It took the Arab world more than 20 days to suddenly wake up and hold a meeting about the situation in Gaza.. Back when the Gaza crisis started, a GCC meeting was held with no regard to the situation's seriousness.. They finished their commercial merge ups, shared the wealth, and then headed back to their getaways..
20 days later, they realized that the situation is too serious to ignore any much longer, and yet they conflict at when and where should the summit be held..
Is it really that hard to decide an URGENT meeting?
Some say that they're hand tied in not doing anything about it.. Then, it would be natural to pursue achieving anything in a Financial summit, favoring its attendance to disucss Gaza, claiming that it has been thought about and planned for for a year now..
Is it really Priorities or Politics?
Come to think of it.. Was Gaza really a SUDDEN turn of events?
How many Arab Summits were held discussing the Palestinian Issue?
How many conclusions and decision were made?
..How many actually saw this coming and "zipped" it?
Looking at the recent Arab Summit, it's now visibly seen on Television what drives us weaker and weaker.. We can't even agree on our stand towards what Hamas's actions represent, achieve or pays on the expense of the people they seek to protect.. We can't even get the to next point without telling everyone, This is MY view, screw YOUR view..
However, What personally ticked me off, is this call for sympathy with Hamas, in the Summit and in society..
On what basis should i sympathize with Hamas? On their lack of any strategic thinking? On their lack of military power? On their "tactical" choice of threatning with Suicide bombers? On their methods of Hiding from the enemy, deeper into heavily populated areas?
Moreover, If you take a look at the social stand point of the people, it's either you SUPPORT Hamas and pray for their success, or don't do anything about it.. I saw allot of the latter, but i also faced a fair share from those who supported Hamas.. What about supporting the victims? choosing their side isn't an option anymore?
1000+ people died until now.. What are Hamas goal's exactly? Signing a truce, cutting back your loses, especially when you're weak, is a strategic move.. Logic, Rationality and even Islam agrees with that.. This, easily, makes anyone doubt their understanding of Islam, which is supposedly the doctrine they work by.. I doubt it, since their actions are in complete conflict with what Islam tells us in such times of war..
Surrendering is a strategic advantage, and can reduce the blood shed until people are intellectually, emotionally, spiritually and physically strong.. Strong enough to be able to reply, and wise enough to know how to deal with such a country that is a gathering of blood thirsty warmongers..
We're mentally, spiritually and intellectually weak.. Scattered on every view.. If we still conflict in our understanding of Islam, and we fail to stand together as a Muslim community, do you really think we'd do any better in uniting under the Arab flag?
Moreover, Raw power, which is Hamas in this case, is futile.. Unguided and unplanned, it can cause more damage than the good..
Speculating on a fact here.. I wonder, would things have taken a different path if Sheikh Ahmed Yaseen was still alive?
I mean, he didn't stray deep into turning a Resistance group into a political authority.. Which doesn't seem the case with what seems to be the hidden agenda of Hamas's current leadership..
On the other hand, Israel showed before, and it's showing again, that rules don't apply if you're "their" alley.. Doesn't matter to which side, because the world has turned into two major groups, An Alley and an Enemy.. As a Result, Israel shows another new bloody display of its allegiance as the Terror State of the free world..
Now comes the confusing part where society parts..
What are WE doing to help? We can't even protest, which is much more logical than boycotting a locally used, operated and supplied Chillies.. Thinking that those Fajitas are bullet money to kill us..
The new ideology that seems to be a trend: donate your money, donate your blood, sing a song, make a video clip, and write a poem, and your obligations end there.. Any or All of the above, according to how much spare time you have.. As a result, you think you're relieved and you paid your obligations, and now You can freely celebrate the winning of your national team over a football championship..
This "Microwave" instant solution hype isn't our key of salvation from the guilt that rides over us every time we watch Television, nor is it a cure to the disease that eats us from within.. an Issue like Gaza needs years of building and preparation and in-depth efforts to help, not just give our Money surplus and then go back to our daily lives, turning a blind eye to the mess we're in.. Much studies and much approaches and much growth in all fields should be accomplished, if we are to achieve anything civilized towards how we see and want to solve this issue.. Not to blind our selves from other disasters that still happen across the world, and the muslim world in specific.. We fix ourselves to face those problems, not face those problems while we're weak against our ill understanding of things, or our wants and needs..
I don't mean to interrupt those many young men that i saw in the streets, wearing Santa clause hats in Tahlia Street in Jeddah, saying their greetings joking about christmas.. Those guys seem to be in an identity spiral that needs therapy.. But i mean to wake you up to the fact that Gaza's blood is dripping from everyone's hands..
I won't say that I blame Israel.. I won't say that I blame Hamas.. I won't say that i blame the world, the arab leaders in specific.. They're all to blame.. We're also included, with how we react to such an issue, what we do and what we spread around..
And Guess what, the mainstreamed hype of Boycotting Israeli, or Pro-Israel American, products proves that we know nothing about commerce, about the world, and about how this war is actually funded.. It proves no points what so ever, especially that most of these boycotts are initiated under false pretences, masked by islam.. Falling under the idea that if you boycott the products listed in a forwarded email, given verbal, non-factual, guarantees that these products are zionist, would reduce the amount of funding the "war on terror" receives.. But that's a different topic that may take us off course now..
Israel claims to be in "defense", While Hamas claims to score high casualties on the Israeli side.. Sadly, the number of innocent Palestinian Women and Children nearly flood the screens..
..When's the wake-up call, again?
Yours,
Lou..
[ The News ]
[ The Blog ]
Friday, January 16, 2009
Monday, December 15, 2008
An Iraqi Message, On Our Behalf..
I bet most of you witnessed yet another funny moment in History.. And thanks to YouTube, it's there to stay for everyone to see..
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duLds-TZMGw ]
I haven't laughed this hard, while watching the news, in a while.. a long while actually..
Now, before anyone stresses the point, i don't personally agree with what the reporter did.. However, it's too "poetic" that it sure is funny as hell.. And for Arabs, the message this action delivered is too.. I don't know, Arab.. See, for Arabs, this is considered a major offense, and it represents the idea that the person being thrown at is lower than low, and is not welcome at all..
But i guess, when looking at the US Iraq Invasion timeline (yes, it's an invasion), Bush had this coming..
I mean, It's ironic.. How the US can practically rape any country that fits that alleged "Profile" of terror, backed by the poor tax payers money, inflicting all it can from damage, culturally, socially, physically and financially, all under the white flag of "Protecting Peace, Fighting terror, and anyone who's a threat to our way of life"..
Moreover, the foreign policy used by the Bush Administration made sure that THEY are a threat to everyone else's way of life.. Stepping over everything, causing societies to crumble from the inside, For all the corrupt causes and reasons, any country in the middle east can be tomorrow's target.. How many are being taken down in progress so far?
And Financially, this was has been a disaster.. More money has been paid to fund war, causing ridiculous amount of casualties from both sides for too long.. How much have been paid to aid the reconstruction of Iraq? an approximate 20% of what have been paid for war..
And after all this, Bush actually had the retarded logic to travel all the way to the ruins of Iraq, and prance around the microphone claiming that the US did progress in dealing with the threat and putting Iraq back on its feet? Does the x-president read the news? Iraq is eating itself from the outside..
Yeah, crunching the numbers, it seems like indeed the fuel and food levels in Iraq now have returned to what they used to be before the '03 invasion.. But have you seen the people lately? the struggling government? Things are literally "going down".. You'd expect the people to be angry, and If you're an Arab, you'd expect a shoe flying right at you if you actually agree with what Bush is saying..
I wonder, if it was better for the reporter to be shot on site in self-defense of the president other than being held in custody.. Because God only knows the kind of hell he'll be going through.. The locals would see him as a hero by now, and for the Arab world and the rest who share the same opinion, that reporter had summed in one action what we all wanted say..
I can say that metaphorically, the guy delivered what I had in mind about Bush's presence in the Middle east in General, and his recent visit to Iraq in specific.. Makes me wonder if the action was actually meant to be delivered that way to deliver a message more than to actually hurt him..
On another note, Bush really impressed me with his fast reaction.. He had the fast reflexes of a cat, and a brain of a walrus, and a human-like sense of humor, regarding his comment on the shoe size (mentioned on Fox News)..
And i guess this should be added to Bush's wall of achievements.. And it's probably a first in any presidential history.. There've been people who were assassinated, nearly bombed away, poisoned, physically attacked.. But a Shoe?
Congratulations George Jr, You did it again, you made your father proud too.. As for the secret service has another item added to the “morally” fatal weapons to frisk for..
Finally, my message to the reporter.. You did, on our behalf, what none had the balls to do, Arabs and non-Arabs allike.. Thank you, in a way..
Yours,
Lou..
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=duLds-TZMGw ]
I haven't laughed this hard, while watching the news, in a while.. a long while actually..
Now, before anyone stresses the point, i don't personally agree with what the reporter did.. However, it's too "poetic" that it sure is funny as hell.. And for Arabs, the message this action delivered is too.. I don't know, Arab.. See, for Arabs, this is considered a major offense, and it represents the idea that the person being thrown at is lower than low, and is not welcome at all..
But i guess, when looking at the US Iraq Invasion timeline (yes, it's an invasion), Bush had this coming..
I mean, It's ironic.. How the US can practically rape any country that fits that alleged "Profile" of terror, backed by the poor tax payers money, inflicting all it can from damage, culturally, socially, physically and financially, all under the white flag of "Protecting Peace, Fighting terror, and anyone who's a threat to our way of life"..
Moreover, the foreign policy used by the Bush Administration made sure that THEY are a threat to everyone else's way of life.. Stepping over everything, causing societies to crumble from the inside, For all the corrupt causes and reasons, any country in the middle east can be tomorrow's target.. How many are being taken down in progress so far?
And Financially, this was has been a disaster.. More money has been paid to fund war, causing ridiculous amount of casualties from both sides for too long.. How much have been paid to aid the reconstruction of Iraq? an approximate 20% of what have been paid for war..
And after all this, Bush actually had the retarded logic to travel all the way to the ruins of Iraq, and prance around the microphone claiming that the US did progress in dealing with the threat and putting Iraq back on its feet? Does the x-president read the news? Iraq is eating itself from the outside..
Yeah, crunching the numbers, it seems like indeed the fuel and food levels in Iraq now have returned to what they used to be before the '03 invasion.. But have you seen the people lately? the struggling government? Things are literally "going down".. You'd expect the people to be angry, and If you're an Arab, you'd expect a shoe flying right at you if you actually agree with what Bush is saying..
I wonder, if it was better for the reporter to be shot on site in self-defense of the president other than being held in custody.. Because God only knows the kind of hell he'll be going through.. The locals would see him as a hero by now, and for the Arab world and the rest who share the same opinion, that reporter had summed in one action what we all wanted say..
I can say that metaphorically, the guy delivered what I had in mind about Bush's presence in the Middle east in General, and his recent visit to Iraq in specific.. Makes me wonder if the action was actually meant to be delivered that way to deliver a message more than to actually hurt him..
On another note, Bush really impressed me with his fast reaction.. He had the fast reflexes of a cat, and a brain of a walrus, and a human-like sense of humor, regarding his comment on the shoe size (mentioned on Fox News)..
And i guess this should be added to Bush's wall of achievements.. And it's probably a first in any presidential history.. There've been people who were assassinated, nearly bombed away, poisoned, physically attacked.. But a Shoe?
Congratulations George Jr, You did it again, you made your father proud too.. As for the secret service has another item added to the “morally” fatal weapons to frisk for..
Finally, my message to the reporter.. You did, on our behalf, what none had the balls to do, Arabs and non-Arabs allike.. Thank you, in a way..
Yours,
Lou..
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
The Saudi 21 Questions..
1) Will Saudi Arabia ever acknowledge the term “Minimum Wage”?
2) Who came up with the color coding of genders? White thobes for men, and “black” Abaya (robe) for women?
3) Why is (Saudi) Arabia one of the few, if not the only, countries named after a Person?
4) What’s the percentage of Saudi citizens that see women as actual human beings with rights and obligations, socially and domestically?
5) Will tribalism be an obstacle or an incentive to help develop the kingdom?
6) Is it a far fetched dream to see a Saudi Janitor in a mall or a company?
7) Will Saudi stop using the Hajj Visa process as an excuse for illegal immigrants and do something about it?
8) How many malls are there in Saudi? in Jeddah alone?
9) Is there a public garden in Saudi that is well maintained, green, non-vandlisied and doesn’t give you any kind of sickness?
10) Consumerism to be rated as the second highest religion in practice by Saudis after Islam?
11) Interest Free Islamic Banks?
12) Why is small ranks in the Police force are considered unemployment solutions for those who didn’t complete anything more than a Highschool Diploma, in best cases? Put in mind how much authority they have..
13) Will most national football teams settle for a Coach for more than 6 months before blaming him for everything?
14) If there’s a clothing line made specifically for Men, why can’t these men buy anything if Malls are restricted for Families Only? Is it a privilege for the married man only?
15) Weed, Hash and Opium are illegal drugs.. Why are we selling Rolling Smoking Papers in every store?
16) If it’s ok to hire a Muslim maid, from any nationality, will there be a Saudi Maid?
17) Why does the police departments main offices CLOSE after 2 pm? Criminals have working hours too?
18) Saudi airlines have “Fragile” stickers.. Why do they write in a small font “Saudi Airlines is not responsible for the damage of items with this sticker”?
19) Are we capable of knowing the difference between what’s PURELY cultural and what’s religious?
20) Free non-profit infomercials by the government and has a good message to deliver? With a budget more than a lousy 3000 SR, please..
21) If you happen to drive on a sunny day, and an old traffic sign fell on your car and broke your windshield, Why do YOU have to pay for the windshield AND the sign?
Take your best shot :D, in the mean time, I’ll be off to my Honeymoon.. I’ll see you guys in a Month Insha’allah
Yours,
Lou..
2) Who came up with the color coding of genders? White thobes for men, and “black” Abaya (robe) for women?
3) Why is (Saudi) Arabia one of the few, if not the only, countries named after a Person?
4) What’s the percentage of Saudi citizens that see women as actual human beings with rights and obligations, socially and domestically?
5) Will tribalism be an obstacle or an incentive to help develop the kingdom?
6) Is it a far fetched dream to see a Saudi Janitor in a mall or a company?
7) Will Saudi stop using the Hajj Visa process as an excuse for illegal immigrants and do something about it?
8) How many malls are there in Saudi? in Jeddah alone?
9) Is there a public garden in Saudi that is well maintained, green, non-vandlisied and doesn’t give you any kind of sickness?
10) Consumerism to be rated as the second highest religion in practice by Saudis after Islam?
11) Interest Free Islamic Banks?
12) Why is small ranks in the Police force are considered unemployment solutions for those who didn’t complete anything more than a Highschool Diploma, in best cases? Put in mind how much authority they have..
13) Will most national football teams settle for a Coach for more than 6 months before blaming him for everything?
14) If there’s a clothing line made specifically for Men, why can’t these men buy anything if Malls are restricted for Families Only? Is it a privilege for the married man only?
15) Weed, Hash and Opium are illegal drugs.. Why are we selling Rolling Smoking Papers in every store?
16) If it’s ok to hire a Muslim maid, from any nationality, will there be a Saudi Maid?
17) Why does the police departments main offices CLOSE after 2 pm? Criminals have working hours too?
18) Saudi airlines have “Fragile” stickers.. Why do they write in a small font “Saudi Airlines is not responsible for the damage of items with this sticker”?
19) Are we capable of knowing the difference between what’s PURELY cultural and what’s religious?
20) Free non-profit infomercials by the government and has a good message to deliver? With a budget more than a lousy 3000 SR, please..
21) If you happen to drive on a sunny day, and an old traffic sign fell on your car and broke your windshield, Why do YOU have to pay for the windshield AND the sign?
Take your best shot :D, in the mean time, I’ll be off to my Honeymoon.. I’ll see you guys in a Month Insha’allah
Yours,
Lou..
Monday, July 21, 2008
Getting Married in Saudi..
[ http://www.computer.org.sa ]
The kingdom is advancing greatly in the integration of computers into the government, and also aims to better it's e-governmental presence.. Aiming to improve the various services offered to the citizens of Saudi Arabia.. However, it may seem like great news, but it's only in few parts of the government services..
The Legal procedure of marriage in Saudi is in two parts, a legally-approved Religious part and a Legal part, and knowing how complex this process can be, one would think the computerized environment would help better it.. Well, it would, but is it going to be utilized in that department any time soon?
Other than the old Stamp and Sign procedure with the Marriage Certificate, a paper-back booklet, the remaining steps still remain in the Stamp and Sign.. When you're in the Civilian Affairs Office, Your legal papers have to be signed by an individual and stacked in a folder.. Eventually, that folder will be stacked over the other hundred folders until someone takes them to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and logs them in.. Notice how the process even avoids the use of Telephones, which are used only for the chatting employees.. The only computerized thing about the whole place is the mobiles of the citizens who got bored from waiting, and started checking their falling stock..
The working hours of the office begins from 7 am, you'll wait in a long long long line, waiting to get a number, with the possibility of the person incharge of handing them out yelling that the numbers for the National ID, for instance, are out and everyone should come tomorrow.. Or suddenly pointing out that if you wanted to get a certain issue done, it's done in the other part of town.. When you get your number, you're given the proper forms and asked to sit down, fill them up and wait until the employees arrive.. They arrived at 9 am..
Now, looking through the marriage process, you're asked to get copies of every legal paper, fill a form, get a picture, dump your folder with a person who stacks it in the folder, and then you're asked to CHECK the next day, or the same day after Dhu'hur prayer.. However, the process never finishes in a day, being that it's taken to another office, that uses an old cashier-like XEROX printer to print your name and information.. The next day, another person would get a stack of certificates and then call out names, and later on organize them in a wooden box according to the Arabic alphabets..
Nothing's computerized so far? well, the numbers you take and wait with in line are shown on an LED screen.. Happy now?
Assuming that you were told to come back After Dhu'hur prayer, you're not expected to leave the office and pray and come back.. No sir.. Why? because they stop taking citizens in AFTER the prayer, and only those inside will get their deal done.. And that's all the working hours of the office.. A lousy, unproductive, 3 and a half hours..
I had a conversation with a very "happy" citizen, saying that he gave them his papers to add his daughter to his Folder, and they happen to lose his photocopied ID.. They stopped his process for 2 weeks now, while he went to Makkah and came back thinking it's all over..
Ironically, thinking of the Flentstones City Hall scenes, they used Historic technologies to achieve modern-day tasks.. However, we choose to finish our work in the most historic way possible, while leaving those modern-day technologies aside.. Unless there's an interesting game of Solitaire that people are betting on.. Moreover, you'd be able to skip the whole process by knowing the right people, or by going to any smaller city or county in the kingdom and get it done in less than an hour.. Amazing how advanced the kingdom is, and how it manages to keep such a stupid infrastructure in one piece..
I got my Marriage certificate finally, and thinking am done with all this bull, They seem to keep a small gift intact.. They logged me in the record as a 170 cm tall male, with hazle eyes.. However, am 185 cm tall with dark brown eyes.. It's ok, i guess i can live with this legal distortion.. Since they told me happily that i'll have to change the papers Anyways to the new small Card format, but they had to finish the remaining Old certificates, since they think it's a waste of resources to throw all of that away.. And they say Saudis have it easy, wait till a Foreigner tells you how his process goes..
Does marriage seem that appealing now that you've lived through a semi-3-day story? Single N Proud should get a kick out of this :D..
Yours,
Lou..
The kingdom is advancing greatly in the integration of computers into the government, and also aims to better it's e-governmental presence.. Aiming to improve the various services offered to the citizens of Saudi Arabia.. However, it may seem like great news, but it's only in few parts of the government services..
The Legal procedure of marriage in Saudi is in two parts, a legally-approved Religious part and a Legal part, and knowing how complex this process can be, one would think the computerized environment would help better it.. Well, it would, but is it going to be utilized in that department any time soon?
Other than the old Stamp and Sign procedure with the Marriage Certificate, a paper-back booklet, the remaining steps still remain in the Stamp and Sign.. When you're in the Civilian Affairs Office, Your legal papers have to be signed by an individual and stacked in a folder.. Eventually, that folder will be stacked over the other hundred folders until someone takes them to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and logs them in.. Notice how the process even avoids the use of Telephones, which are used only for the chatting employees.. The only computerized thing about the whole place is the mobiles of the citizens who got bored from waiting, and started checking their falling stock..
The working hours of the office begins from 7 am, you'll wait in a long long long line, waiting to get a number, with the possibility of the person incharge of handing them out yelling that the numbers for the National ID, for instance, are out and everyone should come tomorrow.. Or suddenly pointing out that if you wanted to get a certain issue done, it's done in the other part of town.. When you get your number, you're given the proper forms and asked to sit down, fill them up and wait until the employees arrive.. They arrived at 9 am..
Now, looking through the marriage process, you're asked to get copies of every legal paper, fill a form, get a picture, dump your folder with a person who stacks it in the folder, and then you're asked to CHECK the next day, or the same day after Dhu'hur prayer.. However, the process never finishes in a day, being that it's taken to another office, that uses an old cashier-like XEROX printer to print your name and information.. The next day, another person would get a stack of certificates and then call out names, and later on organize them in a wooden box according to the Arabic alphabets..
Nothing's computerized so far? well, the numbers you take and wait with in line are shown on an LED screen.. Happy now?
Assuming that you were told to come back After Dhu'hur prayer, you're not expected to leave the office and pray and come back.. No sir.. Why? because they stop taking citizens in AFTER the prayer, and only those inside will get their deal done.. And that's all the working hours of the office.. A lousy, unproductive, 3 and a half hours..
I had a conversation with a very "happy" citizen, saying that he gave them his papers to add his daughter to his Folder, and they happen to lose his photocopied ID.. They stopped his process for 2 weeks now, while he went to Makkah and came back thinking it's all over..
Ironically, thinking of the Flentstones City Hall scenes, they used Historic technologies to achieve modern-day tasks.. However, we choose to finish our work in the most historic way possible, while leaving those modern-day technologies aside.. Unless there's an interesting game of Solitaire that people are betting on.. Moreover, you'd be able to skip the whole process by knowing the right people, or by going to any smaller city or county in the kingdom and get it done in less than an hour.. Amazing how advanced the kingdom is, and how it manages to keep such a stupid infrastructure in one piece..
I got my Marriage certificate finally, and thinking am done with all this bull, They seem to keep a small gift intact.. They logged me in the record as a 170 cm tall male, with hazle eyes.. However, am 185 cm tall with dark brown eyes.. It's ok, i guess i can live with this legal distortion.. Since they told me happily that i'll have to change the papers Anyways to the new small Card format, but they had to finish the remaining Old certificates, since they think it's a waste of resources to throw all of that away.. And they say Saudis have it easy, wait till a Foreigner tells you how his process goes..
Does marriage seem that appealing now that you've lived through a semi-3-day story? Single N Proud should get a kick out of this :D..
Yours,
Lou..
Friday, July 04, 2008
The "Low" Riders of Saudi..
435,264
6300
Driving around the kingdom, in any city you choose, you'd have to come across a reckless driver or two, maybe another who forgot to use his signals.. Bad driving is becoming the attribute of most citizens of Saudi Arabia.. In some cities, you'd be numb to react to the many violations done in every flash light, per second.. I guess, it's more of the Asphalt Jungle.. Survival of the "Fastest".. Everybody's driving like they're on the run, ALL THE TIME.. As if they're having imaginary babies..
I don't know anymore.. I blamed the police force allot, but i guess it's about time i gave the citizens a piece of my mind.. But first, a question..
If you're Saudi, how did you acquire your license? And have you heard of anyone who acquired his without going through the trouble of the ACTUAL procedure?
It's commonly known around our cities that many Saudis pass the test without even knowing any traffic signs or rules? Most of the driving signs seem like characters from a dead language to these guys.. It seriously seems as if we have an OCD for breaking the traffic rules..
In any street of the major cities in Saudi, you'd have to see at least one, if not all, of these types of drivers:
- Those who suddenly realized they want to turn right, while they're at the further lane on the left.. Then react by driving in-front of everyone at the traffic light, while it's RED, and gets near the u-turn..
- Those who slowly drag their wheels, waiting for the red light to turn green, until they step over the walking lane, and then practically drive through a red light slowly.. Just until they blocked half the lane of the intersecting street..
- The Speed runner.. Who doesn't wait a second after the light turns green, and he'll shower you down with beaming headlights, and/or blowing your ears out with his horn.. Always on a hurry, yet punctuality isn't one of our traits.. Makes you wonder..
And i could go on and on, listing stereotypes of drivers that we got used to.. i had a conversation a while back with a friend of mine, he mentioned that even foreigners drive badly in the city too.. I don't know about his "Cursed Peninsula" theory, but i think if foreign visitors of the kingdom who might be here for business or pleasure, they'd happen to see the citizens driving in a retarded way, it would grow on them.. Why should they be any better?
Come to think of it, what happened to "Be the Change you want to Be"? or what Jeddah's municipality slogan; "We're All Responsible".. People should stop pointing fingers, and remember to flash the signal lights more often.. I swear, you never see it in the streets unless it's an emergency.. Most of the them, to be truthful.. Why? Because there ARE good drivers out there, but even them have to suffer the idiotic driving of most Saudis..
However, things don't stop at stupid driving.. Car Related accidents are one of the highest numbers in the kingdom's surveys.. The first number mentioned gives the number of car related accidents in the year 2007.. reckless driving is becoming the number one source of deaths in Saudi, with the a terrifying rate of traffic accidents per day.. More people die on the streets, and the numbers seem to decrease very slowly..
Speculating on the issue, you'd see that it's mostly blamed on the lack of knowledge of proper driving.. Citizens of Saudi, if i were you, i'd sue Dallah Driving School, or any equivalent, for ever issuing a Driver license without having the driver take an official test, and actually drive the damn teaching car.. Maybe you, reader, did go through one, but what about that other guy who used his "connections" to go straight to the officer and get it signed?
The second number mentioned gives the number of deaths because of car accidents..
An average of 18 deaths per day, 1 death per hour.. Mostly in young men between the ages of 18 and 29.. it's more common to die because of an accident, than to be shot or stabbed..
How many died already as we speak?
Yours,
Lou..
6300
Driving around the kingdom, in any city you choose, you'd have to come across a reckless driver or two, maybe another who forgot to use his signals.. Bad driving is becoming the attribute of most citizens of Saudi Arabia.. In some cities, you'd be numb to react to the many violations done in every flash light, per second.. I guess, it's more of the Asphalt Jungle.. Survival of the "Fastest".. Everybody's driving like they're on the run, ALL THE TIME.. As if they're having imaginary babies..
I don't know anymore.. I blamed the police force allot, but i guess it's about time i gave the citizens a piece of my mind.. But first, a question..
If you're Saudi, how did you acquire your license? And have you heard of anyone who acquired his without going through the trouble of the ACTUAL procedure?
It's commonly known around our cities that many Saudis pass the test without even knowing any traffic signs or rules? Most of the driving signs seem like characters from a dead language to these guys.. It seriously seems as if we have an OCD for breaking the traffic rules..
In any street of the major cities in Saudi, you'd have to see at least one, if not all, of these types of drivers:
- Those who suddenly realized they want to turn right, while they're at the further lane on the left.. Then react by driving in-front of everyone at the traffic light, while it's RED, and gets near the u-turn..
- Those who slowly drag their wheels, waiting for the red light to turn green, until they step over the walking lane, and then practically drive through a red light slowly.. Just until they blocked half the lane of the intersecting street..
- The Speed runner.. Who doesn't wait a second after the light turns green, and he'll shower you down with beaming headlights, and/or blowing your ears out with his horn.. Always on a hurry, yet punctuality isn't one of our traits.. Makes you wonder..
And i could go on and on, listing stereotypes of drivers that we got used to.. i had a conversation a while back with a friend of mine, he mentioned that even foreigners drive badly in the city too.. I don't know about his "Cursed Peninsula" theory, but i think if foreign visitors of the kingdom who might be here for business or pleasure, they'd happen to see the citizens driving in a retarded way, it would grow on them.. Why should they be any better?
Come to think of it, what happened to "Be the Change you want to Be"? or what Jeddah's municipality slogan; "We're All Responsible".. People should stop pointing fingers, and remember to flash the signal lights more often.. I swear, you never see it in the streets unless it's an emergency.. Most of the them, to be truthful.. Why? Because there ARE good drivers out there, but even them have to suffer the idiotic driving of most Saudis..
However, things don't stop at stupid driving.. Car Related accidents are one of the highest numbers in the kingdom's surveys.. The first number mentioned gives the number of car related accidents in the year 2007.. reckless driving is becoming the number one source of deaths in Saudi, with the a terrifying rate of traffic accidents per day.. More people die on the streets, and the numbers seem to decrease very slowly..
Speculating on the issue, you'd see that it's mostly blamed on the lack of knowledge of proper driving.. Citizens of Saudi, if i were you, i'd sue Dallah Driving School, or any equivalent, for ever issuing a Driver license without having the driver take an official test, and actually drive the damn teaching car.. Maybe you, reader, did go through one, but what about that other guy who used his "connections" to go straight to the officer and get it signed?
The second number mentioned gives the number of deaths because of car accidents..
An average of 18 deaths per day, 1 death per hour.. Mostly in young men between the ages of 18 and 29.. it's more common to die because of an accident, than to be shot or stabbed..
How many died already as we speak?
Yours,
Lou..
Monday, June 30, 2008
Capacity Vs. Mentality..
Looking back at the time line of Saudi's developments and growth over the years, you kind of notice how fast it was.. Saudi grew from a rural bedwin desert to a developed nation in very little time compared to neighboring countries, and compared to some countries in the third world.. You could say that "oil" chipped in to build up that infrastructure of ours.. Even some of the first world countries, their geographical location and situation enabled them to gain a power strategically and economically.. With the desert between our hands, and oil suddenly popping out, we used that to our benefit.. But i guess we're now in the phase of abusing it, more than using it..
Saudi Arabia aims to grow on universal standards, and hopes to earn a good seat between the developed nations some time near in the future.. Sometimes in order to shine like a star, you have to aim at one, and then when you reach that stage, its time to innovate.. You don't see much of that around here, being that it's the IMAGE we're hunting more than the Status of whatever nation we're imitating.. Nothing good comes out of imitation, or complete reliance on THEIR achievements to suite OUR needs..
So, with oil being a vital source of income in Saudi, the economy relies on it to the extent that if it runs out, we might be hanging a big "closed" sign on our borders.. We're so fascinated with it, that we overlooked the global race to develop alternate sources of income and power, and many of the population think that Petrol is there forever (since most don't know what it is exactly).. Am not saying we shouldn't use it, but we shouldn't use it like it's the only source to COMPLETELY develop the country.. So far, oil affiliated companies and research centers give the higher salaries, and most university research is covering oil extraction technologies and oil utilization..
Allot of man power and mental capabilities are being used for this.. But for how long? aren't we losing the money to get more money that will get lost digging? Don't we have other parts of our lives that need that money?
To be honest, oil did give us allot of services that we thank the government for..
- No taxes..
- Free health care..
- Free education and Higher education (where some of them PAY the students)..
- Free libraries..
- Cheap Medicine..
- Free Scholarships..
And that's good compared to many.. But remember when i mentioned Saudi looks for the image? the context more than the content..? the services are either outdated or the equipments themselves are from the last century.. So we have the service, but the server is aged 80+ years old..
So, by now, many might realize that we do have the capacity to change.. Moreover, 40% of Saudi is still rural, and that's big potential for growth.. The developed 60% is already hosting a growing 20+ million people.. All this relies on the Oil.. Ok, so imagine waking up one day to find the last drop of oil burned in your neighbor's car engine, So what's next?
The world is changing and we're still pumping out liquid dinosaurs.. Are we ever going to consider more sources before we run out? And do we have the mentality to uphold that change? do we have the mentality to control it and utilizes it to find new resources and develop on a broader scale?
People who Do have this mentality are little compared to the rest, but hopefully this will change with time.. But am getting tired of waiting, and i hope that when i'll graduate i'll be in a position that enabled me to get closer to what i hope for my country.. And this topic is to every Saudi to read and KNOW that if you want change, look for the opportunity or create it, don't wait until it's too late..
Yours,
Lou..
Saudi Arabia aims to grow on universal standards, and hopes to earn a good seat between the developed nations some time near in the future.. Sometimes in order to shine like a star, you have to aim at one, and then when you reach that stage, its time to innovate.. You don't see much of that around here, being that it's the IMAGE we're hunting more than the Status of whatever nation we're imitating.. Nothing good comes out of imitation, or complete reliance on THEIR achievements to suite OUR needs..
So, with oil being a vital source of income in Saudi, the economy relies on it to the extent that if it runs out, we might be hanging a big "closed" sign on our borders.. We're so fascinated with it, that we overlooked the global race to develop alternate sources of income and power, and many of the population think that Petrol is there forever (since most don't know what it is exactly).. Am not saying we shouldn't use it, but we shouldn't use it like it's the only source to COMPLETELY develop the country.. So far, oil affiliated companies and research centers give the higher salaries, and most university research is covering oil extraction technologies and oil utilization..
Allot of man power and mental capabilities are being used for this.. But for how long? aren't we losing the money to get more money that will get lost digging? Don't we have other parts of our lives that need that money?
To be honest, oil did give us allot of services that we thank the government for..
- No taxes..
- Free health care..
- Free education and Higher education (where some of them PAY the students)..
- Free libraries..
- Cheap Medicine..
- Free Scholarships..
And that's good compared to many.. But remember when i mentioned Saudi looks for the image? the context more than the content..? the services are either outdated or the equipments themselves are from the last century.. So we have the service, but the server is aged 80+ years old..
So, by now, many might realize that we do have the capacity to change.. Moreover, 40% of Saudi is still rural, and that's big potential for growth.. The developed 60% is already hosting a growing 20+ million people.. All this relies on the Oil.. Ok, so imagine waking up one day to find the last drop of oil burned in your neighbor's car engine, So what's next?
The world is changing and we're still pumping out liquid dinosaurs.. Are we ever going to consider more sources before we run out? And do we have the mentality to uphold that change? do we have the mentality to control it and utilizes it to find new resources and develop on a broader scale?
People who Do have this mentality are little compared to the rest, but hopefully this will change with time.. But am getting tired of waiting, and i hope that when i'll graduate i'll be in a position that enabled me to get closer to what i hope for my country.. And this topic is to every Saudi to read and KNOW that if you want change, look for the opportunity or create it, don't wait until it's too late..
Yours,
Lou..
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Old - The Kingdom..
[ a Movie Review.. or something like it ]
So, tell me..
What's your thoughts about The Kingdom?
Don't worry, i'm not questioning thought nor am i trying to open another "Down With the Monarchy" topic and the sort.. What am talking about is the Movie..
I'm sure some, if not most, of you have already seen it.. It's that movie with the Non-Saudi cast with a Jordanian accent, the cheesy Arabic dialogue, and the stereotypical image of the Muslim screaming god's name before turning himself to a shattered meat salad with a side of Asphalt just because of some "infidels" who happen to occupy some of his land (it happened a couple of times, but come on, it's not the usual dish in the terrorist cousin menu)..
Some say that the movie cut Saudi Arabia some slack in showing it's cooperation with the "invincible" FBI agents who hope to fix the wrongs of this world from their field office all the way across the ocean in Washington.. And truth be told, the movie showed that Saudi's do indeed have a low-to-mild sense of humor and a very striking wit of an intelligent highschooler in showing their cross-nation collaboration.. But, i got to say, that i really "enjoyed" how we were portrayed.. and the Texan who showed us how to do things..
Apparently, according to what the movie lists..
- We're all bearded, or light bearded in some cases..
- We don't know how to solve a crime (surprisingly the crime rate in Saudi is lower than the homeland of the FBI)..
- We don't shake hands with women, and we're not allowed to see any emphasis of bosoms, hence why Jennifer Garner had to wear an abaya infront of the weird looking prince..
- We're angry or stone faced most of the time, and rarely laugh to intelligent american jokes..
- Sowaidi is a smaller version of a Bosnian battlefield..
And not to forget..
- In any movie when Americans play heros, explosions is a must to give the overall "banging" taste of the heroic end over some ruins..
- We all must fear Abo Hamza and his children..
So the movie basically takes an actual event that happened years ago, and then adds a bit of Tom Clancy over the top to better the taste and the overall feel of the story.. Which basically doesn't differ from any American Hero film.. Not forgetting how they messed with the time line of events and it was a bit shocking to see the depth of the research they took just to do this movie.. I mean, if it's a lost civilization or the last mohican, you'd see research papers all over the place trying to get the plot right.. Here, well i think a couple of Google print out and lot's of YouTube material would suffice..
The movie plot in general is nothing more than what follows..
Bad guy in foreign land >> Locals can't locate him or not advanced enough to catch him >> the "heroes" interrupt the scene since some of their friends were caught in the middle >> they teach the locals and show them why they're better than them >> the "heroes" use their global intel to gather information on everything >> locate the enemy, eliminate him >> Shake hands and give weird looks and fly away to the horizons..
That one slice of Americana that everybody tasted before, and now here it comes with a "sandy" flavor..
The producers did their homework and done an extensive amount of research on the Saudi city look and feel, and not to forget the highways, but i guess they failed to research on the people.. Because..
- Bearded people do form a big number in the population, but people the normal looking mustaches and goatees take the higher numbers.. (so they're stereotyping)
- the majority of Saudi communicate in English and some are fluent speakers of the language, due to the lines of work and education.. (another old stereotype)
- Shaking hands with women is an issue in Islam, and the only thing it does to a muslim is he has to do wudu (the water related ritual muslims do before they pray) again, and it's not a taboo..
- Our anti-crime intelligence manages (on it's own) to capture any criminal activity, or terrorist activity for that matter, without any reliance to GPS systems or advance infrared beams, hence the low crime rates..
- We do laugh..
- Sowaidi is a poor district with some brain washing going on, but this was the situation for years and it's been on the decrease since 2001.. And it never reached the level of having people armed with RPG's and grenades..
- We have satellite, so we're still in touch with the modern sense of humor..
- Abo Hamza is actually called Ammo Hamza (uncle Hamza) and it's a Fish restaurant in Jeddah..
Now, i do realize that it's Hollywood's job to feed on the stereotypicalities.. But what i don't understand is this..
- Why aim at the kingdom now, and "enhance" how the world portrays it, along with the new game "Call of Duty : modern Warfare" where most of the missions are located in Jeddah, Riyadh and Khobar..? (i guess i know the answer for that)
- Why can't people just grow the hell up and realize that terrorism exists also in other parts of the planet, and stop aiming at the middle east for once.. Just once.. I want an anti terrorisim movie where the target, the suspect, the tools are not from the middle east, and the victims are not the poor kind-hearted americans.. Just once..
This is not the first time Saudi was portrayed as a violent entity, lest not forget Lawrence of Arabia and how we're shooting each other for water.. I think that's hilarious since WE don't even have gun shops, and the majority of the population doesn't own guns since you need to go through a very exhausting procedure to get a permit to buy a gun, and another to get ONE pack of bullets, and another to determine if its for hunting or self protection..
I enjoyed the movie honestly, because since i was a kid, i wanted to see a movie about exploded rolling american GMC's in our highways like i saw in Magnum Pi and SWAT.. I guess 20 years later, i got my wish coming true after all..
Thank you America, and Thank you Hollywood..
And for those who watched the movie to actually get a feel of modern life, or trying to know something on Saudi reality (like the million retards who took this movie as a historical reference, where the only correct history in the movie was the artistic 2 minute intro of the movie), GROW UP and see for yourselves.. Get a BBC documentary or talk with one.. For god's sake, this is another melodramatic joke that costed me almost two hours of my life that i can't get back..
Oh, i almost forgot my rating.. I give it a 3.5 out of 10.. 2 of that 3.5 is for the intro..
So, tell me..
What's your thoughts about The Kingdom?
Don't worry, i'm not questioning thought nor am i trying to open another "Down With the Monarchy" topic and the sort.. What am talking about is the Movie..
I'm sure some, if not most, of you have already seen it.. It's that movie with the Non-Saudi cast with a Jordanian accent, the cheesy Arabic dialogue, and the stereotypical image of the Muslim screaming god's name before turning himself to a shattered meat salad with a side of Asphalt just because of some "infidels" who happen to occupy some of his land (it happened a couple of times, but come on, it's not the usual dish in the terrorist cousin menu)..
Some say that the movie cut Saudi Arabia some slack in showing it's cooperation with the "invincible" FBI agents who hope to fix the wrongs of this world from their field office all the way across the ocean in Washington.. And truth be told, the movie showed that Saudi's do indeed have a low-to-mild sense of humor and a very striking wit of an intelligent highschooler in showing their cross-nation collaboration.. But, i got to say, that i really "enjoyed" how we were portrayed.. and the Texan who showed us how to do things..
Apparently, according to what the movie lists..
- We're all bearded, or light bearded in some cases..
- We don't know how to solve a crime (surprisingly the crime rate in Saudi is lower than the homeland of the FBI)..
- We don't shake hands with women, and we're not allowed to see any emphasis of bosoms, hence why Jennifer Garner had to wear an abaya infront of the weird looking prince..
- We're angry or stone faced most of the time, and rarely laugh to intelligent american jokes..
- Sowaidi is a smaller version of a Bosnian battlefield..
And not to forget..
- In any movie when Americans play heros, explosions is a must to give the overall "banging" taste of the heroic end over some ruins..
- We all must fear Abo Hamza and his children..
So the movie basically takes an actual event that happened years ago, and then adds a bit of Tom Clancy over the top to better the taste and the overall feel of the story.. Which basically doesn't differ from any American Hero film.. Not forgetting how they messed with the time line of events and it was a bit shocking to see the depth of the research they took just to do this movie.. I mean, if it's a lost civilization or the last mohican, you'd see research papers all over the place trying to get the plot right.. Here, well i think a couple of Google print out and lot's of YouTube material would suffice..
The movie plot in general is nothing more than what follows..
Bad guy in foreign land >> Locals can't locate him or not advanced enough to catch him >> the "heroes" interrupt the scene since some of their friends were caught in the middle >> they teach the locals and show them why they're better than them >> the "heroes" use their global intel to gather information on everything >> locate the enemy, eliminate him >> Shake hands and give weird looks and fly away to the horizons..
That one slice of Americana that everybody tasted before, and now here it comes with a "sandy" flavor..
The producers did their homework and done an extensive amount of research on the Saudi city look and feel, and not to forget the highways, but i guess they failed to research on the people.. Because..
- Bearded people do form a big number in the population, but people the normal looking mustaches and goatees take the higher numbers.. (so they're stereotyping)
- the majority of Saudi communicate in English and some are fluent speakers of the language, due to the lines of work and education.. (another old stereotype)
- Shaking hands with women is an issue in Islam, and the only thing it does to a muslim is he has to do wudu (the water related ritual muslims do before they pray) again, and it's not a taboo..
- Our anti-crime intelligence manages (on it's own) to capture any criminal activity, or terrorist activity for that matter, without any reliance to GPS systems or advance infrared beams, hence the low crime rates..
- We do laugh..
- Sowaidi is a poor district with some brain washing going on, but this was the situation for years and it's been on the decrease since 2001.. And it never reached the level of having people armed with RPG's and grenades..
- We have satellite, so we're still in touch with the modern sense of humor..
- Abo Hamza is actually called Ammo Hamza (uncle Hamza) and it's a Fish restaurant in Jeddah..
Now, i do realize that it's Hollywood's job to feed on the stereotypicalities.. But what i don't understand is this..
- Why aim at the kingdom now, and "enhance" how the world portrays it, along with the new game "Call of Duty : modern Warfare" where most of the missions are located in Jeddah, Riyadh and Khobar..? (i guess i know the answer for that)
- Why can't people just grow the hell up and realize that terrorism exists also in other parts of the planet, and stop aiming at the middle east for once.. Just once.. I want an anti terrorisim movie where the target, the suspect, the tools are not from the middle east, and the victims are not the poor kind-hearted americans.. Just once..
This is not the first time Saudi was portrayed as a violent entity, lest not forget Lawrence of Arabia and how we're shooting each other for water.. I think that's hilarious since WE don't even have gun shops, and the majority of the population doesn't own guns since you need to go through a very exhausting procedure to get a permit to buy a gun, and another to get ONE pack of bullets, and another to determine if its for hunting or self protection..
I enjoyed the movie honestly, because since i was a kid, i wanted to see a movie about exploded rolling american GMC's in our highways like i saw in Magnum Pi and SWAT.. I guess 20 years later, i got my wish coming true after all..
Thank you America, and Thank you Hollywood..
And for those who watched the movie to actually get a feel of modern life, or trying to know something on Saudi reality (like the million retards who took this movie as a historical reference, where the only correct history in the movie was the artistic 2 minute intro of the movie), GROW UP and see for yourselves.. Get a BBC documentary or talk with one.. For god's sake, this is another melodramatic joke that costed me almost two hours of my life that i can't get back..
Oh, i almost forgot my rating.. I give it a 3.5 out of 10.. 2 of that 3.5 is for the intro..
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