Senators were seen crying yesterday as a colleague was being arrested for plunder.
This is in no way an indictment of the accused senator but I would like to remind our lawmakers…
Iyakan n’yo ang ninanakawang Pilipino.
Iyakan n’yo ang binabaha dahil sa nakawan sa flood control.
Iyakan n’yo ang gutom nating mga kababayan.
Get out of your bubble. Please.
Imagine, if you will, the Middle East as a neighborhood.
On one side of the street, you’ve got the United Arab Emirates. The UAE is that guy who used to live in a tent but won the literal geological lottery and decided, instead of buying a fleet of gold-plated jet skis and retiring, he was going to build a cyberpunk forest in the middle of a literal furnace.
The UAE is what happens when a country looks at a desolate, 120-degree sand dune and says, “You know what this needs? A climate-controlled indoor ski resort and a branch of the Louvre.”
They’ve basically speed-run three hundred years of Western development in about forty. They’ve got high-speed rail, Mars probes, and a vibe that says, "We’ve decided that having a functioning economy is more fun than shouting at clouds."
Then, you’ve got Iran.
Iran is the neighbor who lives in a house where the plumbing hasn’t worked since 1979, but they refuse to call a plumber because they’re convinced the plumber is a CIA plant sent to steal their spiritual purity.
Iran is governed by a group of guys whose primary policy platform is "Being Extremely Grumpy About Everything." They’ve spent forty years trying to convince the world that the pinnacle of human achievement is a very specific type of frown and a centrifuge that occasionally makes scary noises.
Iran isn't hitting the UAE because they’re neighbors. They’re hitting them because the UAE is a walking, talking existential crisis for the Ayatollah.
See, the Islamic Republic’s entire brand is built on a single, desperate lie: “You can either be a good Muslim, or you can have nice things. You can’t have both because the nice things are poisoned by the Great Satan.”
Then the UAE shows up, sipping an iced latte, signing the Abraham Accords with Israel, and partnering with Washington. They’re proof that you can keep the faith, keep the culture, and still participate in the "Western Civilizational Package" without the universe exploding.
To Tehran, the UAE is a giant, neon-lit middle finger. Every time a new tech startup opens in Dubai, an Angel gets its wings and a Mullah loses his mind.
Iran looks at the UAE and sees a glitch in the Matrix. It’s an extension of the Western order, that place where "openness" isn't a dirty word, and "integration" isn't a conspiracy.
Because if an Arab Muslim state can be successful, modern, and friendly with the West, then the last forty years of Iranian "revolutionary" suffering have been a pointless, self-inflicted wound.
And nothing stings more than watching your neighbor throw a block party with the people you’ve spent your whole life telling everyone are "monsters."
Iran isn't just fighting a war over borders or oil. They’re fighting a war against the terrifying possibility that people actually like air conditioning and international trade more than they like miserable, state-mandated martyrdom.
The UAE is the living, breathing proof that Iran’s founding ideology is just a very expensive, very depressing hobby.
So yeah, Tehran strikes. Because when you’ve built your entire identity on being the "Alternative to the West," nothing is more dangerous than the guy next door who just figured out how to be the best version of it.
Regardless of how much you have loved your parents, your pets, or your friends there is nothing that will prepare you for the love you will have for your children
All consuming, sharply painful, terror inducing, mind melting love
A new feeling, it shouldn’t even be called love
دخلت دولة الإمارات الأزمة الأخيرة متحدة .. وخرجت منها وهي أكثر اتحاداً والتفافاً وولاءً.. مواطنين ومقيمين .. صغاراً وكباراً .. عسكريين ومدنيين .. حكوميين واقتصاديين .. الجميع متحد تحت راية الدولة وعلمها ورمز وحدتها ..
علم الإمارات رمز القوة والفخر .. ندعو أبناء الإمارات والمقيمين على أرضها الطيبة أن يرفعوه فوق المنازل والمؤسسات والمباني..
فخورين بدولتنا .. فخورين برئيس دولتنا ..فخورين بقواتنا المسلحة .. فخورين بقوة اقتصادنا .. فخورين بفرق عملنا .. فخورين بجميع مواطنينا والمقيمين على أرضنا .. فخورين بعلمنا 🇦🇪..
لنرفع العلم شامخاً فوق كل بيت ومبنى .. دليل محبتنا .. ورمز ولائنا لرئيس دولتنا.. وراية وحدتنا وتوحدنا ..
حفظ الله الإمارات وشعبها وأدام بالعز رايتها ومجدها ..
#فخورين_بالإمارات 🇦🇪
@airarabiagroup hello I would like a request refund for my booking. Amount has already been credited as voucher in my account. I would like it to be refunded to my credit card.
To all those who call the UAE home and guests in our beloved nation.
The UAE places its security and the protection of all citizens, residents, and visitors at the very top of its priorities. With God’s grace, the UAE is fully prepared to confront these threats.
I extend my deepest appreciation to our brave armed forces, our committed security services, and all national institutions and teams working tirelessly to keep our country safe. They represent the highest standards of readiness and cooperation. We are truly proud of them.
I would also like to underscore my sincere gratitude for the awareness shown by our community of Emiratis and our resident brothers and sisters, partners in this nation, who have expressed their genuine love and loyalty to the UAE through both words and actions. In the UAE, everyone is Emirati through their love for this land and their contributions to it.
May God have mercy on the victims and grant the injured a speedy recovery. With God’s blessing, the UAE—the land of Zayed—will remain strong in its unity, steadfast in defending its sovereignty, and steadily advancing towards the future.