Ramadan 'Trees' light the way to the Holy Month

Well if Christmas gets to glow, can't Ramadan? Why resist more commercialization or pick some forms over others? Maybe a crescent moon atop the tree instead of a star? (or better still with the star to symoblize Islam)

"What a surprise while walking through a shopping area: twinkling obelisks with a crescent moon on top. After a minute of something familiar nagging, I thought: Oh my! Ramadan trees!"

"As governments of the West Asian and North African region continue to face assertive masses yearning for political, economic, social, and legal rights, the imbalanced arrangements that structure the international realm endure. Many commentators, viewing the melodrama of the so-called “Arab Spring” (a label that is too crude and misleading), seem to have missed out or intentionally ignored that this long-denied desire for equality, dignity, and self-determination does not simply end at the borders of these states."

Alarm bells, or lights blinking in warning to change these street- the streets of Amman!

"Because Amman’s streets look like this.....

"Which is already messed up, especially when you try to use logic to find your way (I’ve learned, the hard way, that when your brain says go right, you go left because this is not a rectangle!) and since we cannot do anything about the geography of Amman, how about we make those streets safe? I have some requests, I know I’m being very demanding here but please bare with me, dear reformers:"

"This year we’re going to have the longest day of Ramadan in 26 years because the fasting time will be more than 15 hours long in the first ten days and will gradually go down to a little more than 14 hours towards the end. It is also going to be the hottest month of summer with temperatures between 45-50 degrees. So we are going to see tempers flaring, traffic jamming and hunger striking at the drop of a hat which is going to be the real challenge of practicing patience and tolerance."

"Taken in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, the Gazan border, Shebaa Farms and Haifa, the images will tell all:"

"In one of those made-for-TV moves, the lifeguard executed a fabulous dive, grabbed the boy, surfaced and did the lifesaving tow to the shallow end. About half-way there, the boy’s mother saw that the lifeguard was pulling her son from the water. I ask you to close your eyes (after reading this of course) and imagine her reaction with me as I experienced it. The mother threw her hands into the air LAUGHING uproariously. "