Je ne suis pas Charlie. Je suis Saman.

I am deeply saddened by the attacks on Charlie Hebdo in Paris and I too, like all of you, condemn any terrorist attack and any form of violence towards another human being. 

The attacks in Paris are profoundly shocking and it took me a few days to process the news. My thoughts are with the families of the victims and the people of France ever since. Acts of violence are not a solution and they will never be. 

To my friends I'd like to say that hate speech is not a solution either. It is a form of violence on its own. We all, religious and non-religious people are upset, angry and hurt yet remember that we are better than the product of our anger. We are smarter. We have the luxury to access information and enjoy education and we have the means to make our voices heard and speak up. 

I condemn any extremism comments, be it on Facebook or spoken out loud, as extremism leads to extremism and I will not support any form of hate or generalization especially not when we're talking about nearly 2 billion people globally. 

Remember that there is no or very little real depth analysis in the media and that the issue is broken down into a recipe based on three ingredients: a satire, a religion and a gun. Remember that there is more to it. 

Therefore it is important to ask the right questions and I'd like to ask all of you to take the time, even when upset, to question everything you read in the media. Do your research until you find answers for yourself that you can represent and argue for. If you take a step back you might even see that history is simply repeating itself. 

We should remember that these terrorist acts are an aberration of people's faith.
We should remember more than ever to respect and protect our friends and people who are faithful and innocent as they have been and will be the target of hatespeech, insult, violence and discrimination. 
Remember to call for reason.

We should stand united against terrorist attacks and any form of extremism. We should stand united against polarization and hate. We should stand for mutual respect and love for those who are innocent. 

Je ne suis pas Charlie. Je suis Saman.

Reasons To Hate New York

For 7 years, the New York magazine has been publishing 'Reasons to love New York'. The truth is that even though I love the city, it is not any different than a lover and therefore not perfect. But only once you acknowledge the imperfections, you can achieve acceptance or not, truly commit to the city and consider yourself as a New Yorker, who loves the city with flaws and all....

1_Attitude "I live in New York therefore I am important. You should know who I am. And in case you don't, I am more than happy to spell my name for you. Write it down and memorize."

2_Cracks Nuts 'The Nutcracker' performed by the New York City Ballet is considered by the New York magazine as 'our culture', written by Tchaikovsky and choreographed by Balanchine, who were both Russian just for the record. Anyone who has the slightest idea what an amazing merge this is, will be absolutely disappointed by the performance.

3_BK Myth Brooklyn is cool because Brooklyn is Brooklyn. Excuse me?

4_Cracks Brain Mental illness and Starbucks can be found on almost each block. With a broad range from PTSD, phobias, major depressions, bipolar syndrome, OCD, ADHD, substance abuse and more, it is not surprising that the top-selling class of drugs in the US are antipsychotics. Yes, the city is crazy.

5_Yellow Submarine The yellow cab shift change between 4-5 pm where it is impossible to get a cab, unless your destination is on his way home.

6_MTA = Morons Take Advantage The MTA charges us more every year and still doesn't manage to run on time when it rains, let alone snows. Instead there are service cuts. At least we know what we are paying for - with more than 10% of MTA employees earning more than a 100k a year.

7_Family Even though you have a live in nanny you send your kid to pre-pre-kindergarten.

8_Busy You don't have time, no matter what your job is , no matter if you have one: you are busy and that's why you slurp your stinky fish soup in the subway or stuff a sandwich in your mouth on the go while you're on the phone. Nail clipping included.

9_Addiction You can drug yourself up with over the counter medicine. Your dealer is officially legal.

10_Pee Pee Crime Public toilets are yet to be built, while public urinating is against the law. And when charged under the health code 153.09 it is a misdemeanor which is a crime under New York law. Pee pee goers are forced to be criminal.

11_Rent Is Too Damn High Living in Manhattan is expensive. Even though you can find a cheap room on Craigslist. Here is a typical ad: 'Location, location, location!The apartment is located in the basement of a town house in the fancy west village. Your room would be the first one in a railroad apartment. We are 8 super laid back folks who are looking for someone fun, quiet and clean. Vegans only.' Really?

12_Teach Me How To Doggie While the New York Dog law requires a rabies vaccination, it doesn't require your dog to wear a muzzle. But it's good to know that if i should get bitten, i won't have rabies. Thanks.

13_Dirty Just because you drop your laundry at the cleaners, doesn't mean they use detergent.

14_Nature Calling small areas like Paley Park a 'park' even tough there are more potted plants than rooted trees.

15_Major Bloomberg Problem He who enacts laws depending on his vision of the city while not accepting pay for his labor. I say let's pay him so that he functions as our voice and not his. The price we pay is much higher than his salary.

16_Starfucks You have to tip even if there is no table service and you have a coffee to go.

17_Vacation The US doesn't have government-mandated time off. Means: no mandatory vacation days. A similar government: good old China.

18_Marc Jacobs Invasion 382 Bleecker Street, 385 Bleecker Street, 400 Bleecker Street, 403 Bleecker Street. Save Bleecker Street!

19_Mean Streets Bumps, holes and cracks ruin heels, make you want to puke in a cab and cause a lot of bike accidents.

20_Monolgues The loneliness that makes strangers talk to you even if they were not asked to. The worst part is that even if you ignore them, they keep talking. Sharing is not always caring.

21_Trash Album Living in a 3rd world country where garbage cans are not provided is one thing. But what does it say about the people of a city when there are plenty of garbage cans and still such an extensive amount of trash that tourists take pictures of it?

22_Smoking is not allowed in front of certain buildings even though the air of the city can cause cancer. Try prohibiting parking in front of certain buildings and I guarantee you a healthier life.

23_Visa While immigration becomes harder and harder with each year for foreigners with the best intentions, Bridge and Tunnel people still invade the city each weekend with loud nasty talks, fights and fake nails. Visa please.

24_Subway Grease the rails or fix the breaks - whatever it is that needs to be done because 'as little as 30 minutes of exposure to decibel levels measured in NYC transit system per day has the potential to result in hearing loss. ' (Columbia University, Mailman School research)

25_Sick You don't call sick unless you were hit by car so severely that you can't walk.

26_Slut Prostitutes were replaced by escorts. Illegal became legal and a new synonym for hooker was born.

27_Gristedes is gross.

28_Text you text, you don't call. Problem: you can text bullshit forever but you can't talk bullshit forever.

29_Vogue Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis gets her column and can't write. When exactly did blue blood replace proficiency?

30_Freedom It is perfectly fine to have In Vitro Fertilization with the egg of a donor, the sperm of a donor, through a surrogate for a want-to-be-single mum at the age of 50.

End New York is the center of the world.

Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter used to be popular in the United States until January 2009 and rose to super stardom since then...Elected "Celebrity of the Year 2009" by my humble self, right after our new president Obama.

And while, from my point of view, this country is blessed with a gorgeous looking man in the white house, Peanut Butter never even made it close to my personal top 10 - Yes, i know and we all know that "the intrinsic values"... et cetera , et cetera. But whoever renounces the blank truth and reality that the first impression is not a sharp look straight into ones personality and soul, but rather a simple look at someones phyiscal appearance, is in denial - and Peanut Butter lacks the looks. And maybe, maybe we finally found out why PB looks the way it looks....

It is, in spite of its appearance, certainly one of Americans favorite foods: spread on bread, found in muffins and waffles, in oatmeal and pasta, soup and beef, ricecrackers and candy bars, cookies and even salad. Peanut Butter was part of the American Dream.

Salmonella and Peanut Butter not only had nothing in common, but put together are a so called "unhappy marriage". And there is a specific reason why. Food and shit just don´t go together - never.

Peanut Butter should contain by law a minimum of 90% peanuts, the remaining 10% usually consisting of natural sweeteners, a little bit of salt and some stabilizer to keep it fresh.

While Salmonella is a living bacteria housing in the intestinal tracts of infected animals or humans, passing from the feces to one another, causing disgust and diarrhea.

One of the nations largest proudct recalls are happening right now. No one dares to say it out loud, but : Americans were eating shit. And I think it would be only fair to know: Who shit in the Peanut Butter?