I came back to Bahrain for the Eid holidays, only to find that for the past couple of days, demonstrators/protesters & riot police/special forces have been clashing around the island.
The words is that there have been countless numbers incarcerated, many more casualties, and to date one fatality that has been made public.
Yesterday, i could not help but see the road leading to Sanabis & Jid Hafs blocked by police, no one allowed in. The road leading to Dana mall was no different; riot police & Special Forces on the left side of the road, blocking all roads leading into the Jid Hafs area. The same could be seen driving on the road leading towards GEANT.
What bothers me most is that our government officials willingly sets there vicious dogs against its people, these mongrels have been brought to Bahrain and nationalized for the sole purpose of keeping civilians in-line ensuring/preventing demonstrations against the continuing suffering and standing for what they believe in.
Bahrainis, have become second-rate citizens, the newly nationalized now-called BAHRAINIS are living better lives, getting higher paying government jobs, government support & housing. They have infested the Armed forces, Special Forces, riot police & the police stations, just to name a few government agencies; and some private companies/businesses now have a preference towards the newly nationalized Bahrainis as well.
So then, Bahrainis find it harder to live, day-by-day living expenses increase because of inflation and the fact that we now have to compete with high paid expatriates and government backed NATIONALS.
Whereas in other GCC countries the nationals come first, and they have rights guaranteed by their government; here in Bahrain, we don’t even come in second, we come in last to who ever is ahead of us, and there is a queue that gets longer day-by-day.
Our jobs are being exported.
The minimum wage is a joke so long as the government does not enforce it by law.
Our children are expected to compete for the few remaining seats in government schools whose curriculum is so out dated that graduates have to take evening classes in English & computer studies (paid for by their low paid parents) just to bring up their education to par.
When our government allowed Gulf & Foreign national to own land anywhere in Bahrain, they condemned us all to a life along the poverty live, if not below it; a life where most of one’s salary is to be spent on rent.
Where once, we could get a good size land for fifteen to twenty thousand dinars, NOW, fifty thousand will not get you squat.
Government housing is a joke, the Housing Bank’s records, if they are ever made public will show exactly how corrupt officials and employees have been using it as their personal piggy bank.
All this and more has let to the gap between the rich and the poor to significantly increase.
So then, rather than sending negotiators to these troubled areas, to listed to the people’s concern’s, to comfort them in their time of need, to communicated the government’s concerns and wishes, government officials send in their death squad. Why is it so hard to do the obvious, the best thing to do, even if it may be the hardest, rather than what is currently being done?
For god sakes, our government should be defending our rights, and our lives, not leaving us in the open to be trampled over and humiliated.
And now, we come to know that in a month’s time, the leader of the land of the free & home of the brave will come, only his aim is not to demand a stop to the violence, or a request for a renewed period of reconciliation and forgiveness.
No, in a years time he will be out of the oval office and he has now come to the Gulf to collect his expensive gifts, after all its what his father did before him, and I’m sure it’s what his brother will do after him when he is somehow miraculously voted into the white house.
I hope the violence stops immediately, and that there are no more deaths, on either side; that this issue gets resolved peacefully, and sound minds set forward to ensure a period of calm and reconciliation.
There must be concessions on both sides, but I implore our government to change its tactics, violence only begets violence. We have the leadership and the means to get over this, in a manner that is to the benefit of us all.
But first, please lock up the dogs, send them packing…this must be the first step forward.
Citizen X :| This is how i see things... (in layman terms)
Friday, December 21, 2007
Environment GOOD, Pollution BAD! So (Plastic) bag it!
This should have bee posted on the 1st of December 2007, as usual i am late...
Development and progress comes at a cost, our environment is being ruined, and the creatures that were here before us, are being forced out of their havens, if they are not already extinct because of poaching or over hunting.
With the discovery of plastic in the early 18 hundreds, life as we know it, or as it was known then, drastically changed. The commercial use of plastic, a petroleum-based by product, was a gigantic leap forward, but it also brought with it a gloomy prospective, of what awaits us in the not too distant future, if we do not wise up and change our way of life, or at least make an effort to reduce the crap we use or throw out.
If you only look at the dump fills around the world, you’d be surprised to see the amount of crap, WE, the so called intelligent beings of this world, consider necessities, only later to have tired of and disposed.
The problem, with any good thing is that there is also a bad trait to it, like yin & yang, one goes with the other. New inventions are used to benefit human being, but the magic word we should be concentrating on most is beings and not ‘human being’. We have the ability to do wonders and the intelligence to back it up, but for some reason or another we don’t; maybe it’s because we do not care, or maybe it’s a flaw in humanity, our GREED, maybe STUPIDITY, ARROGANCE, IGNORANCE, or for any of the many flawed characteristics in us.
Plastic is cheap, strong, lightweight, durable, energy efficiency, available everywhere and has a million and one uses.
Here in Bahrain, it’s no different than any place around the world; as an example…
Go to any mall or hypermarket in Bahrain, or a grocery shop for that matter, and the goods we purchase are handed over to us in plastic bags, we have no say in this matter.
We may choose to carry a cloth sack, but that alone will not be enough, the quantity we purchase demands a minimum of 5/6 plastic bags, at least that the minimum that we leave with; and when at home, the bags go directly into the bin, only to be collected the next day and taken to the local dump, or a land fill that no one is aware of.
We should look to changing our behaviours, take the cloth sack with you, but instead of waiting till the end of the month, go every week and buy the ration for only that week. It may help limit the number of plastic bags being used, then again someone will come out and say that the increased number of visits means that the car would be used more and thus have an effect on the air (pollution).
Yes, but consider car pools where neighbours or friends go together. Or get a freaking hybrid car…..
I don’t presume to know what the best solution is, but we must start somewhere.
The government should seriously look at this matter and introduce measures to curb, if not reduce pollution, and promote the concept of recycling.
How far would you be prepared to inconvenience yourself for the sake of protecting the environment?
One option is an outright ban on the use of plastic bags, but I doubt it would work.
In an article in the GDN titled ‘New push to bin plastic bags crucial’ on Sunday, 22 April 2007, Adele Oshea wrote on the subject of plastic bag pollution, a subject rarely ever discussed in Bahrain or any other GCC country for that matter.
She went on to explain progress being made in the world, where some countries had introduced taxes; some had banned ‘plastic shopping bags’ altogether, yet others had partially banned some forms of plastic bags. She went on to say that reviving the old paper bags was not a solution as the process of producing them caused more damage to the environment that usage of the plastic bags, GO FIGURE.
WE MUST START A RECYCLING CAMPAIN IN OUR COUNTRY. GET THE GOVERNMENT INVOLVED, WE NEED TO START SOMEWHERE.
AN IMMEDIATE BAN IS IMPOSSIBLE BUT WE MAY BE ABLE TO TAKE IT FORWARD, A STEP AT A TIME.
MAKE SURE THIS image STAYS IN YOUR MIND: THE GRAPHIC IMAGE OF THE HORRIBLE EFFECTS ON THE ENVIORNMENT AND OUR NEIGHBOURING ANIMALS.
A Happy Traveller, i am, i am NOT!
I consider myself a very unlucky traveler when it comes to flying on airplanes…My bad luck mostly relates to the passenger(s) sitting next to me; it’s never a preferred good looking (gentle) opposite sex, but rather a guy, dressed in shabby clothes, who smells, absolutely awful.
Flashback to my weekly flights to and from Qatar, in 2004/5, there were many a times when I was unfortunate enough to be seated next to guys that, well basically stunk, and I’m not talking only about their clothes, with gunk protruding out of the corner of their eyes, WHO JUST HAVE TO TURN AROUND AND TRY TO SPEAK TO ME, showering me in the most awful smell to come out of the human body, and that from one’s mouth, not the anus.
Today, my fate has not changed much, I still get stuck with the dudes, where as my (Lucky Bastards) friends, frequently get to sit with normal people or good looking women, or just women for that matter.
I know it sounds like I’m desperate to sit next to a lady, but it’s not that, most of the time women smelly much better than men, that is the only reason, oh yah, and a lot of them just don’t want to talk to you throughout the flight, the PERFECT recipe…
A month ago, it got so bad that the plane I was on smelt worse than a barn / stable. The majority of the people were laborers (I don’t mean any disrespect, but apparently non of them had heard of the importance of Personal hygiene), and to make matters worse, the lot of them were seated all around me; but this time I was not alone, another poor soul was seated close by, apparently he was new to this, not a seasoned veteran like I, so he has a handkerchief stuck to his nose, good use that does. I again survived that ordeal, but with some scars to show….
Two weeks later, on another flight, I was almost out of the woods, when at the very last minute, the BITCH of a stewardess directed two awfully smelling guys towards my direction, and unluckily for me I was seated in the middle; with no option to turn either side, my only salvation was to TURN ON THE AIR CONDITIONER, FULL BLAST, ONTO MY FACE, AND KNOCK MYSELF OUT COLD, it worked, I was asleep until the plane landed, and then the final couple of minutes, until the doors were opened, suddenly did not seem all that bad…Yet another scar, my eyes still twitch when I get close to a plane.
Last week, my @ss of a friend, F*d things for me; I was sitting on the isle(the spelling might be wrong) seat, with a smelly guy sitting to my left, PICTURED (1) below, when all a sudden, the stewardess asked him to get up and showed him to another seat, I was ecstatic, my smile almost tore my head in two, but my dumb ass friend, knowingly reminded the stewardess that there was an empty seat next to me, the BITCH brought another gut with the same odor level and sat him next to me. PICTURED (2) below, the smile melted from my face, and the moment we got off the plane I kicked my friend in the @ss….
(Ignore my crooked BIG nose; i tell myself that it’s from all the smacks I’ve gotten playing basketball with my friends, all of them Bastards.)
Mind U, all this has happened on Gulf Air flights.
During my tenure in Oman, I have used Qatar airways only once, and that has been the best flight ever as the plane was huge, almost completely empty, yet I got to sit next to a woman & the people on the plane did not smell bad; the only drawback now is that the take off is after midnight and I don’t reach Bahrain until 3am.
I am about to fly to Oman tomorrow, GULF AIR’s early morning flight, need I say more…..
Flashback to my weekly flights to and from Qatar, in 2004/5, there were many a times when I was unfortunate enough to be seated next to guys that, well basically stunk, and I’m not talking only about their clothes, with gunk protruding out of the corner of their eyes, WHO JUST HAVE TO TURN AROUND AND TRY TO SPEAK TO ME, showering me in the most awful smell to come out of the human body, and that from one’s mouth, not the anus.
Today, my fate has not changed much, I still get stuck with the dudes, where as my (Lucky Bastards) friends, frequently get to sit with normal people or good looking women, or just women for that matter.
I know it sounds like I’m desperate to sit next to a lady, but it’s not that, most of the time women smelly much better than men, that is the only reason, oh yah, and a lot of them just don’t want to talk to you throughout the flight, the PERFECT recipe…
A month ago, it got so bad that the plane I was on smelt worse than a barn / stable. The majority of the people were laborers (I don’t mean any disrespect, but apparently non of them had heard of the importance of Personal hygiene), and to make matters worse, the lot of them were seated all around me; but this time I was not alone, another poor soul was seated close by, apparently he was new to this, not a seasoned veteran like I, so he has a handkerchief stuck to his nose, good use that does. I again survived that ordeal, but with some scars to show….
Two weeks later, on another flight, I was almost out of the woods, when at the very last minute, the BITCH of a stewardess directed two awfully smelling guys towards my direction, and unluckily for me I was seated in the middle; with no option to turn either side, my only salvation was to TURN ON THE AIR CONDITIONER, FULL BLAST, ONTO MY FACE, AND KNOCK MYSELF OUT COLD, it worked, I was asleep until the plane landed, and then the final couple of minutes, until the doors were opened, suddenly did not seem all that bad…Yet another scar, my eyes still twitch when I get close to a plane.
Last week, my @ss of a friend, F*d things for me; I was sitting on the isle(the spelling might be wrong) seat, with a smelly guy sitting to my left, PICTURED (1) below, when all a sudden, the stewardess asked him to get up and showed him to another seat, I was ecstatic, my smile almost tore my head in two, but my dumb ass friend, knowingly reminded the stewardess that there was an empty seat next to me, the BITCH brought another gut with the same odor level and sat him next to me. PICTURED (2) below, the smile melted from my face, and the moment we got off the plane I kicked my friend in the @ss….
(Ignore my crooked BIG nose; i tell myself that it’s from all the smacks I’ve gotten playing basketball with my friends, all of them Bastards.)
Mind U, all this has happened on Gulf Air flights.
During my tenure in Oman, I have used Qatar airways only once, and that has been the best flight ever as the plane was huge, almost completely empty, yet I got to sit next to a woman & the people on the plane did not smell bad; the only drawback now is that the take off is after midnight and I don’t reach Bahrain until 3am.
I am about to fly to Oman tomorrow, GULF AIR’s early morning flight, need I say more…..
The burden of being a movie Critique
I have been watching movies for as far back as I can remember. I believe it was when the first betamax format was introduced to Bahrain during the early eighties, if I am not mistaken. The first movie I watched was ‘Force Five’ a cool action movie, which my good friend calmly claimed was our future, yet to happen, and like a smuck it believed him, of all of five seconds.
From betamax, to VHS, to VCD and now DVD; soon to be replaced by R5 and the likes.
Anyways, I’ve gained a vast knowledge of films, from how the plot should progress to the acting, special effects etc or the ending.
So if I watch a movie that does not sum up to par, or anywhere close for that matter, I get pissed off and turn the bloody thing off. Let’s see, remember the movie ‘The Blair Witch project’, the hype created by the media and the internet let to box office records, the people who made the movie for a few thousand, mere pennies, reaped in millions.
Back then, i rented the DVD, 5 to 10 minutes into the movie, I turned it off, got into my car and drove to the DVD rental shop, exactly 45 minutes after I had first rented it. I burst into the shop and pushed the DVD back into the clerks face, shouting at him that if he did not immediately take the DVD and erase any record of my renting it from their computer, I’d kick his F*ing @ss. He obliged.
In my view, it was so bad that it did not deserve (a) to be listed on my rental sheet or (b) for me to cough up my hard earned money to rent the f*ing thing.
Need I say more, to date I have not watched it nor do I intent to, ever.
Now, what brought these feelings up to the surface, from the dark depths of my soul; the movie ‘The Reeping’, a horror movie wannabe.
Being this aware has its drawbacks, you don’t get to enjoy the movie but sit and analyze the scenes, the acting, plot, dialogue, and of course the bloody ending.
To date, I have watched some fantastic movies a few of which are ‘The Shawshank redemption’, ‘The Extremist’, ‘The Sixty sense’, ‘Fight Club’ & ‘Transformers’, just to name a few.
Granted, if I watch some of these movies today, I might find something wrong/outdated but when they first came out, they were mind blowing.
Now excuse me while I drive to the rental shop and have a few words with the clerk……
From betamax, to VHS, to VCD and now DVD; soon to be replaced by R5 and the likes.
Anyways, I’ve gained a vast knowledge of films, from how the plot should progress to the acting, special effects etc or the ending.
So if I watch a movie that does not sum up to par, or anywhere close for that matter, I get pissed off and turn the bloody thing off. Let’s see, remember the movie ‘The Blair Witch project’, the hype created by the media and the internet let to box office records, the people who made the movie for a few thousand, mere pennies, reaped in millions.
Back then, i rented the DVD, 5 to 10 minutes into the movie, I turned it off, got into my car and drove to the DVD rental shop, exactly 45 minutes after I had first rented it. I burst into the shop and pushed the DVD back into the clerks face, shouting at him that if he did not immediately take the DVD and erase any record of my renting it from their computer, I’d kick his F*ing @ss. He obliged.
In my view, it was so bad that it did not deserve (a) to be listed on my rental sheet or (b) for me to cough up my hard earned money to rent the f*ing thing.
Need I say more, to date I have not watched it nor do I intent to, ever.
Now, what brought these feelings up to the surface, from the dark depths of my soul; the movie ‘The Reeping’, a horror movie wannabe.
Being this aware has its drawbacks, you don’t get to enjoy the movie but sit and analyze the scenes, the acting, plot, dialogue, and of course the bloody ending.
To date, I have watched some fantastic movies a few of which are ‘The Shawshank redemption’, ‘The Extremist’, ‘The Sixty sense’, ‘Fight Club’ & ‘Transformers’, just to name a few.
Granted, if I watch some of these movies today, I might find something wrong/outdated but when they first came out, they were mind blowing.
Now excuse me while I drive to the rental shop and have a few words with the clerk……
Friday, November 30, 2007
Where have i been, you ask! Well....
The last blog i posted was exactly three months ago, since then, i've had many an urge to write. Whether it be about the horny stewards on a Gulf Air flight, the smelly people who sit next to me, the usual craps that's going on in our little jem of a country or the fact that life just has it out for me.
I'll soon be writing about the topics metioned above and a whole lot more.
BUT, to answer the God Damn question........
I was seconded to the Sultanate of Oman, where our Bank has just acquired a stake in one of the local banks, and being an Operations guy, i've been assigned a task that requires my presence for a minimum of three months, but from past experiance i know it will take at least six months of hard work, if not more.
Mind you, this is not new to me as i was seconded to the State of Qatar, in 2004, for a period of one year. Even then they told me it would only be a maximum of three months, HUH.
Anyways, here's to my come back to the world of blogging....
Let me be the first to welcome ME back, soooo, Welcome,welcome back.
Y thank you, i am touched....$%&%*$*#*
SOOOOO, Expect the best, but pleeeeeeeeesssssssssssseeeeeeeeeee prepare for the worst.
I'll soon be writing about the topics metioned above and a whole lot more.
BUT, to answer the God Damn question........
I was seconded to the Sultanate of Oman, where our Bank has just acquired a stake in one of the local banks, and being an Operations guy, i've been assigned a task that requires my presence for a minimum of three months, but from past experiance i know it will take at least six months of hard work, if not more.
Mind you, this is not new to me as i was seconded to the State of Qatar, in 2004, for a period of one year. Even then they told me it would only be a maximum of three months, HUH.
Anyways, here's to my come back to the world of blogging....
Let me be the first to welcome ME back, soooo, Welcome,welcome back.
Y thank you, i am touched....$%&%*$*#*
SOOOOO, Expect the best, but pleeeeeeeeesssssssssssseeeeeeeeeee prepare for the worst.
Thursday, August 30, 2007
Gay & Lesbian Priests,Should it be acceptable?
Gay & Lesbian priests; what is this world coming to; I’m shocked to what extent people are willing to distance themselves from customs, religion & morality, just to be politically correct & not to be portrayed as a homophobic; when in fact they are stating their truly beliefs; people, the masses, consider them as gay bashers…….I wonder why!
There is no phrase or scripture in any of the three ‘religions of the book’ that recognises homosexuality as an appropriate or acceptable means of living. For that matter, I’d doubt if it were acceptable in any religion at all……Maybe Devil worship?????
It’s the sanctity & divinity of the bond between a man and woman, the scriptures never said Man and Man, nor Woman and Woman, and not even a morphed combination of the two; NO, just the two sexes…MALE & FEMALE.
If god intended for 'Homo sapiens' to become 'homosexual', then I’d think, over the millions of years, we’d have evolved into something similar to a snail, unisex in nature.
Heterosexual not homosexual; two chromosome, an ‘X’ and a ‘Y’, not a ‘U’ chromosome; the defining proof is in the biological difference between a man and a woman; we interlock, fit together, and were always meant to be together. One gets pregnant the other does not; one had a stronger body than the other; one had a soft curvaceous body while the other has a rough exterior; one is gently and kind the other can be stern and ruthless.
But to make my point, let’s not bring religion, physique or any GOD’s intentions into this argument; GAY, Homosexual, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transvestite, call them what you may, have a right; be it known as sexual preference or orientation, to choose the partner that they want to have sex with, realistically that what’s it’s all about, isn’t it?
So ok, they have that freedom; no one can take it away from them, but for them to then turn around and demand to enter the sanctity of a church, as a priest, a man of the cloth, a servant of god, that’s just crossing a bridge that should never be allowed, no where in the job description of a priest does it state the sexual preference as ‘OPEN to ANYTHING’.
A homosexual should not have the right to become a priest, though if you really think about it, with all the publicity going around about priests sexually abusing boys, you’d think priesthood was meant specifically for homosexuals. Sorry, that was a sick joke, but I think you know where I’m coming from.
There is a division between state and religion, so the state can implement laws that gives rights to homosexuals and their life partners, so to speak, but laws are man made, and they can be altered or enhanced based on the acceptance of the masses, yet that freedom is not available in religion, and it should not be.
Homosexuals want to be recognised when they marry each other, and the law accommodates for that, in certain states; they want to adopt children, and some states allow for that as well, by law. I’m totally against it, but I have no say here.
So marriage is their right; adoption, also somewhat a right afforded to them in certain areas; but becoming priests should never be allowed, not even if HELL freezes over…..
I’d still want to see conclusive proof, any evidence at all for that matter, as to why Priesthood continues to be tainted, first by sodomising priests that continually protected and not exposed and expelled, and now by homosexuals.
I’m not a homophobic, I believe in the freedom of choice and sexual preference, but there is a limit to how much morality should be bent to appease others.
Just look at the controversy being caused…in the papers….these days.
There is no phrase or scripture in any of the three ‘religions of the book’ that recognises homosexuality as an appropriate or acceptable means of living. For that matter, I’d doubt if it were acceptable in any religion at all……Maybe Devil worship?????
It’s the sanctity & divinity of the bond between a man and woman, the scriptures never said Man and Man, nor Woman and Woman, and not even a morphed combination of the two; NO, just the two sexes…MALE & FEMALE.
If god intended for 'Homo sapiens' to become 'homosexual', then I’d think, over the millions of years, we’d have evolved into something similar to a snail, unisex in nature.
Heterosexual not homosexual; two chromosome, an ‘X’ and a ‘Y’, not a ‘U’ chromosome; the defining proof is in the biological difference between a man and a woman; we interlock, fit together, and were always meant to be together. One gets pregnant the other does not; one had a stronger body than the other; one had a soft curvaceous body while the other has a rough exterior; one is gently and kind the other can be stern and ruthless.
But to make my point, let’s not bring religion, physique or any GOD’s intentions into this argument; GAY, Homosexual, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transvestite, call them what you may, have a right; be it known as sexual preference or orientation, to choose the partner that they want to have sex with, realistically that what’s it’s all about, isn’t it?
So ok, they have that freedom; no one can take it away from them, but for them to then turn around and demand to enter the sanctity of a church, as a priest, a man of the cloth, a servant of god, that’s just crossing a bridge that should never be allowed, no where in the job description of a priest does it state the sexual preference as ‘OPEN to ANYTHING’.
A homosexual should not have the right to become a priest, though if you really think about it, with all the publicity going around about priests sexually abusing boys, you’d think priesthood was meant specifically for homosexuals. Sorry, that was a sick joke, but I think you know where I’m coming from.
There is a division between state and religion, so the state can implement laws that gives rights to homosexuals and their life partners, so to speak, but laws are man made, and they can be altered or enhanced based on the acceptance of the masses, yet that freedom is not available in religion, and it should not be.
Homosexuals want to be recognised when they marry each other, and the law accommodates for that, in certain states; they want to adopt children, and some states allow for that as well, by law. I’m totally against it, but I have no say here.
So marriage is their right; adoption, also somewhat a right afforded to them in certain areas; but becoming priests should never be allowed, not even if HELL freezes over…..
I’d still want to see conclusive proof, any evidence at all for that matter, as to why Priesthood continues to be tainted, first by sodomising priests that continually protected and not exposed and expelled, and now by homosexuals.
I’m not a homophobic, I believe in the freedom of choice and sexual preference, but there is a limit to how much morality should be bent to appease others.
Just look at the controversy being caused…in the papers….these days.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
DEAD MAN WALKING, are EXECUTION just??
The state of Texas - USA, executed an inmate a few days ago, it’s 400th since reinstating the death penalty three decades ago; he remained on death row for nearly 9 years, his crime was murder; there are now over three hundred other inmates waiting for their ticket to be punched in, all of them incarcerated for heinous crimes committed, all punishable by death.
Most Texans have accept this as a fact of life and unanimously agree that hard criminals deserve nothing less; but there are some that think otherwise, and continue to protest, staging their dissatisfaction outside the prison gates; before, during and after executions.
In the GCC, Saudi Arabia leads the way with the most executions. Some of them I’ve heard were for hate crimes and murders, others I’m not sure about, but when the power to decide whom can be executed rests with zealous hard-line religious leaders and not the courts, that is somewhat worrisome.
Iran, another country that executes criminals regularly, statistically has the most number of executions in the Gulf region; there have been cases of murderers, rapists, and armed criminals being publicly executed, in the middle of the town streets, using cranes as a lynching platform, for all to see.
In the recent unrest, instigated by the implementation of a ration / quota system for fuel disbursement, a lot of disgruntled Iranians took to the streets in protest; they looted shops and burnt cars. Many were captures; I’ve heard that some were executed and made examples of, soon after the protests stopped. Yet another example, of the misuse of power, by a government that does not follow due diligence, nor has a proper legal system.
Bahrain too is no stranger to executions; over a decade ago a Bahraini was executed for the alleged premeditated murder of a police officer. In 2006, three men were hanged in prison for murder. Today, one Bahraini and three foreigners are waiting on death row, all for heinous acts of premeditated murder, there may be more but figures are hard to obtain. One of the foreigners, i believe, was executed during the beginning of 2007.
I’ve heard/read that Bahrain now retains Executions (‘Capital Punishment,) specifically for the crime of ‘Drug traffickers’. ??????
On 30th December 2006, Saddam Hussain, the infamous butcher of Iraq was executed; he was convicted by an Iraqi tribunal setup specifically to impeach him for his crimes against the Iraqi people. The tribunal turned out to be a joke; the only conviction attained was for the crimes he committed leading to the ‘deaths of over 140 men in the town of Dujail, in1982’.
He raped, pillaged, and plundered Iraq’s wealth and rich culture; he tortured the Iraqi people, and slaughtered and executed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians, wiped out all of the opposition, used chemical weapons of the Kurdish civilians, not forgetting the atrocities that were committed during the Iran - Iraq war; and lets not forget when the dog turned and bit the hand that fed it, the 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and subsequent seven months of occupation resulted in the rape, torture and execution of many Kuwaiti nationals.
He should not have been executed then and there, just for one of his crimes, but rather, they should have kept him alive and continued the trial until he was convicted with ALL of the crimes he is, was guilty of, and after divulging the names of his foreign accomplish / silent partners in crime, whom ever and where ever, they were. Only then was he to be PUBLICALLY EXECUTED.
Executing him before the 2007 New Year began was a foolish decision, which played right in to the American government’s hands. He was made a martyr rather than being portrayed as the ruthless & black hearted Dictator that he really was….
In some countries, people have been executed because they were revolutionists attempting to over throw rogue or dictatorial governments or political opponents trying to run against them.
People’s views on Execution’s differ, for one, I condone it in cases of child molestation (proven beyond a shred of reason doubt), Rape & Sodomy (again with the presence of forensic evidence) and premeditated murder, INSTIGATORS OF Genocide and the henchmen who carry them out, and yes, Drug Traffickers as well (being caught red handed is proof enough for me).
Wait there’s more; I’d want others to be added to the list of people that deserve to executed;
a) War Mongers and the defenders of oppression,
b) Terrorists,
c) Soldier, Armed & Special Forces that attack civilians,
d) Leaders of Governments that do not recognize the Sovereignty of States and order invasions,
e) Any one who attacks or uses civilians in their causes;
There are many others………….
I was waiting on the former leaders, Milosevic (Yugoslavian - Died in Prison) & Radovan Karadzic (Bosnia Serb- There is a $5 million reward out for his arrest) to be convicted, and then executed for instigating genocide / ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ against the Christians & Muslims…..
Oh yah, yet another young Texan is waiting on ‘Death Row’, to be executed this week, just read today’s Tribune, his crime, being present in the vicinity of a Murder; he was accompanying the person who shot the victim.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Road Rage at such a Mature Age
What has our society come to when the elderly sitting behind the wheels of a car, curses and gesturing obscenities at others.
23rd August 2007
I was on my way home, driving 10mph under the speed limit, and keeping to the slower right most lane. Upon approaching a round about, I slowed down and stopped, there were three cars in front of me, each attempting to speed off as soon an opening revealed itself.
I heard the vigorous honking of a car, so I turned to my left; I saw an elderly man in a Volkswagen, smacking at his horn, looking at the car in front of him and gesturing, with his hand, to the driver sitting patiently in the car in front of him, to hurry up and move.
‘Move where’ I thought, they too were stuck at the round about waiting for an opening.
So I turned around, looking forward, and ignored his persistent honking, waiting patiently until the cars in front of me passes on and I was able to drive past the roundabout, and towards the right.
I drove on, on the straight road and turned into the left most ‘high speed’ lane, a minute later I reached the end of the road and in front of me was another round about; there were at least four cars in front of me, so I slowed down to a halt, and prepared to wait patiently for my turn to pass.
I heard a honking from the car behind, so I looked up into the ‘rear view mirror’ and I was stumped to see the same old geezer behind me, angrily blowing his horn at me and gesturing with his hand. I could only laugh… he continued to honk on….when my turn came, I passed the round about and drove into the middle ‘medium speed lane’.
I head yet another all too familiar honking, this time from my right, coming from the left most ‘slow speed lane’. I turn and look, and what do I see, the old man had performed a sharp right turn from behind, trying to get into the slower land, and almost crashing into a four wheel drive jeep, and again he was gesturing and screaming at the driver. This time, the driver, a much younger man, was screaming and gesturing back.
I’d understand had it occurred once, maybe the second time could have been my fault, but it wasn’t; three straight incidents, the same old man, there is no way to explain it other than that our society is changing for the worst.
The roads of Bahrain are not safe, and have not been for a long time now, only now but I can confirm without a doubt, that there is no age limit that is excluded; we are all potential ‘ROAD RAGE MANIACS’; from the young speedsters, to the mature law breaking vigilant drivers, and now, not excluding the old timers, whom once were considered patent and law abiding, are now no better than the worst of us.
I blame society; the stress is catching up to everyone. No one seems to know the ‘Driver’s code of conduct’ anymore. It’s everyone for himself, speed into the opening before the other driver, speed past the traffic light just as it turns red, turn into the car in the adjacent lane without using you signal indicators, do not give the right of way to others, It’s your road, to Hell with the others.
I hope new regulations are implemented by the Traffic Directorate; the lame excuse of an awareness campaign is not enough. They must get tougher on the law breakers and hooligans, road rage must not be condoned by reprimanded.
I wondering when in the world, will our government build a freaking monorail/metro system? I need to stop driving a cars.
...I need to get off the roads…………….they are getting worse by the minute…they …re….not…..SAFE...from...anyone.
23rd August 2007
I was on my way home, driving 10mph under the speed limit, and keeping to the slower right most lane. Upon approaching a round about, I slowed down and stopped, there were three cars in front of me, each attempting to speed off as soon an opening revealed itself.
I heard the vigorous honking of a car, so I turned to my left; I saw an elderly man in a Volkswagen, smacking at his horn, looking at the car in front of him and gesturing, with his hand, to the driver sitting patiently in the car in front of him, to hurry up and move.
‘Move where’ I thought, they too were stuck at the round about waiting for an opening.
So I turned around, looking forward, and ignored his persistent honking, waiting patiently until the cars in front of me passes on and I was able to drive past the roundabout, and towards the right.
I drove on, on the straight road and turned into the left most ‘high speed’ lane, a minute later I reached the end of the road and in front of me was another round about; there were at least four cars in front of me, so I slowed down to a halt, and prepared to wait patiently for my turn to pass.
I heard a honking from the car behind, so I looked up into the ‘rear view mirror’ and I was stumped to see the same old geezer behind me, angrily blowing his horn at me and gesturing with his hand. I could only laugh… he continued to honk on….when my turn came, I passed the round about and drove into the middle ‘medium speed lane’.
I head yet another all too familiar honking, this time from my right, coming from the left most ‘slow speed lane’. I turn and look, and what do I see, the old man had performed a sharp right turn from behind, trying to get into the slower land, and almost crashing into a four wheel drive jeep, and again he was gesturing and screaming at the driver. This time, the driver, a much younger man, was screaming and gesturing back.
I’d understand had it occurred once, maybe the second time could have been my fault, but it wasn’t; three straight incidents, the same old man, there is no way to explain it other than that our society is changing for the worst.
The roads of Bahrain are not safe, and have not been for a long time now, only now but I can confirm without a doubt, that there is no age limit that is excluded; we are all potential ‘ROAD RAGE MANIACS’; from the young speedsters, to the mature law breaking vigilant drivers, and now, not excluding the old timers, whom once were considered patent and law abiding, are now no better than the worst of us.
I blame society; the stress is catching up to everyone. No one seems to know the ‘Driver’s code of conduct’ anymore. It’s everyone for himself, speed into the opening before the other driver, speed past the traffic light just as it turns red, turn into the car in the adjacent lane without using you signal indicators, do not give the right of way to others, It’s your road, to Hell with the others.
I hope new regulations are implemented by the Traffic Directorate; the lame excuse of an awareness campaign is not enough. They must get tougher on the law breakers and hooligans, road rage must not be condoned by reprimanded.
I wondering when in the world, will our government build a freaking monorail/metro system? I need to stop driving a cars.
...I need to get off the roads…………….they are getting worse by the minute…they …re….not…..SAFE...from...anyone.
Lazic Eye Operations - 101
A little over a month ago, i placed a request on my blog on any information regarding the subject of Lazic eye operations, prose and cons; i basically wanted to learn from the experiences of others.
Unfortunately, i did not get a single response. That is rather sad and in my mind, there could only be two apparent reasons, one being that people are just not as helpful as they were in the past, or two, that i do not have the required number of visitors to my blog and therefore, less of a change of find someone who has prior knowledge of such a procedure.
For the sake of preserving any remaining flicker of belief in the goodness of humanity, I’ll blame it on the latter.
NOW, for those of you who have never considered performing the operation, or have, but require an insiders look into the nuts and bolts, please divulge yourself of the following description of my experience:
I flew to Shiraz to see DR Mersal Mehryar, a leading Ophthalmologist Vitreoretinal Surgeon in Iran.
The details on his card:
Dr Mersal Mehryar
Ophthalmologist Vitreoretinal Surgeon
(Member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology)
Shiraz, Iran, Tel + 987112275524.
Location: Aram Clinical Building, Falakay Danesjoo (Student’s Roundabout), Shiraz.
I had previously arranged for an appointment so there would be no risk of delays or having to wait behind a huge queue of patients to see the Doctor. Yet, the patent waiting room was jam packed, and I saw the doctor two hours after my appointment time. I later found out that since DR Mehryar, was one of the leading Ophthalmologist Vitreoretinal Surgeon in Shiraz, it was to be expected and I was rather fortunate to get the operation performed after just two days of tests and visits.
Day One;
When I first saw the doctor, he asked what the purpose of my visit was, this i thought to be a bit odd but later realised that he not only performed 'Lazic eye operations' but was a specialist in his field and patients from all over the country and abroad came to see him, simply put, anything to do with eyes, he was the man.
I was sent of into the waiting room where an assistant administered some drops into my eyes, the purpose of which was that my pupils would get diluted and a more accurate number may be derived for my eye sight. I knew for a fact that my eye sigh was at least -4. When my pupils turn into the size of small olives i was taken back into the examination room where i met the doctor again. He performed a couple of routine eye tests using the examination contraptions you'd find at your local opticians.
The doctor observed the test results, examined my eyes using the hand held torch and then went on to explain to me the ins' and outs' of a Lazic eye operation.
He said there were basically four types of Lazic operations, of which I can only the following three names, LAZER, LAZIC, and ZIOPTIC. For my eyes, and because of the continuous use of contact lenses, the latter was the most appropriate procedure for me.
After I agreed on which procedure to be performed on me, he advised his assistant to on the required tests. I was given an examination request slip which I was to take to a clinic.
Day two:
Early the next morning I was at the door steps of the Ophthalmology Center - ‘BinagoStar Shiraz’ examination clinic, located fifteen minutes away from the doctor’s office.
There, at least six tests were performed, each one is listed below, but I won’t be able to tell you what any of them were for, the cast one was the most important for ma, and they all resulted in a ‘K’ & ‘Q’ value which was necessary for my ZYOPTIC procedure;
- Pachymetry
- Topography
- OrbScan
- Sonography
- Contrast sensitivity
- Baby vision test
* Zyoptic O.P.D. Scan - Tissue saving
The charts printed from some of these tests resembled that of those you’d see on the weather report at a meteorological center, with a map of the world and air pressure flows; a globe shape, with flowing colour band indicating low pressure on one side, with a influx of high pressure from the other, resulting in a storm somewhere in the middle, or something to that extent……there were three such charts each one showing a different weather forecast, well that’s what it looked like.
I took the results and went to the doctor’s office in the afternoon.
When DR Mehryar reviewed the charts, he looked pleases, he told that things looked very good and that the procedure would either be performed the next day (Tuesday) or the day after (Wednesday), and I’d get a call later that night to confirm the exact day. If I did not hear from them at night, I’d definitely hear from them the next morning….
Day Three:
I got a call by 7 am the next morning, confirming that the procedure would be performed the same day, and that I’d have to be present at the Ophthalmology Center by 9:00 am; I arrived five minutes to nine, a bit anxious of what was about to happen, but not afraid.
I was led into a room where I had to remove my shoes before entering. I was handed a cap to cover my hair and a green patients robe to wear over my clothes.
After wearing the gear, I joined four other patients seated in the waiting room; there was a swinging door in front of us, but since no one was entering or exiting, we could not see what was behind it. I presumed it was the operating room.
At 10:15 am the doctor arrived, said ‘hello’ and walked into the swinging doors, as he faded away, it became clear that there was a corridor behind the door, probably two to three meters long, ending in a ‘T’ shape leading to two other corridors either way.
Five minutes after the DR Mehryar walked in, I heard a nurse call out my name; I was first on the chopping block.
I got up like a brave little boy, walked towards the swinging doors, I almost felt like a cowboy walking into a saloon, pushing open the left side door with my left hand and peeking in. I was met with a nurse wearing a mask / mouth piece, she directed me to a chair and told me to hold my head up and hold my eyes wide open.
The next thing I know she’s putting drops in each eye, and tells me to relax, close my eyes, and not to open them until I was told to. It only took a couple of minutes for the drops to take effect; I could feel my eyes becoming heavy and dry, it seemed numb, but I couldn’t tell for sure. Then I hear her walk away.
Less than five minutes later, the nurse comes back and tells me to open my eyes, to get up and follow her. She led me towards the right corridor; the entrance to the Operating room was only a coupe of feet away, so all those thoughts that I had had regarding long corridors and what not, were just fictions of my over active imagination.
As I walked in, I saw a huge machine, with a white body, towering over a flat operating bed; the bed had protruding craves in at the top end, where one’s head must lay, a white sheet had been spread on top of it.
The doctor stood behind the contraption, with his operating uniform on, he had an assistant standing to his right.
The nurse told me to lye on the bed, gently glide myself upwards until my head was directly under the prods of the lazer, and I was not to raise my head, if I had done so, I’d smack my head into the machine.
The doctor greeted me again, told me not to be frightened and that it would be over very quickly, BUT, I was to follow his directions to the point.
I look directly up and see two bright beams of light, one red the other green, the doctor tell me to look at the red beam at all times.
The assistant places a plastic sheet on my face with two holes that go directly over my eyes. The doctor then takes a sponge, soaked in antiseptics, the orange and reddish stuff, and pats the areas around both my eyes. He then takes a clamp, places it in my right eye’s socket, widens the clamp so that my eyes were now wide open, then he locks the clamps in place. He tells me not to force them shut, and that if I do so, then the procedure will have to be scrapped for another more appropriate time. I really did not want that, so I kept both eyes wide open during the procedure….
He then places something that functioned like a suction, into my right eye, everything goes dark, and I feel my eye socket tightening. He removes the suction, and I think the thin cornea sheet that covered my xx was removed at this point as well. I could not feel it happen but you tend to know these things, in such circumstances.
He then rinses my eye with saline solution, I figured it was to wet my eye and cool the area before using the lazer.
As I was looking at the red beam, I hear the lazer kick in, there was a huge zapping noise, it continued for a couple of seconds and stopped, then continued again, and each time it turned on I can see a small patch of black spots in front of my eyes, I then saw the doctor scrape them off with something, I could not tell what it was, then pour some more saline solution into my eye, before continuing to turn the lazer back on again.
When he had completed, he rinsed my one last time before placing the suction back on to my eye again, then lifting it, I could not make out some things with my right eye…it had not taken more than five minutes…..he removed the clamp and started to work on my left eye.
He followed the same procedure on my left eye, and then told me to slide back down the bed. The nurse led me into the waiting room, where I was to wait until the doctor completed his other operations and was able to see us to examine the results.
When he came out, he looked at my eyes, and told me that the procedure was very successful, he then wrote down some prescription drugs and told me to visit his clinic in the evening, after the sun had set.
I could see that my sight had vastly improved, I was looking at stains on the floor and dust patches in the ceiling, but my eyes were a bit tired and I could not keep them open for long stretches at a time.
By evening, the effects of the drops had worn off and my eyes were wide open.
At the doctor’s office, he explained that I had to take the three eye drops that he had prescribed for a whole month. Every two hours for the first week, four hours for the second and six for the third week onwards.
I have not looked back since…
WARNING: when coming out of the clinic, make sure your sun glasses are on tight, and let someone who you trust lead to out until you reach home. I trusted my wife and she took this opportunity to get revenge for something or the other, she led me once right into a wall and another time into the door of a taxi.
I hope this helps and wish you the best.
Unfortunately, i did not get a single response. That is rather sad and in my mind, there could only be two apparent reasons, one being that people are just not as helpful as they were in the past, or two, that i do not have the required number of visitors to my blog and therefore, less of a change of find someone who has prior knowledge of such a procedure.
For the sake of preserving any remaining flicker of belief in the goodness of humanity, I’ll blame it on the latter.
NOW, for those of you who have never considered performing the operation, or have, but require an insiders look into the nuts and bolts, please divulge yourself of the following description of my experience:
I flew to Shiraz to see DR Mersal Mehryar, a leading Ophthalmologist Vitreoretinal Surgeon in Iran.
The details on his card:
Dr Mersal Mehryar
Ophthalmologist Vitreoretinal Surgeon
(Member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology)
Shiraz, Iran, Tel + 987112275524.
Location: Aram Clinical Building, Falakay Danesjoo (Student’s Roundabout), Shiraz.
I had previously arranged for an appointment so there would be no risk of delays or having to wait behind a huge queue of patients to see the Doctor. Yet, the patent waiting room was jam packed, and I saw the doctor two hours after my appointment time. I later found out that since DR Mehryar, was one of the leading Ophthalmologist Vitreoretinal Surgeon in Shiraz, it was to be expected and I was rather fortunate to get the operation performed after just two days of tests and visits.
Day One;
When I first saw the doctor, he asked what the purpose of my visit was, this i thought to be a bit odd but later realised that he not only performed 'Lazic eye operations' but was a specialist in his field and patients from all over the country and abroad came to see him, simply put, anything to do with eyes, he was the man.
I was sent of into the waiting room where an assistant administered some drops into my eyes, the purpose of which was that my pupils would get diluted and a more accurate number may be derived for my eye sight. I knew for a fact that my eye sigh was at least -4. When my pupils turn into the size of small olives i was taken back into the examination room where i met the doctor again. He performed a couple of routine eye tests using the examination contraptions you'd find at your local opticians.
The doctor observed the test results, examined my eyes using the hand held torch and then went on to explain to me the ins' and outs' of a Lazic eye operation.
He said there were basically four types of Lazic operations, of which I can only the following three names, LAZER, LAZIC, and ZIOPTIC. For my eyes, and because of the continuous use of contact lenses, the latter was the most appropriate procedure for me.
After I agreed on which procedure to be performed on me, he advised his assistant to on the required tests. I was given an examination request slip which I was to take to a clinic.
Day two:
Early the next morning I was at the door steps of the Ophthalmology Center - ‘BinagoStar Shiraz’ examination clinic, located fifteen minutes away from the doctor’s office.
There, at least six tests were performed, each one is listed below, but I won’t be able to tell you what any of them were for, the cast one was the most important for ma, and they all resulted in a ‘K’ & ‘Q’ value which was necessary for my ZYOPTIC procedure;
- Pachymetry
- Topography
- OrbScan
- Sonography
- Contrast sensitivity
- Baby vision test
* Zyoptic O.P.D. Scan - Tissue saving
The charts printed from some of these tests resembled that of those you’d see on the weather report at a meteorological center, with a map of the world and air pressure flows; a globe shape, with flowing colour band indicating low pressure on one side, with a influx of high pressure from the other, resulting in a storm somewhere in the middle, or something to that extent……there were three such charts each one showing a different weather forecast, well that’s what it looked like.
I took the results and went to the doctor’s office in the afternoon.
When DR Mehryar reviewed the charts, he looked pleases, he told that things looked very good and that the procedure would either be performed the next day (Tuesday) or the day after (Wednesday), and I’d get a call later that night to confirm the exact day. If I did not hear from them at night, I’d definitely hear from them the next morning….
Day Three:
I got a call by 7 am the next morning, confirming that the procedure would be performed the same day, and that I’d have to be present at the Ophthalmology Center by 9:00 am; I arrived five minutes to nine, a bit anxious of what was about to happen, but not afraid.
I was led into a room where I had to remove my shoes before entering. I was handed a cap to cover my hair and a green patients robe to wear over my clothes.
After wearing the gear, I joined four other patients seated in the waiting room; there was a swinging door in front of us, but since no one was entering or exiting, we could not see what was behind it. I presumed it was the operating room.
At 10:15 am the doctor arrived, said ‘hello’ and walked into the swinging doors, as he faded away, it became clear that there was a corridor behind the door, probably two to three meters long, ending in a ‘T’ shape leading to two other corridors either way.
Five minutes after the DR Mehryar walked in, I heard a nurse call out my name; I was first on the chopping block.
I got up like a brave little boy, walked towards the swinging doors, I almost felt like a cowboy walking into a saloon, pushing open the left side door with my left hand and peeking in. I was met with a nurse wearing a mask / mouth piece, she directed me to a chair and told me to hold my head up and hold my eyes wide open.
The next thing I know she’s putting drops in each eye, and tells me to relax, close my eyes, and not to open them until I was told to. It only took a couple of minutes for the drops to take effect; I could feel my eyes becoming heavy and dry, it seemed numb, but I couldn’t tell for sure. Then I hear her walk away.
Less than five minutes later, the nurse comes back and tells me to open my eyes, to get up and follow her. She led me towards the right corridor; the entrance to the Operating room was only a coupe of feet away, so all those thoughts that I had had regarding long corridors and what not, were just fictions of my over active imagination.
As I walked in, I saw a huge machine, with a white body, towering over a flat operating bed; the bed had protruding craves in at the top end, where one’s head must lay, a white sheet had been spread on top of it.
The doctor stood behind the contraption, with his operating uniform on, he had an assistant standing to his right.
The nurse told me to lye on the bed, gently glide myself upwards until my head was directly under the prods of the lazer, and I was not to raise my head, if I had done so, I’d smack my head into the machine.
The doctor greeted me again, told me not to be frightened and that it would be over very quickly, BUT, I was to follow his directions to the point.
I look directly up and see two bright beams of light, one red the other green, the doctor tell me to look at the red beam at all times.
The assistant places a plastic sheet on my face with two holes that go directly over my eyes. The doctor then takes a sponge, soaked in antiseptics, the orange and reddish stuff, and pats the areas around both my eyes. He then takes a clamp, places it in my right eye’s socket, widens the clamp so that my eyes were now wide open, then he locks the clamps in place. He tells me not to force them shut, and that if I do so, then the procedure will have to be scrapped for another more appropriate time. I really did not want that, so I kept both eyes wide open during the procedure….
He then places something that functioned like a suction, into my right eye, everything goes dark, and I feel my eye socket tightening. He removes the suction, and I think the thin cornea sheet that covered my xx was removed at this point as well. I could not feel it happen but you tend to know these things, in such circumstances.
He then rinses my eye with saline solution, I figured it was to wet my eye and cool the area before using the lazer.
As I was looking at the red beam, I hear the lazer kick in, there was a huge zapping noise, it continued for a couple of seconds and stopped, then continued again, and each time it turned on I can see a small patch of black spots in front of my eyes, I then saw the doctor scrape them off with something, I could not tell what it was, then pour some more saline solution into my eye, before continuing to turn the lazer back on again.
When he had completed, he rinsed my one last time before placing the suction back on to my eye again, then lifting it, I could not make out some things with my right eye…it had not taken more than five minutes…..he removed the clamp and started to work on my left eye.
He followed the same procedure on my left eye, and then told me to slide back down the bed. The nurse led me into the waiting room, where I was to wait until the doctor completed his other operations and was able to see us to examine the results.
When he came out, he looked at my eyes, and told me that the procedure was very successful, he then wrote down some prescription drugs and told me to visit his clinic in the evening, after the sun had set.
I could see that my sight had vastly improved, I was looking at stains on the floor and dust patches in the ceiling, but my eyes were a bit tired and I could not keep them open for long stretches at a time.
By evening, the effects of the drops had worn off and my eyes were wide open.
At the doctor’s office, he explained that I had to take the three eye drops that he had prescribed for a whole month. Every two hours for the first week, four hours for the second and six for the third week onwards.
I have not looked back since…
WARNING: when coming out of the clinic, make sure your sun glasses are on tight, and let someone who you trust lead to out until you reach home. I trusted my wife and she took this opportunity to get revenge for something or the other, she led me once right into a wall and another time into the door of a taxi.
I hope this helps and wish you the best.
Teenage girls that put out, and give away the rest of their lives. WHY?
It’s not easy being born a baby girl, the transition from daddy’s little princess, playing with Barbie dolls, tea parties with little cups and saucers, learning about prince charming; to being a teenage girl at thirteen with raging hormones, a body that’s constantly changing, being told that it’s now natural for your body to bleed, "don’t worry you’re a little woman now", and that your body has just transformed into a baby making factory, keep an eye out for prince charming; to an eighteen year ‘Young Woman’, ready to venture into the world, any thing is now possible with the right education, determination and drive. Prince charming is knocking at the door but you are too busy perming your hair to hear.
Later on as a mature woman, marry the prince and live happily ever after, and maybe make a couple of babies along the way.
But life is not that simple, and we don’t live in Never Never land. There are too many variables; lives get ruined for the dumbest things…..
And so, I was watching the program ‘What not to Wear’ on MBC4, there was a 32 year old woman, whom you could not help but feel sad for, she has gotten pregnant when she was only seventeen, the first time she had sex was also the last time. This permanently scarred her to the extent that she no longer dated and had all but given up on finding a suitable partner to share her life with.
WHY IS IT, THAT TEENAGERS’ CONSIDER IT A COOL THING TO HAVE SEX AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE?
Peer pressure, the stupid love stories that they read, the romantic movies that
See, the sexually explicit music videos, the urge to grow up quickly?
Even with sex ED taught in a lot of the schools in Europe and America, public information about the sexually transmitted diseases, the sad stories of teenager’s lives destroyed by having sex and getting pregnant at a young age; it still does not sink into their thick skulls.
It’s hard being a single mother, bringing up a child all alone. By having a child early in life, during the high school years, many girls are unable to complete their education and find it even harder to get a good job to support themselves and their child. In almost all cases, the guy who gets her pregnant is not around, he splits soon after hearing the news, or tries to support and help out, but is too immature and the responsibility far exceeds his abilities.…….
Being a single mother is hard; lost youth, no hope of having a normal life, it’s a tough road up hill, but those who persevere get the best of a fruitful life. Some stick to their guns and take up the challenge and responsibility, other don’t, they give up the child for adoption; then go out with their friends, clubbing & boozing, and move around from partner to partner, not realizing that it can and will happen to them again, it’s just a matter of time.
Some of these teens, having become pregnant, hide the fact until it’s physically impossible, other are found out and are forced to abort; after the birth of the child, some young mothers, with the help of their family, take care of the child, others put the child up for adoption.
Either way, their lives will never be the same.
I blame the parents who have made it acceptable for their children to wears skimpy clothes, go out on dates, have pool parties; but the main reason parents are to blame is not making their homes a haven when the girls and grow up and mature into a responsible adult, tranquility is home is a must, a good father figure, and a mother as a role model to look up to, children need to be loved and nurtures, if they don’t find what they need at home, they’ll seek it in other places, by whatever means.
Some girls may feel that, by putting out, they will be respected and loved, only to find out that they were just another notch on a boy’s ‘belt of sexual conquests’; and since their virginity has now gone with the wind, they no longer have a reason not to continue with their promiscuous ways, like "cheap body spray, giving it away".
This phenomenon is not new to the Gulf, it’s just taboo and no one likes to talk about it. Not talking about, does not make the problem go away.
There are predators out there that tricked teenage girls, fool them into believing they live them and then, WHAM, BAM, thank you MADAM, NEXT………
During my school days, I had such a friend; he too had a ‘belt of sexual conquests’ that had seen a lot of wear and tear. The funny thing is, that today, he is a changed man, very religious, married and, guess what, he has three daughters.
Who said god does not have a sense of humor?
I guess the silver lining here is that, for every girl that does decide to take the fall, there are many others who decide it’s not for them. Their honor is not for sale.
Later on as a mature woman, marry the prince and live happily ever after, and maybe make a couple of babies along the way.
But life is not that simple, and we don’t live in Never Never land. There are too many variables; lives get ruined for the dumbest things…..
And so, I was watching the program ‘What not to Wear’ on MBC4, there was a 32 year old woman, whom you could not help but feel sad for, she has gotten pregnant when she was only seventeen, the first time she had sex was also the last time. This permanently scarred her to the extent that she no longer dated and had all but given up on finding a suitable partner to share her life with.
WHY IS IT, THAT TEENAGERS’ CONSIDER IT A COOL THING TO HAVE SEX AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE?
Peer pressure, the stupid love stories that they read, the romantic movies that
See, the sexually explicit music videos, the urge to grow up quickly?
Even with sex ED taught in a lot of the schools in Europe and America, public information about the sexually transmitted diseases, the sad stories of teenager’s lives destroyed by having sex and getting pregnant at a young age; it still does not sink into their thick skulls.
It’s hard being a single mother, bringing up a child all alone. By having a child early in life, during the high school years, many girls are unable to complete their education and find it even harder to get a good job to support themselves and their child. In almost all cases, the guy who gets her pregnant is not around, he splits soon after hearing the news, or tries to support and help out, but is too immature and the responsibility far exceeds his abilities.…….
Being a single mother is hard; lost youth, no hope of having a normal life, it’s a tough road up hill, but those who persevere get the best of a fruitful life. Some stick to their guns and take up the challenge and responsibility, other don’t, they give up the child for adoption; then go out with their friends, clubbing & boozing, and move around from partner to partner, not realizing that it can and will happen to them again, it’s just a matter of time.
Some of these teens, having become pregnant, hide the fact until it’s physically impossible, other are found out and are forced to abort; after the birth of the child, some young mothers, with the help of their family, take care of the child, others put the child up for adoption.
Either way, their lives will never be the same.
I blame the parents who have made it acceptable for their children to wears skimpy clothes, go out on dates, have pool parties; but the main reason parents are to blame is not making their homes a haven when the girls and grow up and mature into a responsible adult, tranquility is home is a must, a good father figure, and a mother as a role model to look up to, children need to be loved and nurtures, if they don’t find what they need at home, they’ll seek it in other places, by whatever means.
Some girls may feel that, by putting out, they will be respected and loved, only to find out that they were just another notch on a boy’s ‘belt of sexual conquests’; and since their virginity has now gone with the wind, they no longer have a reason not to continue with their promiscuous ways, like "cheap body spray, giving it away".
This phenomenon is not new to the Gulf, it’s just taboo and no one likes to talk about it. Not talking about, does not make the problem go away.
There are predators out there that tricked teenage girls, fool them into believing they live them and then, WHAM, BAM, thank you MADAM, NEXT………
During my school days, I had such a friend; he too had a ‘belt of sexual conquests’ that had seen a lot of wear and tear. The funny thing is, that today, he is a changed man, very religious, married and, guess what, he has three daughters.
Who said god does not have a sense of humor?
I guess the silver lining here is that, for every girl that does decide to take the fall, there are many others who decide it’s not for them. Their honor is not for sale.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Can it get more embarrasing than this?
I’m embarrassed to say that even after, no especially after a successful Lazic eye operation, with my eye sight restore to near perfect vision, I’ve had been involved in at least four incidents proving the contrary, and sighting me to rethink my attitude and state of mind.
I’m ecstatic that I can see well again after so long, but I fear it has gotten to my head. I’m now arrogant and cocky in my driving and where once I was overly cautious, now I take things for granted.
But it’s not entirely my fault, the sun glasses I got, to be worn after my operation, are doing their job even better than I thought they would. In fact, they’re doing so well that I can’t see things at times.
Up to date, I’ve bumped in to two curbs (side walks), I’ve got the skid marks on both the back wheels to prove it; skipped over a speed bump, at a rather high speed I might add, literally flying in the air for al least a second; ran a red light because I did not see the colors change in time; and, I spent 10 minutes driving around, looking for a right turn leading into a street that I had visited less than a month ago, I actually drove three times back and fourth until I found it.
And when I got to my destination, in the parking lo………….I think that’s enough, I’ve embarrassment my self enough for one day, I won’t, no, I can’t go on.
I thing I’m going to slowly float back down to earth, drive at 40 miles an hour, look both ways, stop at junctions, and slow down before reaching traffic lights, and I’m going to refrain from using the Sun Glasses for long periods of time.
God help me if my colleagues find out about these mishaps, I’d never hear the end of it….. It’s a good thing they don’t read my BLOG.
I’m ecstatic that I can see well again after so long, but I fear it has gotten to my head. I’m now arrogant and cocky in my driving and where once I was overly cautious, now I take things for granted.
But it’s not entirely my fault, the sun glasses I got, to be worn after my operation, are doing their job even better than I thought they would. In fact, they’re doing so well that I can’t see things at times.
Up to date, I’ve bumped in to two curbs (side walks), I’ve got the skid marks on both the back wheels to prove it; skipped over a speed bump, at a rather high speed I might add, literally flying in the air for al least a second; ran a red light because I did not see the colors change in time; and, I spent 10 minutes driving around, looking for a right turn leading into a street that I had visited less than a month ago, I actually drove three times back and fourth until I found it.
And when I got to my destination, in the parking lo………….I think that’s enough, I’ve embarrassment my self enough for one day, I won’t, no, I can’t go on.
I thing I’m going to slowly float back down to earth, drive at 40 miles an hour, look both ways, stop at junctions, and slow down before reaching traffic lights, and I’m going to refrain from using the Sun Glasses for long periods of time.
God help me if my colleagues find out about these mishaps, I’d never hear the end of it….. It’s a good thing they don’t read my BLOG.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
How serious are the Traffic Directorate with their new campaign? Lets see...
Yesterday’s GDN had an article proclaiming that the Traffic Directorate has now launched a campaign against speeding drivers. The claim is that the number of Drivers caught speeding has increased since last year. I believe them, ignoring the published figures, even a blind can tell you that there are just too many speedsters on the roads of Bahrain, young and old, nationals and foreigners, and lets not forget that our country has become a great weekend get away/destination for our many GCC neighbors…
But that’s not all, Bahraini Drivers believe the ‘Driving License’ grants them the right to do as they deem fit, the pile of metal on wheels is a misleading cocoon of death. Putting pressure of the pedal, releases life sustaining juice, to crank and nudge the bucket of nuts and bolts forward, ever so slowly; yet that is not enough, we want more, to go faster, and faster. So we press down a little bit more, a bit more forceful this time. The pedal reclines, even more juice gets pumped into the tin can’s loins; it purrs, and then speeds up. Now, you’d think that would satisfy us, but nooooo, now our eyes are toying with us, showing us that the car driving to the side is a bit further ahead, your mind kicks in and taunts you. Is the other car better that yours? Maybe it’s faster! Maybe the driver is better than you.
So, down goes the foot, full throttle and away we GOOOOOO.
But wait, the lights are turning red, I’ll have to stop, but that will mean that other car will now catch up, NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!
The foot pushes down, all the way this time, until the pedal can sink no further and is met head on, with a numb thud, the bottom has been breached, the RPM sprints at the speed of light. You cross the line, but the lights have already turned red, no matter, with the speed you are doing, you can easily avoid a collision……..
With all the education that we’ve had, we’re ignorant of the facts and don't realizing the seriousness of the situation, and by not acknowledging that we are riding in loaded guns, every one of us, we continue to roll the dice, playing with people’s lives.
WELL, WHAT DOES THE TRAFFIC DIRECTORATE (TD) EXPECT?
There’s no one really watching us, there are too few cameras, and I can’t help but laugh hysterically when they claim that six new state of the art camera’s are to be installed NEXT MONTH. How many will that make? 10, 12, 20?
WHY CAN’T WE HAVE THOSE LIVE CAMERA FEEDS THAT OTHER COUHTRIES HAVE? In no time at all, they’d pay for themselves, and then generate a large revenue reserve which can be tapped to further improve the road systems.
To make my point, the current TD advertisements hanging on the road sides are pathetic, they are grey and dull, and will be ignored by most drivers. In contrast, the advertisements that Shamil Bank displayed a month back had traffic lights on them, very colorful and eye catching, I never once drove by one without staring at it. Each time i'd see them i'd reduce my speed, only later realizing it was a sale ploy for their visa cards. THAT GO MY ATTENTION, these adverts will have no such success.
And they say they are serious…..
To close off, and I quote from the article here “The traffic directorate is also considering tougher punishment against drivers breaking traffic rules”
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? For god sakes, suspend people’s licenses for second time offenders, six months to two years, maybe some jail time will do them some good, or just revoke their driving privileges for ever.
Set up a nation wide database of abusive drivers; provide online access to car rental companies and Sales agents so that the abusers no longer get their hands on a set of wheels, ever again.
There is so much more, be firm in the penalties, don’t give third time offenders an option to bribe their way out of trouble. THE Law must apply to all, normal people and VIPS, NO EXCEPTIONS.
And yet, by the end of the campaign, the message will not penetrate our thick skulls, I wonder WHY?
It’s not our fault; the Traffic directorate is not doing its job right.
Hummmm, maybe......, you think i can use that excuse when i get pulled over for a traffic violation or when I get my mug shot taken, whizzing by the newly installed high tech cameras…
But that’s not all, Bahraini Drivers believe the ‘Driving License’ grants them the right to do as they deem fit, the pile of metal on wheels is a misleading cocoon of death. Putting pressure of the pedal, releases life sustaining juice, to crank and nudge the bucket of nuts and bolts forward, ever so slowly; yet that is not enough, we want more, to go faster, and faster. So we press down a little bit more, a bit more forceful this time. The pedal reclines, even more juice gets pumped into the tin can’s loins; it purrs, and then speeds up. Now, you’d think that would satisfy us, but nooooo, now our eyes are toying with us, showing us that the car driving to the side is a bit further ahead, your mind kicks in and taunts you. Is the other car better that yours? Maybe it’s faster! Maybe the driver is better than you.
So, down goes the foot, full throttle and away we GOOOOOO.
But wait, the lights are turning red, I’ll have to stop, but that will mean that other car will now catch up, NOT IF I CAN HELP IT!
The foot pushes down, all the way this time, until the pedal can sink no further and is met head on, with a numb thud, the bottom has been breached, the RPM sprints at the speed of light. You cross the line, but the lights have already turned red, no matter, with the speed you are doing, you can easily avoid a collision……..
With all the education that we’ve had, we’re ignorant of the facts and don't realizing the seriousness of the situation, and by not acknowledging that we are riding in loaded guns, every one of us, we continue to roll the dice, playing with people’s lives.
WELL, WHAT DOES THE TRAFFIC DIRECTORATE (TD) EXPECT?
There’s no one really watching us, there are too few cameras, and I can’t help but laugh hysterically when they claim that six new state of the art camera’s are to be installed NEXT MONTH. How many will that make? 10, 12, 20?
WHY CAN’T WE HAVE THOSE LIVE CAMERA FEEDS THAT OTHER COUHTRIES HAVE? In no time at all, they’d pay for themselves, and then generate a large revenue reserve which can be tapped to further improve the road systems.
To make my point, the current TD advertisements hanging on the road sides are pathetic, they are grey and dull, and will be ignored by most drivers. In contrast, the advertisements that Shamil Bank displayed a month back had traffic lights on them, very colorful and eye catching, I never once drove by one without staring at it. Each time i'd see them i'd reduce my speed, only later realizing it was a sale ploy for their visa cards. THAT GO MY ATTENTION, these adverts will have no such success.
And they say they are serious…..
To close off, and I quote from the article here “The traffic directorate is also considering tougher punishment against drivers breaking traffic rules”
ARE YOU KIDDING ME? For god sakes, suspend people’s licenses for second time offenders, six months to two years, maybe some jail time will do them some good, or just revoke their driving privileges for ever.
Set up a nation wide database of abusive drivers; provide online access to car rental companies and Sales agents so that the abusers no longer get their hands on a set of wheels, ever again.
There is so much more, be firm in the penalties, don’t give third time offenders an option to bribe their way out of trouble. THE Law must apply to all, normal people and VIPS, NO EXCEPTIONS.
And yet, by the end of the campaign, the message will not penetrate our thick skulls, I wonder WHY?
It’s not our fault; the Traffic directorate is not doing its job right.
Hummmm, maybe......, you think i can use that excuse when i get pulled over for a traffic violation or when I get my mug shot taken, whizzing by the newly installed high tech cameras…
Monday, August 20, 2007
My Date with a Stick Shift.....
During my sight seeing trips in Iran, I visited quite a number of tourist attractions, of which one of the most pleasant to one’s eyes was the botanical Garden in Tehran. It was absolutely breathe taking, a place where you can sit and relax, watch the beauty of nature combined with an artificial stone path way, and take in a breath of fresh air. The ‘Jamshidieh Stone Garden’ located on the front slopes of a Kolakchal Mountain, in the Niavaran district of Tehran, an area that the rich and the mostly affluent reside.
It has open air amphitheatre, hiking trails to the mountaintop, and picnic areas, several restaurants, as well as traditional teahouses (houses of culture).
But this blog is not about the spectacular garden, nor the weather, or how we could benefit from such a place here in Bahrain. No, not those things, but rather what happened after we left that beautiful place.
We arrived there by four in the afternoon, but sadly had to leave early because it was getting dark, and we had still not climbed to the very top. There were six of us, and in most places in Iran, at least 5 people can get into the small paykan (car) personal taxis’, excluding the driver.
So we got a cab, me and an acquaintance sad in the front. Yes, the both of us sat on one seat, we had to squeeze in though and there in lay the problem. The other four sat in the back.
NOW, 99.99999 % of all cars in IRAN are manual, so the driver has one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the Stick shift, forcefully guiding the stick from one gear to the next.
Unfortunately, since I was sitting on the inside, gears one and two were, well let’s just say they really got acquainted to my thigh and left cheek, and I'm not talking about my face here.
As I felt the driver change into third gear, yes I say felt, not saw but felt, because now the stick shift was touching the under parts of my left thigh.
He then looked at me, and with a embarrassed grin asks if I would give him permission to shift into fourth gear.
I got the message and had to take it like a mannnnnnn, fourth gear was right under my bottom and no matter how much I squeezes and squirmed, twisted and turned, I just could not shift it, the goods i mean, away from the in evitable, so I gave in and took it like a man.
During the trip, all I could think of was, STOP, NO TRESPASSING, DO NOT ENTER, PRIVATE PROPERY, and for the love of god, pleeeeeeeeeeeeesseeee nooooooooooo BUMPY ROAaaDDDS!
By the end of the trip I had gone to third base and back with the stick shift gear box, at least three times that come to mind, but fourth base was safe, cause I had my cheeks shut iron tight, and when I pounced out of the cab as it stopped at our final destination, and pushing my acquaintance during my rush, I could have sworn I saw the gear box wink at me……
It has open air amphitheatre, hiking trails to the mountaintop, and picnic areas, several restaurants, as well as traditional teahouses (houses of culture).
But this blog is not about the spectacular garden, nor the weather, or how we could benefit from such a place here in Bahrain. No, not those things, but rather what happened after we left that beautiful place.
We arrived there by four in the afternoon, but sadly had to leave early because it was getting dark, and we had still not climbed to the very top. There were six of us, and in most places in Iran, at least 5 people can get into the small paykan (car) personal taxis’, excluding the driver.
So we got a cab, me and an acquaintance sad in the front. Yes, the both of us sat on one seat, we had to squeeze in though and there in lay the problem. The other four sat in the back.
NOW, 99.99999 % of all cars in IRAN are manual, so the driver has one hand on the steering wheel and the other on the Stick shift, forcefully guiding the stick from one gear to the next.
Unfortunately, since I was sitting on the inside, gears one and two were, well let’s just say they really got acquainted to my thigh and left cheek, and I'm not talking about my face here.
As I felt the driver change into third gear, yes I say felt, not saw but felt, because now the stick shift was touching the under parts of my left thigh.
He then looked at me, and with a embarrassed grin asks if I would give him permission to shift into fourth gear.
I got the message and had to take it like a mannnnnnn, fourth gear was right under my bottom and no matter how much I squeezes and squirmed, twisted and turned, I just could not shift it, the goods i mean, away from the in evitable, so I gave in and took it like a man.
During the trip, all I could think of was, STOP, NO TRESPASSING, DO NOT ENTER, PRIVATE PROPERY, and for the love of god, pleeeeeeeeeeeeesseeee nooooooooooo BUMPY ROAaaDDDS!
By the end of the trip I had gone to third base and back with the stick shift gear box, at least three times that come to mind, but fourth base was safe, cause I had my cheeks shut iron tight, and when I pounced out of the cab as it stopped at our final destination, and pushing my acquaintance during my rush, I could have sworn I saw the gear box wink at me……
Sunday, August 19, 2007
I see Great, PEOPLE!
It’s absolutely phenomenal that I can now see with out the aid of any man made ‘sight aid’ device, whether glasses or contacts; from the moment I got off of the operating table, I had near perfect vision.
With my sight restored to near perfect, I should be experiencing sights I haven’t seen for the most of twenty one years, but, the fact of the matter is that ever since I was told that I needed the aid of vision enhancement aids, back when I was only twelve years old, I had been able to use them to temporarily restore my sight to near perfect, be it only until I removed them by sun down.
So the fact is, after I got off of the operating table, I should have felt something different, a life changing experience, or something; a feeling of great joy and gratitude, of completion and satisfaction. Yet, I was baffled that I did not feel such an emotion but rather one of utter confusion.
The fact of the matter is that, yes I was short sighted for 21 years, but, with the use of man made aids, I was whole again even before I was truly whole AGAIN.
I still feel weird at nights, just before going to bed; I’m reminded that I need to remove my contacts, only immediately realizing that I no longer wear them.
It’s going to take some time to get used to my restored sight, but I’m happy, I really am; I don’t have to wear them early every day in the morning when I wake up, I no longer need to squint or put on my glasses when I wake up in the middle of the night, playing sports has now become much more simpler.
These are things that others have been taking for granted, not me for I have been in the thick of things and have finally come out of the darkness, into the light, from which I do not want to go back….
So I am jumping up with joy, with my fist punching through thin air, and my heels clicking against one another, I’m happy, no ecstatic,
So YIPPIE,
Now ……A twilight zone moment
Low and behold, my son was watching DEXTER’S Laboratory on Cartoon Network today; the episode was about what else? ‘Lazic Eye Operation’s and the after effects or side effects on patients.
hummmm,
I wonder if I can further improve my vision with the aim of seeing objects thousands of miles away, or the very smallest of microscopic organisms existing around us, or what’s been every school boy’s dream, to see through things.
With my sight restored to near perfect, I should be experiencing sights I haven’t seen for the most of twenty one years, but, the fact of the matter is that ever since I was told that I needed the aid of vision enhancement aids, back when I was only twelve years old, I had been able to use them to temporarily restore my sight to near perfect, be it only until I removed them by sun down.
So the fact is, after I got off of the operating table, I should have felt something different, a life changing experience, or something; a feeling of great joy and gratitude, of completion and satisfaction. Yet, I was baffled that I did not feel such an emotion but rather one of utter confusion.
The fact of the matter is that, yes I was short sighted for 21 years, but, with the use of man made aids, I was whole again even before I was truly whole AGAIN.
I still feel weird at nights, just before going to bed; I’m reminded that I need to remove my contacts, only immediately realizing that I no longer wear them.
It’s going to take some time to get used to my restored sight, but I’m happy, I really am; I don’t have to wear them early every day in the morning when I wake up, I no longer need to squint or put on my glasses when I wake up in the middle of the night, playing sports has now become much more simpler.
These are things that others have been taking for granted, not me for I have been in the thick of things and have finally come out of the darkness, into the light, from which I do not want to go back….
So I am jumping up with joy, with my fist punching through thin air, and my heels clicking against one another, I’m happy, no ecstatic,
So YIPPIE,
Now ……A twilight zone moment
Low and behold, my son was watching DEXTER’S Laboratory on Cartoon Network today; the episode was about what else? ‘Lazic Eye Operation’s and the after effects or side effects on patients.
hummmm,
I wonder if I can further improve my vision with the aim of seeing objects thousands of miles away, or the very smallest of microscopic organisms existing around us, or what’s been every school boy’s dream, to see through things.
Poverty, despair & Opression has an impact on people's Decency.
I spent almost a whole month in Iran, I was at the doctor’s office, under the surgeon’s knife, figuratively speaking; traveling around, sight seeing tourist attractions, visiting holy sites, shopping extensively because of my wife, walking about and a heck of a lot of other things that don’t come to mind; through all of this I managed extensively use the public transportation systems.
I was driven in the local taxis’, I rode the cramped buses, and the jam packed Tehran metro system.
Now I saw the aftermath of a terrible car accident, a dead drug addict lying in the streets, and avoided an accident just waiting to happen with some faulty wiring that later zapped a child, five minutes after we left a restaurant, the child was terrified but thankfully unhurt; and I also spent the better of thirty four and a half hours out of 48 hrs, traveling cross country on long distance busses, but through all this hardship and inconvenience what caught my attention the most was not the poverty, oppression, corruption or despair but rather one of the effects of these conditions on the proud people of Iran for more that twenty years.
You get to see a lot of strangers and how they interact with one another; everyone reacts differently, through out all my travels and interactions, I observed how people had somehow lost their decency.
Where once the younger generations would get up and give their seats to the elderly, now they just look away and pretend not to notice, where once people stopped to help others in need, now all they do is stand and stair, then walk away without the slightest bit of a guilt.
It’s sad, but you’d think if people were hard life, in whatever manner, they’d at least fight hand and foot to make sure they retain their decency and good within them.
Perhaps people react differently in different places……now
Unfortunately, I have seen slight glimpses of this in our country, I hope they fade away, the diversity in our society has existed for a long time, people have always been good and decant, I just hope that the fact that there have been a large number of newly nationalized citizens, within the last seven years, does not effect such a negative back lash.
Decency is a commodity when lost is not re-attainable, at any cost.
I was driven in the local taxis’, I rode the cramped buses, and the jam packed Tehran metro system.
Now I saw the aftermath of a terrible car accident, a dead drug addict lying in the streets, and avoided an accident just waiting to happen with some faulty wiring that later zapped a child, five minutes after we left a restaurant, the child was terrified but thankfully unhurt; and I also spent the better of thirty four and a half hours out of 48 hrs, traveling cross country on long distance busses, but through all this hardship and inconvenience what caught my attention the most was not the poverty, oppression, corruption or despair but rather one of the effects of these conditions on the proud people of Iran for more that twenty years.
You get to see a lot of strangers and how they interact with one another; everyone reacts differently, through out all my travels and interactions, I observed how people had somehow lost their decency.
Where once the younger generations would get up and give their seats to the elderly, now they just look away and pretend not to notice, where once people stopped to help others in need, now all they do is stand and stair, then walk away without the slightest bit of a guilt.
It’s sad, but you’d think if people were hard life, in whatever manner, they’d at least fight hand and foot to make sure they retain their decency and good within them.
Perhaps people react differently in different places……now
Unfortunately, I have seen slight glimpses of this in our country, I hope they fade away, the diversity in our society has existed for a long time, people have always been good and decant, I just hope that the fact that there have been a large number of newly nationalized citizens, within the last seven years, does not effect such a negative back lash.
Decency is a commodity when lost is not re-attainable, at any cost.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Another Sleepless night.
It was around 4:00 am in the morning and i was still wide awake. I tried gulping down numerous glasses of water, i got up and walked around, i did some push ups in a effort to tire my self out. I also picked up my son's PSP and played for a while, seeing that it too was not having a effect on me, i turned to reading.
I remained awake until 7:30 am, when i finally fell asleep and did not wake until just after 12:00 in the afternoon.
So why did i have such a hard time sleeping? You ask.
The reason is simple, i have a big chip on my shoulder when comes to the issue of ownership of Land or a house in our country, Bahrain.
I logged on to the net yesterday after an absence of two to three weeks and one of the few sites that i must visit first had posted an article on this matter.
It's a point of view, the experiances of one person on his plight to achieve peace & security. But it's not the whole picture of what is going on in our society.
Yes, there are lots of Bahrainis who own land, and yes, some saved, other got loans from Banks and yet others got assistance from their parents.
I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, or one lying anywhere close to me for that matter. I was lucky that my parents put me through private school which led me to getting a good job after graduating from high school. I was not lucky enough to continue my studies until now. I have worked hard to get where i am today but i still have not achieved my goal of owning my own home, this is because of some bad decisiond and the every elusive good luck, which i have none.
Now, you can't get away by saying that people blame the Government for all their problems or only seek assistance from them to get out of a problem, or that people don't bother to get off of their lazy asses to work hard to increase their purchasing power, or save up as much as possible and then apply for a long term housing loan for the remaining amount, there is more......
People have expenses, yes there are people out there who spend like there is no tomorrow and then bitch about the fact that they are unable to afford their own residence and are forced to live in a rented apartment.
Ok, people should learn to spend less and save a bit more, if they haven't started already.
But, when you are not given an opportunity, when the flood gates are opened to GCC nationals and foreigners who have loads and loads of money, levels up to which you are unable to compete, then here is the biggest dilemma. Not the only, but the BIGGEST, which is totally out of our control while the other factors may be in our control.
The price of land was increasing in Bahrain, but not at the rate that is has in the last couple of years. In 2005, i read a statistic posted in one of the GULF financial magazines, if I'm not mistaken (IF I FIND i have retained a copy i will surely post it later on when I get back home). I was astonished to find that Bahrain, the smallest land mass in the GCC had over 4000+ foreigners who owned private land, and non of the other countries, not Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE or Qatar or any other, had foreign ownership anything close to that figure. The point being LAND ownership.
So one can be forgiven if they believe the root of problem in Bahrain is only due to the facts that (a) we do not save enough, (b) or don't work hard enough, (c) or for any other reason for that matter..................The fact of the matter is we are trying but each time we get near the dotted line, it gets moved a couple of notches by policies made and implemented by the Government.
Bahrainis need to get good high paying jobs, but to do that they are required to have a high level of education to enable them to compete against the influx of highly educated foreigners' brought in by Employers. Additionally, while on the subject of employment, Employers should be restricted from recruiting a foreigner as a replacement of a Bahraini who has received a better opportunity somewhere else and has left. This is happening more and more, opportunities that must go to Bahraini graduates are being sold off abroad. (Don't get me wrong, I'm no hate monger but one must be fair and honest about the on goings within our country)
So................ go ahead and write your columns, and the self help advise that may or may not help others, it's a point of view that should be out there so everyone can read and get a complete picture of the ins' and outs' of the problems we are facing. This is our god given right.
Me, it's going to take another couple of days to get this out of my system, but by posting my views on this blog, i have vented a lot of the frustration and despair built up in me.
Yes, i will go ahead and read your articles, and maybe i might pick up some pointers on how to achieve my goal of owning the roof that is over my head; and I'll continue to save, and look for better opportunities to increase my income; i might even place a couple of dinars in the local Bank's saving schemes in the off chance that i might actually win something, but i won't hold my breath nor will i be sitting impatiently by the phone for the call telling me of my winnings.
No, I'll be hard at work, trying to climb the corporate ladder, advancing my education and keeping a look out for any off the chance opportunities that come my way to buy a piece of Land or a home.
I remained awake until 7:30 am, when i finally fell asleep and did not wake until just after 12:00 in the afternoon.
So why did i have such a hard time sleeping? You ask.
The reason is simple, i have a big chip on my shoulder when comes to the issue of ownership of Land or a house in our country, Bahrain.
I logged on to the net yesterday after an absence of two to three weeks and one of the few sites that i must visit first had posted an article on this matter.
It's a point of view, the experiances of one person on his plight to achieve peace & security. But it's not the whole picture of what is going on in our society.
Yes, there are lots of Bahrainis who own land, and yes, some saved, other got loans from Banks and yet others got assistance from their parents.
I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, or one lying anywhere close to me for that matter. I was lucky that my parents put me through private school which led me to getting a good job after graduating from high school. I was not lucky enough to continue my studies until now. I have worked hard to get where i am today but i still have not achieved my goal of owning my own home, this is because of some bad decisiond and the every elusive good luck, which i have none.
Now, you can't get away by saying that people blame the Government for all their problems or only seek assistance from them to get out of a problem, or that people don't bother to get off of their lazy asses to work hard to increase their purchasing power, or save up as much as possible and then apply for a long term housing loan for the remaining amount, there is more......
People have expenses, yes there are people out there who spend like there is no tomorrow and then bitch about the fact that they are unable to afford their own residence and are forced to live in a rented apartment.
Ok, people should learn to spend less and save a bit more, if they haven't started already.
But, when you are not given an opportunity, when the flood gates are opened to GCC nationals and foreigners who have loads and loads of money, levels up to which you are unable to compete, then here is the biggest dilemma. Not the only, but the BIGGEST, which is totally out of our control while the other factors may be in our control.
The price of land was increasing in Bahrain, but not at the rate that is has in the last couple of years. In 2005, i read a statistic posted in one of the GULF financial magazines, if I'm not mistaken (IF I FIND i have retained a copy i will surely post it later on when I get back home). I was astonished to find that Bahrain, the smallest land mass in the GCC had over 4000+ foreigners who owned private land, and non of the other countries, not Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE or Qatar or any other, had foreign ownership anything close to that figure. The point being LAND ownership.
So one can be forgiven if they believe the root of problem in Bahrain is only due to the facts that (a) we do not save enough, (b) or don't work hard enough, (c) or for any other reason for that matter..................The fact of the matter is we are trying but each time we get near the dotted line, it gets moved a couple of notches by policies made and implemented by the Government.
Bahrainis need to get good high paying jobs, but to do that they are required to have a high level of education to enable them to compete against the influx of highly educated foreigners' brought in by Employers. Additionally, while on the subject of employment, Employers should be restricted from recruiting a foreigner as a replacement of a Bahraini who has received a better opportunity somewhere else and has left. This is happening more and more, opportunities that must go to Bahraini graduates are being sold off abroad. (Don't get me wrong, I'm no hate monger but one must be fair and honest about the on goings within our country)
So................ go ahead and write your columns, and the self help advise that may or may not help others, it's a point of view that should be out there so everyone can read and get a complete picture of the ins' and outs' of the problems we are facing. This is our god given right.
Me, it's going to take another couple of days to get this out of my system, but by posting my views on this blog, i have vented a lot of the frustration and despair built up in me.
Yes, i will go ahead and read your articles, and maybe i might pick up some pointers on how to achieve my goal of owning the roof that is over my head; and I'll continue to save, and look for better opportunities to increase my income; i might even place a couple of dinars in the local Bank's saving schemes in the off chance that i might actually win something, but i won't hold my breath nor will i be sitting impatiently by the phone for the call telling me of my winnings.
No, I'll be hard at work, trying to climb the corporate ladder, advancing my education and keeping a look out for any off the chance opportunities that come my way to buy a piece of Land or a home.
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Would one die from 'Chewing Gum'?
Early one morning, just after having a delicious local breakfast, my wife pulled out a pack of chewing Gum from her hand back and offered to share some with the rest of us.
I politely thanked her and declined her offer, but her brother who was sitting across her at the other end of the living room accepted gleefully.
She tossed the chewing Gum across the room, at her brother and it shacked him in the knee, her mother immediately screamed out, "What, are you trying to kill your brother?”
What? I thought to myself, is if possible for someone to actually die from Chewing Gum. We all remember being told white lies by our parents when we were little, of the dangers of swallowing chewing gum, but this was only so that we would spit them out rather that each them and get indigestion, wasn't it?
But lets see, we chew gum, some swallow it & others spit it out. We may shove loads off gum into our mouth to achieve that ever elusive perfect bubble gum, the over inflated bubble that POPS and covers our chin, nose and hair if we are not so lucky, which i am not.
My curiosity got the better of me so i searched the net and came up with the following;
Chewing Gum headlines: (there are many more but i have listed only two)
I politely thanked her and declined her offer, but her brother who was sitting across her at the other end of the living room accepted gleefully.
She tossed the chewing Gum across the room, at her brother and it shacked him in the knee, her mother immediately screamed out, "What, are you trying to kill your brother?”
What? I thought to myself, is if possible for someone to actually die from Chewing Gum. We all remember being told white lies by our parents when we were little, of the dangers of swallowing chewing gum, but this was only so that we would spit them out rather that each them and get indigestion, wasn't it?
But lets see, we chew gum, some swallow it & others spit it out. We may shove loads off gum into our mouth to achieve that ever elusive perfect bubble gum, the over inflated bubble that POPS and covers our chin, nose and hair if we are not so lucky, which i am not.
My curiosity got the better of me so i searched the net and came up with the following;
Chewing Gum headlines: (there are many more but i have listed only two)
- SHANGHAI, June 27 -- A LEXUS driver is believed to have choked to death on a wad of chewing gum that slipped into his trachea thanks to the big bump he ...
- Adult sudden death caused by aspiration of chewing gum
The Histroy of 'The Chewing Gum' (as stated on the net)
Many years ago, archaeologists made a surprising discovery! It seems prehistoric men and women chewed on lumps of tree resin for pure enjoyment, making them the first-ever gum chewers in recorded history.
In the early 1880s, two brothers, Henry and Frank Fleer, began experimenting with chicle, the sticky substance found inside a sapodilla tree. Henry Fleer covered the tasteless chicle with a sugary white coating and named his invention "Chiclets." Meanwhile, brother Frank put together a recipe for the world's first bubble gum, originally called "Blibber Blubber Bubble Gum."
-----------------
I am off to the local store to get be some safe gum.......maybe i could make a bundle if i invent something ......naaaaaa... what's life without taking a little risk now and then...
I'm now officially on Leave! So where have i been for so long? You ask.
As usual, i'm posting this rather late...but what the heck?
I know you'll understand.
It's been ten days now that i have been relaxing away from the pressures and demands of work. Yes, i'm on my annual leave and have flown the coupe.
The weak before my last day at work was hectic, I had a ton of work outstanding and a heck of a lot more to do at home.
Fret not, as i had three check lists, one for the pending work that needed to be attended to before my escape, one for the chores that had to be done at home (if i did not want my wife to come back as get me the hell out of the house), and of course, one for the items I needed to purchase before my flight on Thursday the 19th of Jul 2007.
You see, one of the many bad habbits that i have is to leave thingsd till the very last minute, as this time was no exception, i had a gajillion things to do before i got the go ahead from my manager.
To cope with the load i stayed late at work, there by ensuring that i complete my daily chores and ticked off the pending tasks as well, gradually by weeks end I was almost done.
I’d whiz out of the office, late of course, and prowl the malls of Bahrain looking for the items that i needed to buy, of which the most important was a rather good pair of sun glasses which i had to make sure would protect against the UV rays of the sun.
I also stayed up very late, past midnight and into the early hours of the morning so that i could complete the house chores and clean up the mess i had made, while the misses was away for a month visiting her relatives.
Thursday finally approached. I had convinced my manager that I’d come in and leave by 12:00 noon so as to catch my 4:30 flight.
By 11:50 that morning, i had finally completed all my work, after extensively running around the work premises like a mad man, finishing off task after task that were dependant on the participation of others. By 12:15pm i was standing up right at my manager’s desk, panting frantically, and looking at him with a grin on my face, holding up my hand against my chest revealing the wrist watch which was now showing the time approaching 12:16pm. He got the message and told me to literally, PISS OFF home!
I logged off my laptop, packed up and ran to the car park building where my trusty steed was patiently waiting for my arrival.
I was at home by 12:45pm, I was running into the flat and ripping off my clothes at the same time, my sister was supposed to drop me at the airport by 12:30 and i was already late. I jumped into the shower and performed the ritualistic THREE S's ($#!t, Shower & Shave), got out, dried myself and changed into my travel clothes.
On the way to the airport we picked up my son from his grandmother's house. We arrived at 1:45 and had checked in by 2:15pm. We were now free to roam the shops and have a bite to eat at Jasmis. If you're interested we both has the fish sandwich, it was wet!
We walked to the departure gate at the specified time by low and behold, the flight had been delayed. The plane finally departed at 5:30pm and we arrived in Shiraz, Iran at 6:30pm local time.
I was now only a few days away from getting my Lazic eye operation.
I will blog about that shortly..........
I know you'll understand.
It's been ten days now that i have been relaxing away from the pressures and demands of work. Yes, i'm on my annual leave and have flown the coupe.
The weak before my last day at work was hectic, I had a ton of work outstanding and a heck of a lot more to do at home.
Fret not, as i had three check lists, one for the pending work that needed to be attended to before my escape, one for the chores that had to be done at home (if i did not want my wife to come back as get me the hell out of the house), and of course, one for the items I needed to purchase before my flight on Thursday the 19th of Jul 2007.
You see, one of the many bad habbits that i have is to leave thingsd till the very last minute, as this time was no exception, i had a gajillion things to do before i got the go ahead from my manager.
To cope with the load i stayed late at work, there by ensuring that i complete my daily chores and ticked off the pending tasks as well, gradually by weeks end I was almost done.
I’d whiz out of the office, late of course, and prowl the malls of Bahrain looking for the items that i needed to buy, of which the most important was a rather good pair of sun glasses which i had to make sure would protect against the UV rays of the sun.
I also stayed up very late, past midnight and into the early hours of the morning so that i could complete the house chores and clean up the mess i had made, while the misses was away for a month visiting her relatives.
Thursday finally approached. I had convinced my manager that I’d come in and leave by 12:00 noon so as to catch my 4:30 flight.
By 11:50 that morning, i had finally completed all my work, after extensively running around the work premises like a mad man, finishing off task after task that were dependant on the participation of others. By 12:15pm i was standing up right at my manager’s desk, panting frantically, and looking at him with a grin on my face, holding up my hand against my chest revealing the wrist watch which was now showing the time approaching 12:16pm. He got the message and told me to literally, PISS OFF home!
I logged off my laptop, packed up and ran to the car park building where my trusty steed was patiently waiting for my arrival.
I was at home by 12:45pm, I was running into the flat and ripping off my clothes at the same time, my sister was supposed to drop me at the airport by 12:30 and i was already late. I jumped into the shower and performed the ritualistic THREE S's ($#!t, Shower & Shave), got out, dried myself and changed into my travel clothes.
On the way to the airport we picked up my son from his grandmother's house. We arrived at 1:45 and had checked in by 2:15pm. We were now free to roam the shops and have a bite to eat at Jasmis. If you're interested we both has the fish sandwich, it was wet!
We walked to the departure gate at the specified time by low and behold, the flight had been delayed. The plane finally departed at 5:30pm and we arrived in Shiraz, Iran at 6:30pm local time.
I was now only a few days away from getting my Lazic eye operation.
I will blog about that shortly..........
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
End of our National Team.
It saddens me that our national football team has reached this level of mediocrity.
I remember ten to fifteen years back, when the last batch of players were playing, their skills were slowly deterioration and the BFF were unwilling to come to terms and start the rebuilding process.
It took some time before the younger players were given opportunity to play to prove them selves and help then national team improve.
This batch, I fear have also reached the end of their journey and must now give way to the next generation of players.
As usual other Gulf countries have already started this process; Oman are now considered a young up and coming team.
We now have a team of has been's, could have been's, and should have been's.
It is now time to face facts and start the
BUT AS IS ALWAYS THE CASE, the Coach will be blamed and replaced.
Not the players, nor the management or the Bahrain Football federation, who are really at fault.
4 - 0, Huhhhhhhhh
I remember ten to fifteen years back, when the last batch of players were playing, their skills were slowly deterioration and the BFF were unwilling to come to terms and start the rebuilding process.
It took some time before the younger players were given opportunity to play to prove them selves and help then national team improve.
This batch, I fear have also reached the end of their journey and must now give way to the next generation of players.
As usual other Gulf countries have already started this process; Oman are now considered a young up and coming team.
We now have a team of has been's, could have been's, and should have been's.
It is now time to face facts and start the
BUT AS IS ALWAYS THE CASE, the Coach will be blamed and replaced.
Not the players, nor the management or the Bahrain Football federation, who are really at fault.
4 - 0, Huhhhhhhhh
The Bahrain National Team is playing today, I fear the worst but am hoping for the best.
I reluctanly write this blog in fear of the jinxing our team, but it must be said.
It's only a feeling that i have, but my gut tells me that Saudia Arabia may out perform us today.
They have some deadly strikers in Yasser Al Qahtani and CO (i can't remember their names now), who move around very well without the ball, who are hard to defend and almost always utalize the opportunities that come before them in front of the goal.
In our last game against South Korea, we won through shear guts and determination, all the players, each and every one of them, defending the goal like its was their lives on the line, where one defender fell back another took his place, it was an ugly win, but a win non the less. Korea had numerous opportunities to finish us off, but they just could not get the ball to cross the white line between the goal posts.
Best of all, the Chess master at the side lines, knew exactly when and who to substitute. Brilliant.
Now, against Saudia Arabia it may be a differenct scenario (I prey to God it's not). I'm hoping that Machella has another trick up his sleaves which he has now revealed to the players.
My FEAR as always is that the players do not play with heart and determination. Although other teams in the tournament may have more skills, faster players and a more experianced front line, our players have proven that they have what it takes to finally achieve what has been lacking in Bahrains long Football history, an Asian Cup trophy and the respect thaT goes with it. BUT i fear...........
So i'll be at work while others wil be sitting at the TV, watching nervously, jumping up and down, nervously as each second passes by.
While my fears turn to reality...................
Update:
The game has started and we are alreacy 1 - 0 down.
BUT i know if the guys play all out, we can DO ITTTTTTT.
Now, back to work...
It's only a feeling that i have, but my gut tells me that Saudia Arabia may out perform us today.
They have some deadly strikers in Yasser Al Qahtani and CO (i can't remember their names now), who move around very well without the ball, who are hard to defend and almost always utalize the opportunities that come before them in front of the goal.
In our last game against South Korea, we won through shear guts and determination, all the players, each and every one of them, defending the goal like its was their lives on the line, where one defender fell back another took his place, it was an ugly win, but a win non the less. Korea had numerous opportunities to finish us off, but they just could not get the ball to cross the white line between the goal posts.
Best of all, the Chess master at the side lines, knew exactly when and who to substitute. Brilliant.
Now, against Saudia Arabia it may be a differenct scenario (I prey to God it's not). I'm hoping that Machella has another trick up his sleaves which he has now revealed to the players.
My FEAR as always is that the players do not play with heart and determination. Although other teams in the tournament may have more skills, faster players and a more experianced front line, our players have proven that they have what it takes to finally achieve what has been lacking in Bahrains long Football history, an Asian Cup trophy and the respect thaT goes with it. BUT i fear...........
So i'll be at work while others wil be sitting at the TV, watching nervously, jumping up and down, nervously as each second passes by.
While my fears turn to reality...................
Update:
The game has started and we are alreacy 1 - 0 down.
BUT i know if the guys play all out, we can DO ITTTTTTT.
Now, back to work...
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Three events that lead to the decline of our National Football Team, and now..
On the evening on Tuesday the 3RD of August 2004, what was meant to be the defining moment in Bahrain’s Football history sadly turned out to be the start of its rapid decline into obscurity.
ONE
It was the semi-final match of the 2004 Asian Football Cup held in China and we were one victory away from reaching the final, something that we had never ever achieved, and I believe had we made it through we would have won it without a doubt.
The last dying seconds of the match brought our downfall, we had just come back from a 2 – 1 deficit and were leading 3 – 2, with a few minutes of remaining. It looked very good for us as we were one man up; what happened next can give sports fans nightmares, we just imploded. The defences just began to crumble, the players began to slag and tire and did not return back onto their assigned players, we were unable to clear the football from our half and two critical defensive errors led to Japan tying the match at 3 – 3 and then leading 4 – 3 in the added extra time. When the final whistle blew and the dust settled, our national team fighting spirits receded with the lost opportunity, and it has yet to return.
Following this lacklustre end of game performance, the National team slowly declined into obscurity. Don’t get me wrong we still had, and continue to have good players, but that team in my mind, was the best group of BAHRAINI players that could have achieved a lot; had they won the Asian Cup final, it could have then taken the Gulf Cup in 2004, and also have reached the 2006 World Cup finals much earlier rather than having to play the additional matches, up to our eventual loss to T&T.
Had the former occurred, it would have changed Bahrain’s football history for the better and put us on the ASIAN & GCC Footballing MAP.
TWO
The continued decline was evident in the 2004, 17TH GCC Gulf cup which was hosted by the State of Qatar, the eventual winners. We barely go through to the second round after a fiercely fought match against Saudia Arabia, but we were then bettered by Oman, an up and coming team. We had the professional players but they had the better ones, who played with heart and determination.
THREE
The pinnacle of our demise was the eventual one nil loss to Trinidad and Tobego on 16 November 2005 in the very last qualifications play-off match that would have taken us to the 2006 world cup; we were one player short from reaching the World Cup for the first time in our Country’s history. We lost 1 – 0 in that match and 2 – 1 on aggregate. Mohamed Salmeen had been suspended in the first leg of the qualifying play-off match for a second book able offence; his absence affected us and reduced our firing power and ball movement in the middle of the field; yet another great achievement that was not realised.
What went wrong?
Well for one, some of the players got too full of themselves; they turned professional playing in the regional Leagues and lost sight of the hard work, sweat, defeminisation and the fighting spirit (playing till the whistle is blown) that had gotten them there. Their attitudes changed, they became more like cry babies and hot heads rather than professionals, and dependable members of a National team. Each player was now playing defensively trying not to get hurt, so as not to forfeiting their PAID professional careers.
For another, our best scorer, Alah Hubail got injured and has now lost his finishing touch. The fact is we do not have alternative players, there is no pool of scorers from which we can pick and choose. The players on the National team don’t shoot the ball with any accuracy; they just kick and hope the ball goes to wards the goal. Scorers have to have the touch, and take the opportunities count as they come, in cases of minimal chances playing against tough teams, a superstar takes over and creates his own chances; again, we lack the presence of a player of that calibre.
WHY IS THAT?
Consider how much the other GCC states spend on their football teams or their football federation initiatives to create a pool of players from which they can pick when needed.
We do not have a forward minded presence in our Football Federation, if we did, three would be visits by coaches to the public & private schools where the young players would be taught the basics of football, where the sports instructors in those schools would be put under a vigorous training regime that would improve their knowledge and thereby lead to better training of the students.
Additionally, the exceptional players selected based on their superior skills could then be taken and trained under the wings of professional coaches.
This would start a chain reaction that would positively impacted the younger players and aspired them to play at much higher levels, this may also convince the Bahrain Football Federation to spend more on them and send the exceptional ones to professional Football training schools for further improvement and growth. Sadly that is not to be…
……………………………
Alas, today was day one of the 2007 Asian CUP; and we just lost 2 – 1 to Indonesia.
Need I say more………
On the evening on Tuesday the 3RD of August 2004, what was meant to be the defining moment in Bahrain’s Football history sadly turned out to be the start of its rapid decline into obscurity.
ONE
It was the semi-final match of the 2004 Asian Football Cup held in China and we were one victory away from reaching the final, something that we had never ever achieved, and I believe had we made it through we would have won it without a doubt.
The last dying seconds of the match brought our downfall, we had just come back from a 2 – 1 deficit and were leading 3 – 2, with a few minutes of remaining. It looked very good for us as we were one man up; what happened next can give sports fans nightmares, we just imploded. The defences just began to crumble, the players began to slag and tire and did not return back onto their assigned players, we were unable to clear the football from our half and two critical defensive errors led to Japan tying the match at 3 – 3 and then leading 4 – 3 in the added extra time. When the final whistle blew and the dust settled, our national team fighting spirits receded with the lost opportunity, and it has yet to return.
Following this lacklustre end of game performance, the National team slowly declined into obscurity. Don’t get me wrong we still had, and continue to have good players, but that team in my mind, was the best group of BAHRAINI players that could have achieved a lot; had they won the Asian Cup final, it could have then taken the Gulf Cup in 2004, and also have reached the 2006 World Cup finals much earlier rather than having to play the additional matches, up to our eventual loss to T&T.
Had the former occurred, it would have changed Bahrain’s football history for the better and put us on the ASIAN & GCC Footballing MAP.
TWO
The continued decline was evident in the 2004, 17TH GCC Gulf cup which was hosted by the State of Qatar, the eventual winners. We barely go through to the second round after a fiercely fought match against Saudia Arabia, but we were then bettered by Oman, an up and coming team. We had the professional players but they had the better ones, who played with heart and determination.
THREE
The pinnacle of our demise was the eventual one nil loss to Trinidad and Tobego on 16 November 2005 in the very last qualifications play-off match that would have taken us to the 2006 world cup; we were one player short from reaching the World Cup for the first time in our Country’s history. We lost 1 – 0 in that match and 2 – 1 on aggregate. Mohamed Salmeen had been suspended in the first leg of the qualifying play-off match for a second book able offence; his absence affected us and reduced our firing power and ball movement in the middle of the field; yet another great achievement that was not realised.
What went wrong?
Well for one, some of the players got too full of themselves; they turned professional playing in the regional Leagues and lost sight of the hard work, sweat, defeminisation and the fighting spirit (playing till the whistle is blown) that had gotten them there. Their attitudes changed, they became more like cry babies and hot heads rather than professionals, and dependable members of a National team. Each player was now playing defensively trying not to get hurt, so as not to forfeiting their PAID professional careers.
For another, our best scorer, Alah Hubail got injured and has now lost his finishing touch. The fact is we do not have alternative players, there is no pool of scorers from which we can pick and choose. The players on the National team don’t shoot the ball with any accuracy; they just kick and hope the ball goes to wards the goal. Scorers have to have the touch, and take the opportunities count as they come, in cases of minimal chances playing against tough teams, a superstar takes over and creates his own chances; again, we lack the presence of a player of that calibre.
WHY IS THAT?
Consider how much the other GCC states spend on their football teams or their football federation initiatives to create a pool of players from which they can pick when needed.
We do not have a forward minded presence in our Football Federation, if we did, three would be visits by coaches to the public & private schools where the young players would be taught the basics of football, where the sports instructors in those schools would be put under a vigorous training regime that would improve their knowledge and thereby lead to better training of the students.
Additionally, the exceptional players selected based on their superior skills could then be taken and trained under the wings of professional coaches.
This would start a chain reaction that would positively impacted the younger players and aspired them to play at much higher levels, this may also convince the Bahrain Football Federation to spend more on them and send the exceptional ones to professional Football training schools for further improvement and growth. Sadly that is not to be…
……………………………
Alas, today was day one of the 2007 Asian CUP; and we just lost 2 – 1 to Indonesia.
Need I say more………
Sunday, July 08, 2007
BanderGate, CNN & now the LA Times; all raising the issue of promoted Secretarianism by factions within the Government. What now?
c) The mistrust by the Government in its population believing that external bodies are influencing their decisions, thus the target populous can't be trusted or depended on,
d) The previous two points leading to the government continuing to employ foreigners in its Civil services & Armed forces'
Quote"Independent observers have criticized the government for regularly staffing security forces with non-Bahraini Sunnis."Unqoute
e) A widening gap between the poor and the rich,
f) A low standard public education system that has not been updated to today's requirements
and many more.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A blogger mentioned in an article earlier this year that the only way forward, was if the Government come out and accepted responsibilities for the role it played in past events, and sincerely apologised for the tragic deaths of many civilians and the torture of prisoners. This would not clear the slate clean but it would prove their seriousness in moving forward and enable progressive dialogue to ensue, with the aim of a better future as one nation. It is not enough to say that we are one nation; we should actually feel like one nation, and not a nation within a nation.
I wholeheartedly agree but also, as the article rightly states;
"King Hamed bin Isa AlKhalifa, the ultimate authority in Bahrain".
Yes His Highness is the ultimate authority in Bahrain and he has on many occasions clearly stated his wishes, both in the past and by reiterating it again on the 20th of June 2007,
QUOTE from another blog
His Majesty King Hamad vowed yesterday that Bahrain’s human rights clock “will never turn back”. He told members of Bahrain Human Rights Society and Bahrain Human Rights Watch: “We will not tolerate any injustices or violations of Bahrainis’ or expatriates’ rights.”
“Our doors have remained open from the beginning for all to report their grievances,” His Majesty said.
With His Highness, the King in the forefront, and assistance from the Prime Ministry, His Excellency Shaikh Khalifa Bin Slaman Al Khalifa, and backed by our forward minded Crown Prince, Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, i hope these factions are convinced that the best way forward is together as one nation, we can not and should not support the hard line ideology nor should we as a county, replicate the events that are occurring in countries around us like Saudia Arabia, Afghanistan & Iraq where fundamentalism is rampant or an Islamic state such as Iran or Saudi Arabia; this may lead to the break down of the fabrics of our Society; this is a fact that has been realised by some of these Government who are now having a difficult time combating the movements.
Our loyalty remains with God (Allah), our King (His Highness King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa) and our Country (the Kingdom of Bahrain), it is high time the rest of the faction realize this and allow the cycle of healing to commence. We need to go forwards not backwards.
The article in yesterday's (7th July 2007) LA Times has put the spotlight back on to our country, the last time this happened was with the Bandergate incident.
Transparency, Trustworthy & Accountable; three words that do not come into the picture when talking about entities within the Government.
Why is there still a division?
Well, for one, there are many economical, social & political reasons leading to the continued division;
Some of the more apparent causes are:
a) a high rate of unemployment, even if the Government entities dispute the calims, the figures they release can't be confirmed or refuted by an independant body,
b) continued discrimination of shia majority in Government positions that are considered too sensitive,c) The mistrust by the Government in its population believing that external bodies are influencing their decisions, thus the target populous can't be trusted or depended on,
d) The previous two points leading to the government continuing to employ foreigners in its Civil services & Armed forces'
Quote"Independent observers have criticized the government for regularly staffing security forces with non-Bahraini Sunnis."Unqoute
e) A widening gap between the poor and the rich,
f) A low standard public education system that has not been updated to today's requirements
and many more.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A blogger mentioned in an article earlier this year that the only way forward, was if the Government come out and accepted responsibilities for the role it played in past events, and sincerely apologised for the tragic deaths of many civilians and the torture of prisoners. This would not clear the slate clean but it would prove their seriousness in moving forward and enable progressive dialogue to ensue, with the aim of a better future as one nation. It is not enough to say that we are one nation; we should actually feel like one nation, and not a nation within a nation.
I wholeheartedly agree but also, as the article rightly states;
"King Hamed bin Isa AlKhalifa, the ultimate authority in Bahrain".
Yes His Highness is the ultimate authority in Bahrain and he has on many occasions clearly stated his wishes, both in the past and by reiterating it again on the 20th of June 2007,
QUOTE from another blog
His Majesty King Hamad vowed yesterday that Bahrain’s human rights clock “will never turn back”. He told members of Bahrain Human Rights Society and Bahrain Human Rights Watch: “We will not tolerate any injustices or violations of Bahrainis’ or expatriates’ rights.”
“Our doors have remained open from the beginning for all to report their grievances,” His Majesty said.
With His Highness, the King in the forefront, and assistance from the Prime Ministry, His Excellency Shaikh Khalifa Bin Slaman Al Khalifa, and backed by our forward minded Crown Prince, Shaikh Salman Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, i hope these factions are convinced that the best way forward is together as one nation, we can not and should not support the hard line ideology nor should we as a county, replicate the events that are occurring in countries around us like Saudia Arabia, Afghanistan & Iraq where fundamentalism is rampant or an Islamic state such as Iran or Saudi Arabia; this may lead to the break down of the fabrics of our Society; this is a fact that has been realised by some of these Government who are now having a difficult time combating the movements.
Our loyalty remains with God (Allah), our King (His Highness King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa) and our Country (the Kingdom of Bahrain), it is high time the rest of the faction realize this and allow the cycle of healing to commence. We need to go forwards not backwards.
CX movie review - Shrek the Third
Dated 28 June 2007, but as usual lost in transit.
My intentions were to go to the cinema this weekend to watch the newly released movie ‘PREMONITION’, but because my son was accompanying me, WE (meaning my son) decided to watch ‘Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End’ instead; unfortunately since there were no seats available at the 8:00 pm screening except for the very front rows, we settled on ‘Shrek the Third’.
The Plot
The frog king is on his death bed, and very soon after the movie starts, he passes away, well eventually.
Shrek is then left with the predicament of taking over as the Kind of Ever Ever land, which he is not comfortable with; with the knowledge of the existence of another heir to the throne, he sets off to find his replacement…..
What I really thought of it:
The third episode of the SHREK trilogy is not as good as the original, which had taken us all by surprise; there were a few new ideas, and many new characters.
My favourites (a) the scene where Pinocchio tries not to lie but tell the truth in twists and turns making it hard for the prince to comprehend, and then the pigs squeal, and (b) close to the end a combination reaction between Shrek’s kid burping and Donkey’s kid sneezing resulting in a fire ball.
I didn’t appreciate the adult themes like the ‘Hooters’ sigh and the Bra burning incident, after all their main target audience are still children, even though a lot of adults will also be watching, me included.
Close to the end, the moral of the story is slowly poured on to us and it’s rather touching, up to then I was wondering what the kids watching the movie would be getting out of it, I was relived.
So, in the end the movie was Ok, not great.
The CX Rating
It started off at a 6, went up to an 8 but then ended at a 7, so the final average rating is 7.
It’s ok to watch it in the cinema, though by now it may have been taken off, just make sure there are no kids in the cinema with you with the exception of your child, aaah but that’s too much to ask.
Enjoy.
My intentions were to go to the cinema this weekend to watch the newly released movie ‘PREMONITION’, but because my son was accompanying me, WE (meaning my son) decided to watch ‘Pirates of the Caribbean – At World’s End’ instead; unfortunately since there were no seats available at the 8:00 pm screening except for the very front rows, we settled on ‘Shrek the Third’.
The PlotThe frog king is on his death bed, and very soon after the movie starts, he passes away, well eventually.
Shrek is then left with the predicament of taking over as the Kind of Ever Ever land, which he is not comfortable with; with the knowledge of the existence of another heir to the throne, he sets off to find his replacement…..
What I really thought of it:
The third episode of the SHREK trilogy is not as good as the original, which had taken us all by surprise; there were a few new ideas, and many new characters.
My favourites (a) the scene where Pinocchio tries not to lie but tell the truth in twists and turns making it hard for the prince to comprehend, and then the pigs squeal, and (b) close to the end a combination reaction between Shrek’s kid burping and Donkey’s kid sneezing resulting in a fire ball.
I didn’t appreciate the adult themes like the ‘Hooters’ sigh and the Bra burning incident, after all their main target audience are still children, even though a lot of adults will also be watching, me included.
Close to the end, the moral of the story is slowly poured on to us and it’s rather touching, up to then I was wondering what the kids watching the movie would be getting out of it, I was relived.
So, in the end the movie was Ok, not great.
The CX Rating
It started off at a 6, went up to an 8 but then ended at a 7, so the final average rating is 7.
It’s ok to watch it in the cinema, though by now it may have been taken off, just make sure there are no kids in the cinema with you with the exception of your child, aaah but that’s too much to ask.
Enjoy.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Advise Please!In 2 weeks time while on Holiday, I'll be getting 'Lazic' eye surgery.
I'll be flying out on leave in two weeks time; while on leave, I’ll also be getting a Lazic eye surgery/operation (corrective eye surgery) performed.
My eye sight is -4.0, in each eye.
I would like anyone who knows anything on this matter or has performed the operation to post a small description of what I should expect and any precautionary measures to take, or anything else that comes to mind.
A little Background;
I have been wearing glasses since I was 11 years old, 22 years back. Soon after i started working in December 1993, I was able to afford a pair of contact lenses and have been wearing contacts ever since.
I've grown tired of not being able to see clearly without the aid of glasses or contacts, getting up in the middle of the night is a pain, so is long distance flights, going to the pool with family and friends, playing sports, showering, and anything else that comes to mind.
It's become very bothersome getting up every day, washing my face and then putting the freaking things on, even after thoroughly rinsing them, a small particle of dust or a hair line somehow gets in underneath them, and rubs into my cornea, and it burns like crazy.
The simplest things that others take for granted I have a difficult time with.
At nights without the aid on contacts or glasses, my vision is completely blurred, and squinting does no good.
Just think about it, you wake up morning and the first thing you do is feel for the glasses using your hands.
I decided on Lazic surgery a couple of years back, but i was always reluctant because of the stories I’d heard of botched up procedures and failed operations not having a fruitful result.
But it's high time now, I'm praying for a favourable result.
I'll post the results and my experience as it occurs.
My eye sight is -4.0, in each eye.
I would like anyone who knows anything on this matter or has performed the operation to post a small description of what I should expect and any precautionary measures to take, or anything else that comes to mind.A little Background;
I have been wearing glasses since I was 11 years old, 22 years back. Soon after i started working in December 1993, I was able to afford a pair of contact lenses and have been wearing contacts ever since.
I've grown tired of not being able to see clearly without the aid of glasses or contacts, getting up in the middle of the night is a pain, so is long distance flights, going to the pool with family and friends, playing sports, showering, and anything else that comes to mind.
It's become very bothersome getting up every day, washing my face and then putting the freaking things on, even after thoroughly rinsing them, a small particle of dust or a hair line somehow gets in underneath them, and rubs into my cornea, and it burns like crazy.
The simplest things that others take for granted I have a difficult time with.
At nights without the aid on contacts or glasses, my vision is completely blurred, and squinting does no good.
Just think about it, you wake up morning and the first thing you do is feel for the glasses using your hands.
I decided on Lazic surgery a couple of years back, but i was always reluctant because of the stories I’d heard of botched up procedures and failed operations not having a fruitful result.
But it's high time now, I'm praying for a favourable result.
I'll post the results and my experience as it occurs.
CX movie review - Transformers
Yesterday, I went to the cinema with my son to catch the 12:00 midnight screening of Transformers.
The Plot
Eighty years ago, an all powerful cosmic CUBE called the ‘All Spark’ fell to earth. The Cube had the power to transform electronic & mechanical gadgets into living megabots exoskeletons robots.
The CUBE is perused by the Evil Lord Megatron master of the Decepticons, a race of mebabots that were originally given life to by the CUBE; his aim, to use the cube to transform all the gadgets on earth into megabots and turn them loose onto the human race.
In his attempt to enter the earth’s atmosphere he looses control and falls into the Arctic Ocean where he is frozen solid by the sub zero water of the depths.
The CUBE is lost.
Present day, young Sam Witwicky is attempting to sell off his Grand father’s glasses on ebay to get some pocket money.
The good guys, Optimus Prime & his band of Autobots who are also megabots created by the CUBE, land on earth in a race against the collaborators of Lord Megatron to find the CUBE before it is too late for the man kind.
It takes the Autobots, the US army and Sam Witwicky’s bravery in the toughest of times to defeat the Decepticons.
The movie has a perfect ending with the song ‘What I’ve Done’ by Linkin Park echoing in the back Ground.
Now, at some point of time the word ‘Masturbation’ is uses, and immediately my son turns to me and asks, “Dad, what does that men?”, I was stupefied, what should I say? I looked at him, trying to keep a straight face and told him that I would explain it to him later when the movie ended. I have not and he has not asked, yet. My fear now is that when he watches the movie again on DVD, he’ll surely hear the word AGAIN and come running to me for an explanation. What in the world do I do then? My only option seems to be to lie to him and tell him that they will never release the DVD for financial reasons, and hope he believes me. I AM NOT SURE IT’S RIGHT TO SIT DOWN WITH MY 9 YEAR OLD SON AND EXPLAIN TO HIM WHAT ‘MASTERBATION’ IS. I STILL HAVE A COUPLE OF YEARS LEFT FOR THAN, I HOPE!
What I really thought of it:
I absolutely loved watching the movie; it was exciting, hilarious and utterly entertaining. Ali, my 9 year old son liked it as well though not as much as me.
So why did I like it so much? Well, firstly it really was a superb movie and very (very) entertaining but what really captivated me was the fact that it took me back 25 years to when I used to watch the transformer cartoons on TV, during my school heydays, I was no bigger than my son is now.
Also, let’s not forget that it’s produced by Steven Spielberg and anything he touches turns into gold.
Overall, the script was very well written, the acting of Shia LaBeouf was absolutely amazing. He was very funny in the scenes and was the glue that moulded the script together.
The CX Rating
It deservedly has to be rated as high up as a 9 out of 12, without question.
And YES, you must watch it in the cinema.
I suggest you watch it at the Al Jazeera cinema in Muharraq as it will cost you only BD2 per person.
Have a blast.
Transformers, more than meets the eyes…………….
The Plot
Eighty years ago, an all powerful cosmic CUBE called the ‘All Spark’ fell to earth. The Cube had the power to transform electronic & mechanical gadgets into living megabots exoskeletons robots.
The CUBE is perused by the Evil Lord Megatron master of the Decepticons, a race of mebabots that were originally given life to by the CUBE; his aim, to use the cube to transform all the gadgets on earth into megabots and turn them loose onto the human race.
In his attempt to enter the earth’s atmosphere he looses control and falls into the Arctic Ocean where he is frozen solid by the sub zero water of the depths.
The CUBE is lost.
Present day, young Sam Witwicky is attempting to sell off his Grand father’s glasses on ebay to get some pocket money.
The good guys, Optimus Prime & his band of Autobots who are also megabots created by the CUBE, land on earth in a race against the collaborators of Lord Megatron to find the CUBE before it is too late for the man kind.
It takes the Autobots, the US army and Sam Witwicky’s bravery in the toughest of times to defeat the Decepticons.
The movie has a perfect ending with the song ‘What I’ve Done’ by Linkin Park echoing in the back Ground.
Now, at some point of time the word ‘Masturbation’ is uses, and immediately my son turns to me and asks, “Dad, what does that men?”, I was stupefied, what should I say? I looked at him, trying to keep a straight face and told him that I would explain it to him later when the movie ended. I have not and he has not asked, yet. My fear now is that when he watches the movie again on DVD, he’ll surely hear the word AGAIN and come running to me for an explanation. What in the world do I do then? My only option seems to be to lie to him and tell him that they will never release the DVD for financial reasons, and hope he believes me. I AM NOT SURE IT’S RIGHT TO SIT DOWN WITH MY 9 YEAR OLD SON AND EXPLAIN TO HIM WHAT ‘MASTERBATION’ IS. I STILL HAVE A COUPLE OF YEARS LEFT FOR THAN, I HOPE!
What I really thought of it:
I absolutely loved watching the movie; it was exciting, hilarious and utterly entertaining. Ali, my 9 year old son liked it as well though not as much as me.
So why did I like it so much? Well, firstly it really was a superb movie and very (very) entertaining but what really captivated me was the fact that it took me back 25 years to when I used to watch the transformer cartoons on TV, during my school heydays, I was no bigger than my son is now.
Also, let’s not forget that it’s produced by Steven Spielberg and anything he touches turns into gold.
Overall, the script was very well written, the acting of Shia LaBeouf was absolutely amazing. He was very funny in the scenes and was the glue that moulded the script together.
The CX Rating
It deservedly has to be rated as high up as a 9 out of 12, without question.
And YES, you must watch it in the cinema.
I suggest you watch it at the Al Jazeera cinema in Muharraq as it will cost you only BD2 per person.
Have a blast.
Transformers, more than meets the eyes…………….
Wednesday, July 04, 2007
Isn't it high time we get our very own Railway (Monorail/Metro) system?
PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
Monorail systems have been built in many countries around the world, many of them on elevated tracks through crowded areas that would otherwise require the construction of expensive underground lines or have the disadvantages of surface lines.
Isn't it time for a Railway System here in little old K.O.Bahrain?
Again, Dubai beat us to the punch a long time ago; back in 1997 they commissioned a feasibility study known as R7100, which was completed by 2000, it concluded that Dubai could no longer wholly rely on Roads Transport System to cater to its escalating traffic demands. The findings also recommended a need for a transit system to ease congestion.
b) A rapid transit, underground, subway, tube, elevated, or metro (politan) system is a railway—usually in an urban area—with a high capacity and frequency of service, and grade separation from other traffic. In most parts of the world these systems are known as a "metro", in London the system is called the "underground", while in most of North America and in Glasgow, Scotland it is a "subway".
c) To be updated shortly.
Monorail systems have been built in many countries around the world, many of them on elevated tracks through crowded areas that would otherwise require the construction of expensive underground lines or have the disadvantages of surface lines.
Isn't it time for a Railway System here in little old K.O.Bahrain?
Again, Dubai beat us to the punch a long time ago; back in 1997 they commissioned a feasibility study known as R7100, which was completed by 2000, it concluded that Dubai could no longer wholly rely on Roads Transport System to cater to its escalating traffic demands. The findings also recommended a need for a transit system to ease congestion.
Quote from their site: Dubai Metro
The Dubai government commissioned studies to “evaluate most efficient and cost-effective solution to combat traffic congestion” that resulted in the birth of Dubai Metro. Termed as the flagship project of the Roads and Transport Authority, this 15.5 billion Dirhams project will be a benchmark in terms of its state-of-the-art engineering, being an architectural showpiece and for its direct role in providing social benefits.
The project will be delivered in two phases wherein the first stage will construct the Red Line and will run along the famous Sheikh Zayed Road, on a viaduct. The second phase that will deliver the Green line will be built mostly underground. The Red line (Phase I) is marked for completion on September, 2009 while the Green Line (Phase II) is scheduled to be completed in March 2010.
SO WHAT ABOUT BAHRAIN?
An article published in the GDN on 21 June 2007 under the title ‘Mega railway project is discussed’, may be a hint that our Government has now somewhat realized that we too require a railway system or metro that is most appropriate for our needs.
Their aim should be to providing a cheaper and alternative mode of transport; it should be a means to ease the dependency on cars and thereby reduce traffic congestion.
The implementation of the metro will not only ease congestion but will also help to improve economic development and urban regeneration, and help reduce pollution. (I stole this like from the Dubai metro site)
WHO SHOULD OWN & PAY FOR THIS VAST PROJECT?
Lets be realistic, the people who can most afford such a project (other than the Government) and actually be adversely affected by its implementation, if they are not part owners or involved, are the recognizable names like E.K. Kanoo, Zayani Group, Almoayyed, BinHindi, National Motor, Behbehani and so on…. Yes, all the giant CAR Dealership owners who are currently wreaking the benefits of an extraordinarily high car sale figure for the past couple of years.
Yes, if such a project becomes reality in the K.O.Bahrain, provided it’s a carefully thought out and intricate network that covers all or most of the areas around the Island, then believe you me when I say that you will get a lot less demand for cars.
There would be a lot less demand for continuous usage of cars; the roads would be less congested, exceptions would be for very long distances not covered by the railway; usually trips to be taken abroad via the Saudi Causeway and later the Bahrain Qatar causeway, the latter may not really necessitate your own personal car as the talk going around is that there will also be a train system built onto the bridge.
Exciting times or NOT!
Ooh, I can just dream of such a day, it would be a huge leap for our country. Sadly, my biggest fear is this may only remain a dream and never a reality, taking into view the fact that a few weeks back, the newspapers indicated that the Government hand a long term Roads Transport System modification plan that goes past 2020. ??
What the hell is that? If we take their word for it, then the projected date for an online fully functional up and running system would be 2080.
I don’t believe I’ll be alive by them, you never know.
BUT for now, I will continue to use my car, and wait impatiently in the long queues, or at the redundant Traffic lights, or search desperately for a vacant parking spot near my residence; while other countries in the GCC surpass us.
WHAT OPTIONS ARE AVAILABLE TO US?
a) Mono Rail - A monorail is a single rail serving as a track for a wheeled vehicle; also, a vehicle traveling on such a track.
b) A rapid transit, underground, subway, tube, elevated, or metro (politan) system is a railway—usually in an urban area—with a high capacity and frequency of service, and grade separation from other traffic. In most parts of the world these systems are known as a "metro", in London the system is called the "underground", while in most of North America and in Glasgow, Scotland it is a "subway".
c) To be updated shortly.
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