was about miracles

The oil story is often offered as the reason for the season, if you will. It's certainly gotten more important over the millennia since the war itself (which happened in the second century BCE). But originally, the point of Hanukkah was to celebrate winning the war against the Greeks, not to celebrate the miracle of the oil. This is a common theme among Jewish holidays: the joke goes, "They tried to kill us; we won; let's eat." (See also: Passover; Purim.)

So here's the original story of Hanukkah: during the second century, the Jews were under the imperial control of the Seleucids, who were Greek. The Seleucid emperor Antiochus decided to reverse an earlier policy of religious tolerance and start trying to "Hellenize" — assimilate —Jews. Some Jews were okay with this; after all, the Greeks were cultured, and they were running the place. (Contemporary accounts say that some Jews even uncircumcised themselves so they wouldn't be recognized as Jews at the gym. Seriously.) But many Jews were not — especially after Antiochus' forces started slaughtering pigs in the Temple, desecrating it.

The Maccabee rebels heading into battle. (Gustasve Dore's illustrated Bible/Ann Ronan Pictures/Getty)

The latter category included the family that, in the Hanukkah story, is called the Maccabees: from the Hebrew for "hammer." (Historians call their faction the Hasmoneans.) The Maccabees led the Jews into rebellion against the forces of Antiochus. After a few years, they were able to reconsecrate the Temple; after a couple of decades, they had chased the Seleucids from the Holy Land.

Think a little about this news story from this year: the Isreali government gave the US Ambassador to Israel a Hanukkah menorah that looks like Israel's Iron Dome missile defense system. That would be an incredibly strange gift for a holiday about getting the best Miracles Per Gallon you can out of your oil supply. But for a holiday that's about fighting off an existential threat in the Holy Land and reclaiming it for Jews and Jews alone, you can see why the current Israeli government might want to associate itself with the Maccabees.

6) The Maccabees were zealots — not warriors for religious tolerance

It's easy to look at the Hanukkah story and see the Maccabees as simply fighting for self-determination — as people who just wanted to live according to their own faith. Any American Jew with parents of a certain age has probably heard "Light One Candle," a Peter,

Paul, and Mary song that basically turns the Maccabees into proto-hippies

It's true that the Maccabees were fighting to practice their faith. But they weren't just fighting on their own behalf — they were fighting to preserve tradition among all Jews, even the Hellenistic ones who were more accepting of assimilation. The Maccabees, in a word, were zealots.

Here's how James Ponet, Yale's Jewish chaplain, describes the Maccabeean Revolt:

Armed Hasmonean (Maccabee) priests and their comrades from the rural town of Modi'in attacked urban Jews, priests and laity alike, who supported Greek reform, like the gymnasium and new rules for governing commerce. The Hasmoneans imposed, at sword's edge, traditional observance. After years of protracted warfare, the priests established a Hasmonean state that never ceased fighting Jews who disagreed with its rule.

This makes it particularly ironic that, these days, Hanukkah is perhaps the most assimilated Jewish holiday there is. Would modern-day Maccabees be okay with Hanukkah presents? Probably not. And don't even think about how they'd feel about the Mensch on the Bench.

7) You will not make your Jewish friends feel more welcome at your caroling party by asking them to sing Hanukkah songs

If you played the "Light One Candle" video above, congratulations! You have officially heard one of the three and a half Hanukkah songs that anybody knows.

Some secular Jews grow up hearing traditional Jewish blessings at home only at Hanukkah, and those have a beautiful melody. But actual Hanukkah music, for whatever reason, is terrible. The Dreidel Song accomplishes the impressive feat of being repetitive the first time you hear it. "Hanukkah, Oh Hanukkah" isn't bad, but it's kid stuff. And "Light One Candle" is hard to sing and kind of a drag — it's not something that you want to hear between "O Come All Ye Faithful" and "We Wish You A Merry Christmas." (There is one traditional Hanukkah hymn — Ma'oz Tzur — which is very hummable. But plenty of Jews don't remember the words in Hebrew, and the English lyrics are terrible, so it generally disintegrates into mumbling after the first line.)

So forget about "Hanukkah songs." Who needs them? Some of America's best Christmas music was written by Jews. Tablet Magazine compiled a list of the 10 best such songs — including everything from "White Christmas" to "Sleigh Ride" to "Santa Baby." So on behalf of American Jewry, dear America: We'll just take those back, thank you very much. I could easily sing one of these for every night of Hanukkah. It would be no more contrary to the spirit of American Hanukkah than anything else.

2014-12-16T14:48:00.001-08:00

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