Citizen X

Nuclear Energy: Potential for disaster

2011-04-08T21:15:00.006+03:00

Of the existing means for generating electricity the most sophisticated & dangerous may be Nuclear Energy. I will not profess to know the ins and outs, but will only state this, IT CAN BE DANGEROUS.

Wikipedia quote: "Some serious nuclear and radiation accidents have occurred. Nuclear power plant accidents include the Chernobyl disaster (1986), Fukushima I nuclear accidents (2011), and the Three Mile Island accident (1979)”

I am sure there have been many more incidents which may have been covered up or thought not too serious enough thus not announced to the public.

Let’s agree that there are many causes behind incidents at a nuclear plant, and most may not lead to leakage of radiation.

BUT..

Of the three major incidents, Fukushima I nuclear accident is happening at present. The catalyst was a 9.0 earthquake, the aftershocks & the subsequent tsunami raged onto areas of Japan. This natural disaster first caused the loss of direct then back up power to the water cooling systems in place at the plant which were used to cool down the reactor rods preventing overhead or a meltdown.

Things quickly went out of hand, and precautions were taken by evacuating people from a 30km radios.

Not to reflect on to the GCC

As an example, if Bahrain had a Nuclear Plant at one end of the kingdom, lets say the far ends of Muharraq (if not mistaken, the length of Bahrain is around 27k) then nowhere on the mainland would be safe as it would be within the current evacuation area of 30km radius.

So we’d all have to go & stay on Hawar island….

I write this only to highlight one point of view & perspective regarding the use of Nuclear power; there are many. Implementation, harnessing & distribution can be performed by any of the GCC states, the fact still remains that this means of power generation although fruitful has its consequences and must be meticulously studied before deciding to adapt it.

Let us also not forget the ‘waste’ byproduct and spent rods, their storage & disposal.

LINKS

Blog by Alec Baldwin: The big lie of Clean nuclear

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alec-baldwin/the-big-lie-of-clean-nucl_b_844161.html

How a reactor shuts down and what happens in a meltdown

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/12/world/asia/what-happens-in-a-nuclear-meltdown.html?scp=33&sq=interactive%20fukushima%20reactor&st=cse

Hazards of storing Spent Fuel

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/12/world/asia/the-explosion-at-the-japanese-reactor.html

The Plot thickens .. my perspective.. Bahrain's Peaceful Movement for change...

2011-02-27T11:26:00.007+03:00

People should listen, and then judge for them selves. or ignore completely and walk away .. Freedom to choose .. is a god given right and must not be taken away ..

We can agree to disagree .. but at the end of the day .. u r my brother & i yours .. That point seems to be lost to some ..

My stance on all this is simple, implementation of THE original Constitutional Monarchy that was promised, NOT this Flawed constitution. A Constitution written by Bahrain citizens for Bahrain citizens. UNDER no situation is Government allowed to use Violence or deadly force against Bahrain citizens. Military is to Defend Bahrain & its Citizens not to attack Citizens. No detaining & torture.. No Political Naturalization, No Discrimination by government & no promotion of Discrimination by Gov as is the case now in military & certain ministries .. sadly also true on certain Private institutions.. Actual Freedom of Press & Speech... not the facade we have now..Public land is Public .. NOT Private... A parliament without actual powers is redundant..

I hate Sectarianism. NATIONAL UNITY only .. No Shia No Sunni .. Just/I'm Bahraini...

Feb14 is being depicted as a Shia against Sunni movement .. where in actual fact it is a Peaceful movement, a struggle by citizens for their rights... IT IS SAD, that after living together for decades & more, the plight of these demonstrators is still not apparent to some unwilling to look but chose to listed to propaganda..

Keep in mind that it is the Bahrain citizens/Demonstrators that occupy LuLu, not the Gov Opposition or Opposition political groups. The latter come there to talk to them through speeches .. That is why u see camps, food stalls & the more lively family atmosphere... the hospitality and friendliness ..

Also don't forget that people are angry with their government for using deadly force against their peaceful movement resulting in injuring many and the death of 7. Like it of not .. thats why u hear resentment slogans of government.. People still hurt .. for the innocent blood spilled ..

Mushaima, a long time opposition of the Government has just arrived in Bahrain. He was speaking at LuLu last night, mostly repeats of what many have already been saying, but he did emphasize that WE, meaning previous opposition movements, had trusted the Government when invited to dialog only to be tricked. He said that this time, the movement was by the people, their demands are what must be met, and the oppositions are united in the stance. Additionally he said this is not a Shia or Sunni movement..Its a National Unity movement ..

If he adds value to the peaceful movement for Freedom and change, then good, but if he is here to sell his own self interests, or promote HATE, i'd rather not be part of that, and hope the People of LuLu reject that ideology too..TIME WILL Tell ..

I'm still unsure what to think, i've heard Mushaima has an extreme view & no cap to demands.. Time will tell .. But if u ask me, the opposition by now should have an agree list of demands, also how & when best to approach Dialog.

Yesterday, an article in the GDN caught my eye, 'Tribute to Gandhi's non-violent struggle' in which retired engineer Mansoor Jamal linked the protest at the Pearl Roundabout to India's struggle for independence & Manhatman gandhi. Quotes from the article ..

"The more i see these people there (at Lulu), the more i am convinced that they are following on the Mahatama's path"

"We are not against His Majesty King Hamad but we do not like a lot of things happening under his rule. We want change and we hope we will achieve what we have set out to get"

Many ask why has dialog has not started, what are the Demonstrators/Opposition waiting for, since Government has already extended an open arm. . . My opinion is that the Concessions requested of Government have not been met yet .. not entirely .. Not all prisoners have been released and the biggest point of all, PM is still present.

Will this be an ice breaker, i don't know ..

But till then ... i'll continue to cover as much as possible .. as objectively as i possible can..

and as always those who want to accuse .. continue to do so .. and those that want to be rude may do so .. I choose not to .. In the end i want my family (My Country) together not Divided ..

Democratic reform: a great divide OR NATIONAL UNITY

2011-02-21T16:21:00.005+03:00

First of all, I have faith in Crown Prince Shaikh Salman's ability to guide us through these times of change, to a better and real democratic Society. Under National Unity.

No Government has the right to USE lethal force against its citizens. Only Bahraini's will risk their lives to defend Country and each other, Bahraini's will never kill each other.

Regardless which side you stand on, the fence must be movable, not made of stone or resistant to change. To do this we must have a real Constitutional Monarchy. The monarchy exists but the constitution is flawed.

SOME ISSUES WITH OUR CURRENT CONSTITUTION:

No freedom of speech.

Ministers selected by Government not elected by citizens.

A Parliament that has no significant powers.

** there are so much more.

MOJANASEEN:

The government has, since 2000 brought in Arabic speaking nationals from other MENA states, providing them with Bahrain Passports, housing and government jobs.

The above are completely separate from legal, binding & rightful Bahrain passport holders.

It is good & dandy to send messages of love or greet one another and smile, but the fact remains that there is a great rift, a divide which has resurrected its ugly head, tearing at the fabric of our friendly society. Our family.

Bahrain, being a small island, has citizens who are intricately linked to one another, either being neighbors, close friends, work colleagues or binded through marriage.

Today, i see friends arguing, family members divided and scornful, colleagues eying one another then grouping together and chattering their true feelings and neighbors building invisible fences.

Why are there those that are afraid of change, why fear the worst when you should be expecting the best. That is what this democratic reform will bring, the same close knit family (Bahrainis) under a true constitution written by and for the people, WRITTEN by ALL PEOPLE.

I implore people to stop listening to the hogwash lies being spread, done so to scare people and ensure we are divided.

Who would benefit from this divide, certainly not Bahrain’s citizens?

Try looking at similarities not differences, you'll notice they far out weight the differences, make them your priority and concentrate on them when you meet your fellow Bahraini.

We can all agree to disagree, but we do not have to stop being courteous, well mannered, pleasant; or to stop talking & fight one another.

Let us instead understand the other point of view.

and to those on Twitter trying name calling & bully tactics, my time is better spent ignoring you and concentrating on the future of OUR COUNTRY, Bahrain.

Egypt: Revolution reform OR back to a revised NDP Regime..

2011-02-07T17:22:00.038+03:00

My prayers go out to all the souls lost in Egypt and their surviving loved ones who have to go on without them ...

How i See it ......................

When i first heard of the events in Tunis, i was doubtful of the outcome... BUT THEY SUCCEEDED ....soon Egyptian caught sight of the possibilities, and the pent up anger erupted, so they took to the streets..

To me, Egypt was the Rubicon, the point of no return, the one domino that could fell them all .. there would be changes, definitely not full fledged Democracy, but changes none the less, throughout the Middle East & North African countries... there was HOPE ..

I'm pretty sure all the leaders were monitoring progress in Egypt, some immediately introduced minute changes by sacking and replacing senior government members, some distributed sums of money in the form of monthly aid, others agreed to continue subsidies of goods, all short term changes.. and all of them were still waiting the final outcome in Egypt..

While we were watching NEWS channels, reading newspapers & following blogs and Tweets from Egypt .. WE MISSED OUT ON THE BIGGER PICTURE.... which is .. WHO WAS ACTUALLY MANIPULATING WHOM there..

Protesters are still occupying Tahrir Square, and gatherings are still being held there, in reality i think they are exactly where the government wants them to be, corralled in an area very much manageable and under watchful eyes.

Businesses & Banks are slowly opening, life seems to be gradually going back to normal except for the protesters holding on to Tahrir Square.... unaware that as it currently stands, they may have won the battle ... But they have already lost the WAR ..(i hope to god i am wrong in this).

The interim government is now run by Vice President and former head of intelligence, General Omar Suleiman, a close ally of the US & Israel and the heir apparent to the Egyptian Presidency.. He will sit down with the opposition, he will promise political & economic reform, he may even introduce financial incentives.... all in the name of change.. whereas actually to cause a rift in the Pro change movement... divide and conquer.. or make sure their momentum is lost.. and with at least 7 months to go before the elections.. he will have placed himself as a front runner in the horse race....

WHY Would i say that... SIMPLE..

Hosni Mubarak may be staying on as an honorary role, his presence has ensured that the essence and structure of the ruling party remains after departing, even if changes are introduced...which i am guessing may not be significant enough.. and come election day...

it will be Business as Usual in Egypt but under New Management,

just as the US & Israel want it...

I so do hope & Pray i am Wrong .. This movement should & must not fade... all our futures depend upon its success ..

Prologue

By now everyone is aware of events in Egypt, it's on all the NEWS channels ..

Briefly:

regime change was triggered by Events in Tunis, but for Egyptians, 25th of Jan 2011 signified their stance against oppression.

Brave men, women and children gathered in Tahrir Square .. THEIR DEMAND.. .. resignation of President Hosni Mubarak..

With aspirations that regime change would lead to an end to 'Emergency law'... Positive and progressing changes to the constitution, Free and fair elections..Freedom of Speech, basic human rights..

in days that ensued, the number of injured exceeded a thousand. The official fatality count just below 20 (last i read).. BUT .. protesters, and witnesses contradict this and have stated that the dead may run in the hundreds..

i believe the names of all the fallen Heroes of the Egyptian 25Jan Revolution are being registered on a site...

The event is best described by 'SandMonkey', a prominent Egyptian blogger.. who was also a member of the Pro regime change movement

http://www.sandmonkey.org/2011/02/03/egypt-right-now/

The STANCE may have started off as a Leaderless revolution, going forward and to be taken serious, there must be a structure and an identifiable leadership .. to this effect 'Sandmonkey' shares his views and suggestions: http://www.sandmonkey.org/2011/02/06/the-way-forward/

Egypt, a significant ARAB nation & a KEY player in the MENA because of its close relationship with USA & Israel ...

Will their relationship Chang? I think not .. for an explanation read about the Closed door maneuvering by the Mubarak party and the foreign intervention as best described by Esam Al-Amin : http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27411.htm ,in his article titled 'Mubarak's last Grasp'. (do not miss reading his summary titled "Likely scenarios: remember Marcos?"

The Military made its position very clear by announcing No intervention... WHY?

Well, no revolution is successful without the backing of the military, they tip the balance of power in favor of the Victor.... by being present but only as observers.. The pro Mubarak generals pulled a fast one over the protesters, pretending to be Neutral but actually continuing to support the regime not Mubarak himself.....

The defining moment for the Pro change movement was Friday the 4th of February 2011, know as the 'Day of his (Hosni Mubarak's) Departure' ..

I was expecting a Peaceful march on to the Palace, but they continued to stay in Tahrir Square...

resulting in .. NOTHING ... some NDP cosmetic reshuffling .. BUT STILL NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGE... and this is where i believe the protesters lost momentum ..

Why? The government called their bluff and someone Blinked...

When Goliath is out of reach

2009-02-25T15:24:00.002+03:00

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The actions of our MPs shows how desperate they are to retain their ‘cash cow’ seats, having not accomplishing anything significant during their tenure, as was intended by the founding father's when the lame excuse for a Parliament was first established (by the Government), having made sure it had limited or no authority, misguided loyalty within and giving the least suitable candidates access to the coveted seats, thus ensuring the absence of a unified front, progress and advancement....
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and they have not failed on that objective. MPs do not have the power to change life altering laws nor are they suggesting the introduction of applicable regulations, they have not put any effort into exterminating the mistrust between Government and its people, and are absolutely unable to stamp out the ongoing recruitment of foreign mercenaries for the Armed & Special Forces, police department and the Riot police.
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Since they are powerless and are unable to reach the higher branches where the more juicier leaves are, they have settled for the forrage at ground level .. Alcohol ... Pork ... Prostitution ....
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I can paint my face red & blue, then perform a rain dance, but that don't mean it will rain.
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This too, they will eventually find out, are powerless to do .. as their absence would devistate the tourism (wink, wink) influx from our neighbours and the resident foreign nationals.
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And so by having beaten their drums, the sheep following them will once again vote them back into their seats .. without having ever accomplish a thing.

The Lies we Weave, The Dreams we Leave

2009-02-25T12:49:00.004+03:00

It's not difficult to see that many facets of life don't always go the way we intended them to, sometimes more than we'd care to accept.

One would probably insistently argue that it was what was intended to have happen, blatantly arguing that the result was spot on...."I knew that would happen", "It's what i wanted", "I don't want anything else", "I'm Happy", "It Doen't matter".... and “It was meant to be!”

Lies .. to justify one's dormant life, to put you at ease, safe guarded in a comfort zone. Forming a cocoon of deception, and being sheltered from triggers, avoiding acceptance or realization, that one may in fact not be satisfied that we are actually not doing our hearts desires but have settled for anything close to it or that which is in front of us.

Is it because, you did not try hard enough? Maybe it’s because of a lack of experience, or maybe immaturity or the absence of a clear guiding path.

Whatever the reason, we all live in the same world, so it's not difficult to decipher that the same issues affect us all, and each one reacts differently. One may stand up and fight, and still not achieve anything; another may lay down and accept fate, baring the consequences; yet others may overcome and exceed, even more than their expectations and dreams.

Run after your dreams, stretch for the thing that you want the most. Don't settle for second best, or what's at hand, we all may not achieve our hearts desires but we can certainly try. To attempt and fail, is always better that to never attempt at all.

To many out there, the things I’ve said may be the rankings of a crazy man; to others it may be the truth they do not want to confront, still others may interpret this as a lost man's attempt to reach out to something or someone...

U decide ... interpret it the way it best suits u

You may say that it's destiny, fate or luck that decides, i say BULL SHIT..

Life will only give us the opportunities, it will lead us to the cross roads, but it's up to us to recognize and grasp them, to choose whether we go left or right. Opportunities may pass us by, it isn't because it was meant to be, it’s because you either did not try hard enough or you just did not know better.

Decisions we make has a ripple effect on the course of our life, we may come across the same opportunity more than once, but to let it get out of your grasp for the simple reason of being shy, scared or not knowing better, …….

So don't wait for the phone to ring, for your other to approach you first; make your move, don’t sit and think too much.

Get up and Chase your dreams, don’t live with regrets....

The Return of Citizen X

2008-10-20T07:30:00.002+03:00

Being out of the Blogging circle for a while now, i've missed out on a lot of events that have occurred locally and around the world.....

On a personal note, my high point this year was when my second son, Daniel was born in May'08; my low point was when my estranged father, whom i had not talked to for almost four months (since he cut all ties with me) passed away in June'08. I will miss him despite the roller coaster relationship that we had; after all, he was, is and will always be my father. May god rest his soul.

I completed by Secondment to Oman in July'8 and returned back to my post in Bahrain. (Herein lies another blog topic for the coming days)

First and foremost, I was saddened to hear that the Blog-Father had hung up his keyboard indefinitely.... You will be missed, but your personal decision to do so will always be respected.

Now, the the F***ing traffic (here) in Bahrain is getting worse.... Road rage is rampant, showing the middle finger is a prerequisite for getting a driver's licence and never a day goes bye without another fatal accident.

I'v heard that our DREAM of a Monorail (Overhead Train) system in Bahrain MAY become a reality, sooner than we think (I will not hold my breath but I'm keeping my fingers crossed).

The illegal occupation of Palestine, Afghanistan & Iraq continue ... The false wars are still raging on ... The financial world is in turmoil ... there is a huge distrust in the Banking systems around the world...and behemoths are collapsing ... while others are being gobble up by their governments as a preemptive measure before the domino effect topples them too ... thousands of people will loose their jobs...Millions of American's will lose their homes because of the sub-prime lending debacle.

The Gulf states are not safe either, although the GCC Central banks continue to profess peace and order, that is far from the truth. Yes, there is a lot of liquidity in our markets, but some Financial & Investment losses may be too great to be borne and may (WILL) eventually lead to the deck of card to fall, tumble down. It is still taboo to tell the truth in the gulf....

The American public will shortly be running to the poles to elect yet another president that will further contribute to their down fall, running their country into financial ruins and alienating them even further from the rest of the world. Democrat or Republican, a crook is still a crook, no matter what side they are on.

Finally, as for what i intend to blog about; i will to continue write, be it a short foot note or a long essay type blog; whether it be about the mysteries of the universe, the divine and undiscovered secrets that should be known by all, or simple things in life; No matter how crappy my writing or pointless it may be.....

Oh Mama, Obama!!

2008-06-06T18:16:00.003+03:00

The American presidency has always been for SALE, this coming term is no exception..

I first heard of Baraka Obama around two years back, on a CBS program about describing him as down to earth, a people's person who had not forgotten his roots even after winning a Seat in the Senate. He was paraded as a man who still visited his constituency, walking the streets of his old neighborhood, as though he never left the community.

I admired that, i thought, may be, just maybe this one could actually make a difference.

A few months ago, he was in the limelight again, this time he had just announced his intentions to run for the Demotcratic nominee and eventual candidacy for President of the United States. His speech pattern seemed to have changed, the way he carried himself too was different. It was almost as thought he was now WHITE. I'm not being racist here, but the fact is he was just talking differently, not in the same manner as before, he had lost his originality and uniqueness. Now, he actually sounded like one of the other political candidates who only cared about winning and appeasing the voters. I was hoping i was wrong.

A few days back, the other shoe fell.

(He has all but won the Democratic nomination, leading Senator Hillary Clinton to concede. )

It was Wednesday the 4th of June 2008, in Washington while addressing the influential American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).

HE SHOWED HIS TRUE COLORS AS A BIAST AMERICAN SELLING HIS SOUL TO THE DEVIL. HE WAS, BUT IS NO LONGER THE SAVIER; he, like many other American Political hopefuls has bowed down to the biggest lobby in America, AIPAC; the biggest supporters of Israel AND ITS CONTINUING WAR CRIMES.

His speech said it all; he supports the right of Israel to have Juresalam as its Capital.

[I'm all for peace and prosperity, but only through a agreement that is (a) not biast, and (b) demands that Israel pay for all the war crimes, torture, misery, degredation and hardship (helplessness) that the Palestanian people have faced under the ON GOING & ILLEGAL OCCUPATION of their lands.]

People, i give you the next rightful PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA(NS without SOULS).

Lying your way to THAILAND!

2008-03-25T22:43:00.002+03:00

This is rather funny; i've always believed that if you lie, for whatever reason, you'll soon find yourself telling another one just to cover your first, then another and another, leading to a chain that goes on and on until you get tired of lying & fess up.

Alas, there are also times where people are soooooo crooked that they will never confess, others may be even better, to the extent that sooner or later the lie becomes fact, even if they are caught red handed.

For example, a friend of mind told me of the following; he and his wife were at the airport on their way to Thailand, for a 10 day vacation when he saw an acquaintance. After saying their hellos', the acquaintance tells my friend that he is going to Australia to continue his studies. Well, fine and dandy, they say their good byes and depart.

When my friend arrives at the Bangkok airport he is surprised to see his acquaintance there as well. They smile at each other and my friend is told, by his acquaintance, that he was there on TRANSIT, before his plane departs to Australia.

Again, taking his word for it, my friend leaves the airport and spends the next 8 days sight seeing and traveling from place to place, when he and his wife get back to Bangkok, on the ninth day, he is surprised to see his acquaintance staying at the same hotel he is at.

They again say hello and then he asks 'How come he's (his acquaintance) still in Thailand', to which his acquaintance answers "THE PLANE GOT DELAYED AND I WAS PUT UP AT THE HOTEL UNTIL NOW BY THE AIRLINE COMPANY". What the hell do you say to someone like that?......

Alternatively, i have heard of even better (worse by nature) liars, note the following;
A man was fooling around with his maid when all of a sudden, his wife comes back early from her mother's house. Being in the bed room and having no way out, the maid picks up her clothes and runs into the toilet. The man is left sitting on the bed only wearing his underwear.

His wife walks into the room and demands to know where the maid is, he turns to her and squirts out the following in a drowsy tone, "SHE IS IN THE TOILET". The wife asks what she (the maid) is doing in the toilet, to which he replies, again in the drowsy tone, "HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW, PROBABLY CLEANING THE TOILET, ALL I KNOW IS THAT I WAS ASLEEP AND YOU WOKE ME UP". The dumb twit of a wife bought the excuse her husband had given her.............

But this one takes the cake; a women walks into her bed room, which is dimly lit, only to find her husband on top of the maid. She screams out " What the Hell are you doing?", to which he replies "OH MY GOD, I THOUGHT I WAS ON TOP ON YOU"!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't know how the last one ended but you get the picture.................

Is a Dumb @ss quick Fix the solution?? I think not!!!

2008-03-24T18:24:00.003+03:00

The current proposal to grant Bahraini Citizen (with incomes less than BD1,500) a monthly assistance (aid) of BD50 to cope with rising inflation & hike in the price of goods, is still being tossed around in the Parliament pending final approval. I think it is being limited to only one year.

By my simple calculations, only 66,666 Bahrain individuals will be eligable each month. What about the other 944,444 or so that are excluded?

Do the MPs believe this aid is going to resolve the crisis, curb it in any way, or dampen the effect on our pockets?
Prices will continue to rise, good will continue to get even more expensive, and the freaking cost of living will be more unbearable.
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Yet Dumb Ass proposals are being made by our ""highly educated"" MPs, who are convinced this quick fix is exactly what the doctor ordered.

There's a saying that goes something like this "Feed a man for a day & you will have to feed him tomorrow as well. But, teach a man to GROW his own food & you will have fed him for LIFE".

Why is this simple concept not easy for our MPs to understand.

The proposal will provide an additional source of income for some famalies, the benefits of which has already being nullified by rising rent prices & increasing cost of goods, which will then dry out by the end of 2008..!!!!

Rent continues to sky rocket, Food is becoming more expenseive, I SUSPECT THAT FUEL PRICES WILL INCREASE AS WELL..........WHY THE HELL NOT??..

There's more, land prices are phenominal, construction material has sky rocketed, the purchasing power of our currency has decreased drastically because of the PEGGING to the dollar....

I suspect alot of the price increases are due to GREEEEEEEEDD, not increasing supplier costs or transportation expenses....

All the MPS are recommending is a fix that is short term, i guess maybe up to the end of their Term in office......!!!!!!!

I don't profess to know the solution to all our problems, but maybe MPs should consider a Rent freeze, maybe a pre-approval by Government agencies before Suppliers of Consumer Goods, Services & Raw matterial increased prices (to ensure no price fixing and increases are justified). The immediate ban of the sale of Land to foreigners (inclusing other GCC nationals), allowing them to only purchase into the special residential schemes being offered. A matirx for Residental Flat specifications and the legal rent prices applicable basee on the location to be published by the government and adhered to by Land lords. Any one of the above suggestons, in my mind, would be better than offering the BD50 bribe to citizenzzzzzzzzzzz............

Why i think women are much more tougher than us guys!

2008-03-22T18:05:00.006+03:00

The fact is, i have a high threshold for pain; i've been this way ever since i can remember, be it paper cuts, splinters, bites, twisted ankles, EVEN A RUSTY NAIL IN THE FOOT, yet one thing i have never been able to withstand is hair removal using only tweezers or wax (the latter i have never used but am only stating to prove a point). I squint and tremble, then cry like a little girl (not a good example i might add, but you get the picture).

Remember the scene in the movie ' What women want', where Mel Gibson, calls women MAD, crazy or something like that, for using products to tear off /peal away excess hair.

So, being quite a rather warm blooded individual, i tend to require a little cleaning up performed on my eye brows, else a Uni-Brow matteralises below my forehead (Note: Uni-Brow, NOT UNI-BRA).

And so my kind, loving, caring and ever forgiving wife generously volunteers to pluck the critters off of the face of her simple minded husband, before he (I) is overcome (you'd think i'd know better).
NOOOOOO, nothing of the sort, in fact i'm such a dope that i sit through the whole ordeal, taking it literally like a woman, only, well, JUST, so my wife does not take me for a sissy.

WHICH I AM NOT.

But it does hurt....sooooooooooooooooo much......I'd rather take a bullet in the @SS.....

Women, give birth, bare most of the burden of child rearing and for some reason or another, sheer off the excess hair on their body without even a sweat......

MY HATs off to you women...

Tough as nails yet soft as a baby's bottom

Is there a sign stuck to my back?

2008-01-31T22:56:00.000+03:00

I swear, today i felt like someone had stuck a sigh on my back.

It started off 5 minutes in to my afternoon jog when a man turned towards me and started making gestures with his hands, as if to indicate that he was looking for someplace or thing, and then he began to shout at me in an un-comprehendible dialect, I shrugged my shoulders, waved with my hands to so he would know i didn't understand and continued jogging.

Further ahead, i was waved to a halt by a woman in a car, who asked for directions to a Garden that i had never heard of; i just explained that i too was a foreigner in OMAN and did not know the location.

Later in the evening, while i sat at a coffee shop and was having my grilled Hamour dinner, a young guy comes up to me and asks me where to get a packet of cigarettes.

For god sakes, is there something written on my forehead that i'm not aware of. I don't mind helping people but this is just absurd. Is there a camera around that i'm not aware of....?

CX movie review - RAMBO 4

2008-01-31T22:21:00.000+03:00

I did not have a good selection of movies to choose from so i settled for RAMBO 4.

Walking into the movie theater, i was unsure of what to expect; I had grown up with the original movies and loved them all, even with his messed up accent & lame acting.

The hype going around is that Silvester Stalone is old; he can't act and would probably be holding a walking stick throughout the movie .

The Plot
From the start, i was immediately shocked by the scenes of murder, genocide, torture, mutilation, rape and plunder that befell the Burmese people.

A group of missionaries hire RAMBO to take them to the outskirts of Burma where the villagers requireing aid, are deprived from basic necessities of life, living in fear of the Burmese military leadership and are prevented from worshiping their prefered religion.

The initial drop off goes well, with a little hick up that RAMBO takes care of in seconds.

The real story starts when the missionaries are captured by the Burmese military and a group of mercenaries + John RAMBO come to their aid.

There is a lot of VIOLENCE.

What I really thought of it:
This movie is absolutely disturbing; but one good it does is bringing the plight of the Burmese people and what they had to live through for the world to see. THE DEPTS OF EVIL WITHIN HUMANITY IS ENDLESS.

The CX Rating
The plot was OK and the acting wasn't bad, but just for bringing up the subject of Genocide and depicting the atrocities i'll give it a 7.

So go and enjoy the movie, learn about the happenings around us, but just make sure you don't have a week stomach, even i had a hard time watching some of the scenes.

Final note, i salute Silver Stalone on a job well done in Directing the M ovie......

What is in the name SHAIKHA?

2008-01-14T17:59:00.000+03:00

In general, the salutations SHAIKHA or SHAIKH are used to call upon a female or male with some degree of respect.

Others use it to point out that a person is rather daft.

Me, i use them to cover my shortfall; where for some reason or another i cannot remember names of people whom i have just met, or have known for some time.

This is no joke, i have gone for weeks directly dealing with people but never knowing or remembering their names. I know it's rude but hey, the brain cells must be rapidly deteriorating in the area of my brain used for recalling names.

Once, during my secondment in Qatar, my colleagues and i went out with an employee of the bank who was gracious enough to offer, WHICH WE GLADLY ACCEPTED. After arriving at the location, he excused himself to go to the little boys room. Foolishly i turned to my colleagues and asked them what the guy's name was, i was met with blank faces, then grins of despair; the bastards could not remember his name either. So for the remainder of the evening i continued to call him 'Yesh Shaikh'.

I fear this is also happening to me in Oman, i have not been invited out much and am keeping away from such invitations for fear of being exposed. Today i was asked by a lady, 'how come i call her and three others SHAIKHA', i lied through my teeth and told her that it was out of respect for all of them...if only she knew the truth.....

Now faces, are another matter; i never forget a face, the name that goes with the face is an utterly different matter.....

Sometimes I use a name association gimmick where u link the name of a person u've just met with someone u already know, but if the name is not common, then basically u should know that i'm F*ed, and have no choice but to fall back on my old reliable aids; the honorary salutation.

MY POINT being, if you ever meet me in person and i greet you with SHAIKH or SHAIKHA, then you should realize that i have already forgotten your name....don't take it personally......and i apologis in advance.

Another Year waisted....another year gained

2008-01-13T19:44:00.000+03:00

Another year wasted, another year gained age wise, and nothing to show for it.

Well, not really, Yes i've gotten older, my joints now speak to me more frequently; athletic abilities i once took for granted are now cumbersome, BUT i'd like to think i've also gotten wiser, doe things i'd once throught impossible, met more interesting people and made even more friends; and lets not forget having seen the world, ok not the whole world, but there is still time for that...

I spent the last day of the year at work, so it should not surprise you that i continued to work at home well into the late hours of the night and into the new year thereby ensuring i began the new year the same way i ended the last....

At one point of time in life i was the youngster at work, now i'm one of the more experianced, but not the elderly so that is something good to look forward to.

Life, my friend has its ups and downs, and all we can do is wait it our and try our best to come out unscaved OR we can try and be one of the few who can take the bull by the horns and actually make a difference, who live how we want to and do what we love, LIFE IS GOOD. Think about it, there are things that happen in this world that we have no control over, so why bother yourself, rather, concentrate on the things that are within your control.

I believe i'm in a good place for now, life is hard but it's going in the direction that it should.....

And just for the record 17 seconds into the new year, my new years resolution was over... so now i assign little tasts for myself rather than Gigantic impossibilities.

Of the many small tasks, here are two that are within my grasp;
a) Drive all the way from Bahrain to Oman, in my 2002 Mitsubishi colt...(read about it in my blog soon)

b) Loose as much weigh as possible by my 34th birthday, which is on 23rd February.... (i will write about that on the B day.

Enjoy 2008, and as always i'm late but.............HAPPY NEW YEAR..

Fart-a-Thon

2008-01-13T16:16:00.000+03:00

...you know where this is going......so prepare yourself.

Farting comes naturally to us all, call it flatulence, breaking wind, letting one go, passing gas, or any other work in the English vocabulary that catches your fancy.

The fact of the matter is, most of us have done it and will continue to do so, some willingly and by choice, other just because the pressure can no longer be contained within.

So it should not surprise you when i say, FOR GOD SAKES GO TO THE TOILET, DUMP THE MOTHER LOAD BEFORE YOU WALK OUT THE DOOR.

I've been a victim of soo many bloat and run incidents that its reached a level of National Security.

Whether it be the Cinema incident where the guy in front just continued to churn out loads of Gas, his chimney put the local dump to shame.

Or at the airport when i was about to walk the stairs up to the plane, behind a woman who had her rump in my face, and JUST had to let one go....It was silent but DEADLY...I KID U NOT.

Another time i was talking to a colleague who was discussing something or the other and, FART, right in the middle of his conversation let an ear popper out, yet he continued as though nothing had happened....WOW..

Once, some friends and i were driving around in my car when one of them let go a radio-active waste of a fart, No Sound, Butttttt ooohh mummaaaa, the smell was unbearable....I slammed down the break, put the car in park and got the hell out of the car, pursued by the other two innocent guys. While the FARTIST just sat there laughing his head out, 5 minutes later we all got back into the car, drove on, and all the way home, i had my head stuck out the car window.

Alas, one must also consider the importance of a well placed release, MY friends can vouch for this, but i'm told that on a cold winters day, when you've gotten into bed and are desperately trying to get warm, by immersing yourself completely under the blanket and letting a couple of stinkers loose, you can either knock yourself out or warm up the surrounding air, but you just need to learn to live with the SMELL.

I'm not so innocent myself, my biggest weakness is when i laugh out loud uncontrollably, i lose control over my body and occasionally let one RIP. To date, i can recollect this shameful accident has happened to me no less than 4 times, but with sheer dump luck my laughs have always been able to muffle out the FART noise, so I was safe as no one was the smarter; until now since i'm exposing myself to the whole world.

NOW, what would be the point of writing this; well, just that the only gas one should let go should be in the sanctity of their own home NOT in other people's faces or cars or elevators......AND FOR GOD SAKES GO TO THE TOILET BEFORE LEAVING HOME.

Yet another black day in our Country's History

2007-12-21T21:05:00.000+03:00

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.

Environment GOOD, Pollution BAD! So (Plastic) bag it!

2007-12-21T19:42:00.000+03:00

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!

2007-12-21T19:29:00.000+03:00

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…..

The burden of being a movie Critique

2007-12-21T17:22:00.000+03:00

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……

Where have i been, you ask! Well....

2007-11-30T17:23:00.001+03:00

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.

Gay & Lesbian Priests,Should it be acceptable?

2007-08-30T08:24:00.000+03:00

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.

DEAD MAN WALKING, are EXECUTION just??

2007-08-29T13:25:00.000+03:00

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.

Road Rage at such a Mature Age

2007-08-26T09:21:00.000+03:00

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.

Lazic Eye Operations - 101

2007-08-26T09:17:00.000+03:00

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.

Teenage girls that put out, and give away the rest of their lives. WHY?

2007-08-26T09:10:00.000+03:00

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.

Can it get more embarrasing than this?

2007-08-23T07:58:00.000+03:00

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.

How serious are the Traffic Directorate with their new campaign? Lets see...

2007-08-22T08:10:00.000+03:00

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…

My Date with a Stick Shift.....

2007-08-20T15:06:00.000+03:00

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……

I see Great, PEOPLE!

2007-08-19T12:18:00.000+03:00

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.

Poverty, despair & Opression has an impact on people's Decency.

2007-08-19T10:10:00.000+03:00

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.

Another Sleepless night.

2007-07-30T16:44:00.000+03:00

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.

Would one die from 'Chewing Gum'?

2007-07-29T17:47:00.000+03:00

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)

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.

2007-07-29T16:45:00.000+03:00

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..........

End of our National Team.

2007-07-18T15:01:00.000+03:00

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

The Bahrain National Team is playing today, I fear the worst but am hoping for the best.

2007-07-18T09:49:00.000+03:00

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...

2007-07-10T15:57:00.000+03:00

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………

2007-07-08T14:27:00.000+03:00

BanderGate, CNN & now the LA Times; all raising the issue of promoted Secretarianism by factions within the Government. What now?

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.

2007-07-08T10:47:00.000+03:00

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.

Advise Please!In 2 weeks time while on Holiday, I'll be getting 'Lazic' eye surgery.

2007-07-06T20:08:00.000+03:00

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.

CX movie review - Transformers

2007-07-06T19:47:00.000+03:00

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…………….

Isn't it high time we get our very own Railway (Monorail/Metro) system?

2007-07-04T12:57:00.001+03:00

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.

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.

OOPS they did it again, MPs confess that they do not know what the hell they are doing!

2007-07-03T08:56:00.000+03:00

Well, almost…..In yesterday’s Bahrain Tribune an honorary MP confesses that they actually did not know what they were approving, when they signed the 1% forced unemployment contribution into law, that which has now become a thorn in our sides.

They really did not read it, did they? Nor did they understand the implications it would have. Who blames them?

You ask me, the whole useless lot of them, went to work that day, punched in their card so as to make sure they got paid their undeserved dues, voted ‘Yae’ on all the petitions without reading them and then left to go back home to rest after such a long and hard day’s work.

Yes, thinking, or actually trying to think takes a lot out of anyone not used to it.

What’s new?

We, the people of K.O.Bahrain F’ed up when we elected each and every one of them; whether it being members of the Al Asala, Al Wefaq, the Independents, the Government stooges or any other trigger happy Bahrainis who’s motives for acquiring a seat in the Parliament was to get the benefits that went with the coveted position and the pension that will ensue soon after they are kicked out; which will definitely happen since they have already exposed their true colors during the first term.
They have proven this by their unsatisfiable greed which is driving them to further improve their already hefty benefits rather than do what they were elected for, which was to cater for the people’s need, better their lives and protect them against the Government’s unilateral decision & policy making and lack of transparency.

“Why has this happened?” You ask yourself.

I’ll tell you why, because the first year we elected the good for nothing MPs we got diddle, all they achieved was to fattening their pockets and of course continue to benefited from the gifts bestowed upon them, tokens of appreciation from the Government to bud out of their affairs. They exercised a blind eye and were deservedly kicked out by the end of the first term.
So what did we then go out and do?

Don't get me wrong, i not blaiming the Government, who the hell would not try to take advantage of a group of people who really do not know what their duties are and where their loyalty should lay. (I'm not trying to bash the Government at each opportunity i get, but they have become used to their old ways and it's going to be a very hard journey for them to reform)

Poor misguided and ignorant us, we went out and elect another bunch of good for nothing MPs.

What now?

Well, in a little over two and a half years time we will yet again get another opportunity to shove another hot iron rod right up our @$$es, for the third straight term.

I’m looking forward to it.

You know, how does the saying go?

‘Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me’.

I can’t wait to see us get fooled again. Trust me it will happen again; there is too big a divide between the Bahraini citizens now, and this weakness will be further fuel and taken advantage of by the next batch of graduates (illiterate) candidates.

The only way out of this $hit hole is to elect intellectuals and highly educated Economists, Doctors, Engineers, Professors and Scientists; no religious fanatic, no wolves in sheep’s clothing and especially no Government stooges.

FAT CHANCE!

Oh yah, take a good look at the mannequins in the shop windows, they will probably disappear very soon being as they are so sexual in nature and continue to turn us guys in to horny, brain dead perverts.

I’m going to take the MPs word on this.

'Road toll' will become a reality in Dubai on 1st July 2007. Should & Will we follow suite?

2007-06-28T11:45:00.000+03:00

Dubai will go live on the 1st of July 2007 with 'SALIK', its road toll system; with the current traffic congstion problem and the increasing number of new cars on the roads of K.O.Bahrain, will it be long before Bahrain follows suit.

Quote from the official site

"HOW IT WORKS

Salik is a free flow tolling system without toll booths, barriers, or gates, allowing traffic to move freely through the tolling point at highway speeds.
There will be two tolling points: Al Garhoud Bridge and Sheikh Zayed Road near Mall of the Emirates.

Each time you pass through a Salik tolling point, the toll of AED4 will be deducted from your prepaid toll account using the latest in Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.Your vehicle will be identified to the system through communication with the small, thin Salik sticker tag affixed to your windshield."

The Dubai RTA authorities are adamant that the scheme will go ahead as planned even though there has been speculation that it may be delayed because of the public reaction & uproar.
http://archive.gulfnews.com/articles/07/06/24/10134636.html

What about Bahrain?

DO WE NEED SOMETHING LIKE THIS?

Will implementing such a system benefit us in the long run?

Will the tolls collected in such a scheme be reinvested to improve the road systems, were it to be implementing here?

Would we agree to pay the toll? I don't remember agreeing to the 1% it that still did not stop the government from implementing it!

Huh..., only time will tell.

Personally, i believe there should be a tolling system but only on healivy congested roads & bridges in K.O.Bahrain. It should be a smart system that records data like;

a) the number of times a car drives on the the road in a day,
b) Whether the car is registered under an individual residing in the area, or registered under a company located there,

...... and any other important information that ensures only the people abusing or misusing the roads to be charged.

Fees are not to be charged for normal use.

The fee should not exceed BD0.200 fils.

And the income obtained should only be used as a slush fund to further improve the road systems.

It should not be a personal Piggy Bank for the government at our expense.

What's you view in this matter?

A simple Hand Shake is just not the same anymore.

2007-06-26T10:58:00.000+03:00

A hand shake is not what is used to be, it doesn’t have the same stature as it did before. Now a day, its fist thumping, chest bumping and secret hand shakes. I’m sure this happened didn’t happen overnight, over the last couple of centuries society has changed, people have loosened up and chilled and so has the way we greet each other.

But the classic hand shake still exists, people still use it when greeting a friend, a relative, a sports buddy or a business associate and especially a Senior Manager/ employee at work.

Yet, it too has changed.

Here’s what I mean;

I greet my friends in all means and manners possible, some I can’t even mention, yet when the time comes for a dose of the good old hand shake, I’m up for it.

I personally have a firm hand shake, and would like one in return, it just some how feels right; so when I’m greeting someone, I hold out my hand waiting anxiously to greet the other person’s, with my thumb expecting to make contact with their’s before the grip tightens, and shake if necessary (this being and the upwards and downwards motion). AT THIS MOMENT I SUGGEST THAT YOU REFRANE FROM ALLOWING YOUR MIND TO WANDER, THE SUBJECT MATTER IS NOT SEXUAL IN NATURE, PERVERTS!

Anyways, I’m almost never met with as firm hand shake, people either grab the four fingers or just grasps at the tips of my fingers and shake, or just hold that position; or our wrists may completely interlock but they have a soft and unwelcoming grip.

Why is that?

I can’t enforce change onto others but if you every do meet me out side, don’t forget, interlock, firm grip, and shake if necessary.

PLEASE REFRANE FROM YOUR FILTHY THOUGHTS, I only have clean intentions here.

I promise.

1% here, 1% there, it's now LAW. What Now?

2007-06-24T15:31:00.000+03:00

By now it has become common knowledge that the government unilaterally has decided to pool 1% of monthly income from the private sector, basically from our hard earned salaries, to be used as a slush fund for the unemployed.

The drone MPs, in effect, have put their A.O.K. on it as well and businesses have officially been instructed to started to leach funds out of salaries, before employee pay cheques are handed over.

Oh yah, i forgot to mention that our GOSI contribution, which most bahrainis will not see a cent of during their life time, has been increased from 5% to 6%. The 1% extra will be deducted back valued from May.

So in effect, i will get 8% less this month to the usual 5% GOSI contribution deducted each month; the additional 3% being, 1% for the unemployment slush fund, the other 2% being the increase in the GOSI contribution for MAY & JUNE, and 7% from next month onwards.

If salaries in Bahrain were adjusted for the inflation rate and the yearly increment, if any, was significant, this would not have a big impact on our day to day lives. Unfortunately here in la la land it WILL HAVE A HUGE IMPACT.

MPs and Ministers are eXcluded, WHY?

They get the big bucks, then why in the world would one not expect them to cough up their contribution? They too must pay their dues to Society, Don't you think?

The fact is all the MPs would have immediately voted against the scheme had they been included as well.

All employees of the 'Ministry of Interior' are excluded as well; namely the Armed forces, Public Police & Riot Police; WHY?

FACTs
If you want to look at it from a religious point of view, it is haram, this is not ZAKAT.

If you look at it from a legal point of view, IT SHOULD BE ILLEGAL, we are being forced to pay, I NEVER AGREED TO IT.

Questions: Why don't they make it a voluntary contribution?
Answer: Simply because no one would voluntarily contribute.

FACT
So what is left out of our meagrely salary?

Peanuts!

What guarantees is there that the slush fund will not be used for alternative means, similar to what was and is happening in some ministries?

Mark my words, AT SOME POINT IN TIME, the Government will implement TAXATION, and we will have to pay it, no question's asked.

Now excuse me as i have to trim down my monthly spending & recalculate my saving, what ever is left to save.

PEANUTS, huh!

Is the 'DREAM' really over?

2007-06-20T09:54:00.000+03:00

Last month, the government banned local Satellite shops from selling reprogrammed receivers that were used to illegally view subscription channels.

This whole market started off with the launch of counterfeit subscription cards, that were cheaper than the original ones, the Satellite companies fought back with smarter and better encoding & encryption systems which would change the codes numerous times each minute and could only be read by the original cards. Inventive programmers and engineers were able to find alternative means of working around the efforts of the Satellite channels, either directly through reprogramming receivers or by installing pre-programmed chips onto the units.

Now, there are numerous types & models of receivers that can be programmed to either accept 'serial codes' manually input or connection directly to the internet for updates, all of them give free access to channels showing programs which we would not see otherwise, without having subscribed to the actual distributors or local agents, and paying a hefty monthly/yearly fee.

The most infamous of these has been the 'Dream Box' (DB), a receiver that connects to the internet, and automatically accesses a dedicated IP address located somewhere on the net, the address of which has been programmed into the receiver unit itself. The receiver automatically synchs and updates codes by retrieving them directly from distributing IP addresses, thereby preventing disruption of the illegal service, to the satisfaction of the customers.

This was of course done for an initial purchase and installation fee, followed by a yearly subscription fee that was much less than one would have to pay through legal channels.

Today's article in the GDN titled 'Clampdown on 'Dream Boxes'' may be a formal confirmation or a reinforcement of the government's seriousness in this matter, directed to the Satellite shops, who have in turn adhered to the ban and discontinued stock piling the DBs receivers for sale to consumers, this is definitely a blow to their bottom lines.

YET, there is always a black market, and greed is the driving force behind any illegal scheme, so the sale and installation of such receivers will continue; only now the purchase price will become higher but still cheaper than getting the service through legal channels.

If the government is serious, they will come down hard on the perpetrators, this will surely force many Satellite shops to close, as most of their income is a direct result of the sale of such illegal services, though they may not be officially announcing it.

To an extent i say the satellite channel distributors deserve this theft because of the high subscription prices that they charge, due to the distribution rights that they purchase for the various desired channels and the monopoly that they then have on the market.

On the other hand, illegal is illegal is illegal, so i think the best rout should be for the Satellite channel distributors to lower their subscription fees to such an extent that it would not be cost effective to install the illegal receivers.

What next?

We're expecting too much from the government! Let's ease up our demands.

2007-06-19T12:33:00.000+03:00

I should have posted this blog three weeks back, but it was MISPLACED somewhere on my Lap top, wrong file name; anyways better late than never.

I’ve heard comments made by the Ministry and their representatives, comments made by MPs, and conversations between people; I’ve read newspaper articles, visited local blog site discussions; all relating to the subject matter of the high unemployment in Bahrain, the steps (or lack thereof) being taken by the government, the ungrateful attitude of Bahrainis being presented with positions, lack of qualifications, unwillingness to start from the bottom up; but the last straw has been the comment that Bahrainis are expecting too much from the government!

I beg to differ;

It’s a ripple effect, consider the events that occur when a pebble is thrown into a POND; the rings that follow suite are large and can be seen by the naked eye, but there are more rings to follow, and gradually they may not be visible but are there and much slower that the first ones, thus their effects are not quickly noticed but rather are felt over a period of time.

SO;

It is absolutely the Government’s responsibility to find a lasting solution to this ugly problem, the reason being that the Government has played a large hand in the formula that has led to this situation; mainly because of the questionable economic & social policies in the past, and partly because of its employment policy which has supposedly changed now, but I wouldn’t be able to confirm it since there are no statistics being released (again lack of transparency), also I still see Indian, Pakistani & Baluchi policemen and also lets not forget the foreigners that are in our Armed forces and the Riot police.

What now?

The Government & the EDB has taken up a lot of new initiative to ensure there is sustainable economic growth in the country. That is not enough, there should be changes made in the education system as well as in some other areas that will assist in advancing the skills and knowledge of Bahrainis as well as provide them with opportunities.

A five / ten year plan is needed and the following much be achieved;

Here are the areas that I believe the government can improve in which will reap immediate benefits in the first year at least.

Education;
The schools are over crowded; some teachers are not qualified to teach the subjects they have been appointed for. The level of English being taught is not at par with standards required by businesses, additionally, the opportunity to learn other languages is minimal.

More qualified teachers should be recruited to ensure the ‘student / teacher’ ratio is at an internationally acceptable ratio and that each and every child’s needs are catered for.
Language;
English is an international language and must be the second if not the first language being taught to children in Bahrain public schools, and they must achieve a high level of fluency and competence.

I find it hilarious that many of the English teachers are themselves products of the public education system, who have graduate and return back as teachers and continue to contribute to the down ward spiral that has led to a sub par level of English.

If I wanted to learn to make bread, you’d find me at the door steps of a baker, not a mechanic’s; this is exactly what’s happening in schools.

If anyone disagrees with me than please explain why there so many parents enrolling their children to study English in the evenings at the British council.

Curriculum;
The text books that are being taught are old, and by that I mean that the curriculum is out dated and not relevant to the requirements of the job market, it’s just not practical. There have been many advances in most of the subjects but that knowledge has yet to be transferred over to our children. Fundamental subjects such as Computers, mathematics, accounting, chemistry and physics must be taught to all students. They must be given the opportunity to enhance their knowledge.

By the time the young adults graduate from high school, they should have achieved a level of competence that is comparable to other developed countries. We should learn from small countries like Singapore.

Discipline;
There ratio of children to teachers in Public schools is high which is a major disadvantage

Many of the children in public schools are badly behaved because the teachers can’t control them; the ratio between children to teachers is higher than acceptable level. This prevents the teachers from adequately catering for all the needs of the children and thereby adding to the mediocrity.

The teachers need to be able to control the students this is currently not possible.

Educating Parent;
Parents must be made to understand that they too have a role to play in their child’s lives. Education starts at home, and continues in the schools. Parents must rear their children with a work ethic and good morals. We do not need felons, thugs or rapists, nor does society need dead wood leaching on its resources.

There has to be an initiative by the government, maybe with the assistance from some of the mosques and maatams, parents can be educated on their duties at home. Big brother must lead, and others will follow.

Discontinue selling JOB opportunities to foreign countries;
A while back our government pledged 2000 nurse positions to the government of Philippines, positions for which our unemployed boys and girls could have been selected and re-educated for, a few years back, had the government been employing the right people who are forward thinkers and .

Favouritism (I refrain from using the ‘S’ word)
The government continues to import foreign workers for positions within the armed forces, police force and riot police. Just visit one of the police stations and you will know exactly what I mean.
This must stop. To go forward, this form of favouritism must stop. Give the Bahrainis the opportunity to prove themselves.

On the job training;
The Private sector recruits university students during their summer holidays for the three month duration, so why not take advantage of such a scheme to reeducate and train the unemployed into learning new skills. This could be in parallel with the salary that will be paid to them, it will relieve the burden on the company by them not having to pay a lot for the trainees, thereby encouraging them to do their part in ensuring that the unemployed get the necessary assistance and push to gain a tool, and be more prepared for the current job market.

Foot note:
I read recently on the Blog father’s site that there have been some educational reform initiatives that will be implemented in the near future, here’s to hoping.

Have you ever blanked out in an EXAM?

2007-06-19T12:01:00.000+03:00

Well, have you?

I did yesterday during an exam.

I confess, I did not take advantage of the weekend to catch up but studied only during the morning of the exam; but I knew everything, so what went wrong?

I had a good nights sleep the previous day, so I wasn’t stressed out. I had three Red Bulls energy drinks to keep the blood pumping and the adrenalin at a high level.

So why did I blank the moment I saw the first question, which was the easiest question of the lot.

I had no problem remembering the answers to the other tougher questions, but whenever I glanced at question numero uno, the invisible brick wall came back and smacked be rights in the face.

I hope I get off my lazy @$$ and study for the other exams BEFORE HAND.

But......., I very much doubt that will happen.

CX movie review - Fantastic 4, rise of the Silver Surfer

2007-06-19T11:04:00.000+03:00

Last weekend I went to the Cinema and watched the new F4 movie.

Big mistake, it was not worth the entrance fee, I should have waited until it came out of DVD.

The movie starts off well, the opening scene is cool; it’s in outer space, the scene slowly glides past planets until it comes up to what seems to be a world breaking up, slowly, with bursts of gigantic explosions protruding out of its surface; the planet then goes dark and dies.

The Plot
The Silver Surfer, a herald of Galactus – The world Devourer, swoops into earth on an excavation expedition with the intent to preparing the world for consumption by his master; and where ever the Silver Surfer goes, the world destroyer is not too far behind, off in the distant bringing with it death and destruction.
Our heroes are defeated on their first meeting with the Silver Surfer; with some valuable information provided to them by their arch nemeses DOOM they succeed in capturing him on the second attempt, and the prisoner is turned over to the army.
Realizing the DOOM has just used everyone to get what he really wanted, the Silver surf board which was the source of the Silver Surfer’s power; the team help the surfer to escape and retrieve his board before he then goes out and does a kamikaze and destroys Galactus, his master along with himself, thereby saving the world.

What I really thought of it:
I was crying at the end, not because it got to me emotionally but because it got to me in the worst way possible, it had made a hole in my pocket to the tune of BD6, and I didn’t even have a good time.

The acting was weak; everyone was just full of themselves. The movie plot was very weak, a battle between good and evil; a misguided convert that saves the day in the end; a wedding that has been postpone several times; a super heroes loosing his cool and powers when he need it the most; and finally, the writers should have known, Galactus is too big an adversary to be used in a movie this short.

I liked the special effects though, and some of the laughs but it was not enough to justify going to see it in the cinema.

It was Ok, not great.

The CX Rating

I give it a 6 out 0f 12.

And I recommend that you watch it on DVD if you get the urge to watch it.

I finally found the culprit chirping outside the office window.

2007-06-19T10:52:00.000+03:00

Birds of a feather, aah, I just don’t have it in me.

Just enjoy the photos of the birdy that’s been driving me nuts.

I still wish I had a gun to pop the wise ass.

It looked right at me and did not flinch.

What is it with me and animals?

Negative Animal magnetism………?

Would you make a fool of yourself on American Idol?

2007-06-19T10:43:00.000+03:00

What was that?

Hollow words echoed out by Simon Cowell, time and time again after the awful performance of the many hopeful participants in the American Idol auditions; but no one takes his advise to heart, they still come and audition thinking they are better than the rest, maybe good enough to become the next American Idol.

I’m amazed! No, astounded by how people are so full of them selves and believe they are better than they actually are.

American Idol is a very popular program in the US, and it’s cool to be participating in one of the auditions; to perform in front of Randy, Paula and Simon and then come out with a golden ticket in hand, then get interviewed by Ryan.

But that’s not the case for the hundreds of thousands of misguided souls who believe they are the next best thing to hit the American music industry, but turning out to just make fools of them selves, willingly.

ME, I know my limitations, my singing sucks, I’ve got no rhythm in me and my voice is rough and bumpy. When I was younger, I tried to learn a couple of songs to test my self, you know, sing along with popular songs to evaluate yourself, I bet you’ve done it a million times, thank god no one was there to witness the fiasco.

I gave up that attempt at stardom the same day, a very, very long time ago.

So, here’s what I think:

Just What the F$%k are those people thinking when they stand before the American public and make @$$e$ of themselves.

WOW!

They are either the bravest people in the world, or the dumbest, I suspect it’s the latter.

Its summer, birds are chirping outside & i wish i had a GUN!

2007-06-12T10:54:00.000+03:00

A couple of weeks back, a colleague and I were busy hard at work, we were lost in this thorny task that had to be completed before proceeding with other duties; our concentration was broken by the chirping of a bird outside the office window.

You’d think that a bird chirping would get the attention of everyone.

It didn’t, not a flinch; deaf bastards the lot of them, the others just continued to work on. I, on the other hand could not, my concentration was now broken and it was going to be a climb up a steep hill just to get back into the groove.

You’d thing that the chirps of a bird, behind iron and concrete walls, a CAGE to be exact, would make me mellow and all ‘ga ga’ inside, it did the opposite.

I got pissed off and began to search desperately for the sucker.

I felt like punching a hole right through the reinforced glass, grab the agitating critter making all that racket, taking an A4 pencil and jamming it right up its behind, I’d make sure it went so far up the bird’s @$$ that it would choke on it and wouldn’t be able to squeak.

Does that make me a psycho?

Is there something abnormal about me?

Don’t get me wrong, I love a variety of birds; I even have an African Grey name ‘JAX’ at home, and I love him (or maybe it’s a her??), but the point is I’m not a nature hater, it’s just that this is not the place for it and we have gotten so used to all racket of urban life that nature has a hard time penetrating the thick exoskeleton that we have formed to protect us from our surroundings.

Oh yah, I hate pigeons, all they are good for are crapping all over you. Yes, sadly it has happened to me and on numerous occasions to my car.

Think about it, a work environment kills off what remain of any flicker of compassion remaining in you.

I really wasn't surprised when my colleague said the bird was a nuisance.

We need more nature in our lives.

I wonder;

I could pretend to….

Oooh what the hell, it’s no use, i’m afraid that instead of the nature lover coming out, the ‘Cave man’ in me surfaces and I get into even more trouble.

No! Not worth it.

I’ll probably consider it if I win a huge jack pot, a lottery of sorts and then don’t need to work no more.

Till them, can I borrow you pea shooter?

Something that you desperately need, and you CAR can do without!

2007-06-10T09:15:00.000+03:00

I have the Cure!

Laughter is a medicine that can heal a lot of ailments in us; it helps rectify the chemical imbalance, the build up of impurities (this one I made up); it has been scientifically proven that laughter is good for us.

So why do we not laugh in volumes when we know it’s good?

I love comedy and watch movies as much as I possibly can, but nowadays the quality leaves a lot to be desired, there are many dry comedies out there, some just not funny but rather cheap imitations of overused ploys; there are not many Rowan Atkinsons’ out there…

Now, feast your eyes on this; http://www.cartalk.com/

Click & Clack the tappet brothers; the hosts of a very funny RADIO program about cars and car repairs, where people call in and explain their problems expecting a instructive assistance on how to fix the ailment with their car, unbeknown to them, the hosts of the program though very knowledgeable about cars, since they own garages and are mechanics, may at times propose the wildest cocktail of remedies imaginable.

If you are lucky you can catch them on the ‘Armed Forces Radio’ on 107.9 fm but, since I absolutely love the program and must get a dose of it every week, I download the PODCAST from the ITUNES site, which is free, and listen to it on my IPOD, just search for ‘NPR: Car Talk’.

Alternatively, you can visit their site and listen to the streaming media.

If you every see me in my car, laughing my @$$ off, then rest assured that I am listening to their program, just don’t drive your car close to me to confirm it, I may bump into you as I loose control.

I hope you listen to their show and come back and tell me what you think of them, if you are not a fan already.

The coolest cat in Bahrain, Mewooooo!

2007-06-10T08:36:00.000+03:00

On Friday evening, my son and I went to the local khabbaz (baker) to get some bread for our dinner, on our way back we noticed a man looking at the bonnet of a car, curiosity got the best of me and my kin.

We made our way towards the car, and when we reached it, we were shocked to see a cat lying still on the car bonnet.

It lay flat on its left side, its hind and fore legs stretched out, its head tilted to the right, and the bottom of its neck twisted upwards exposing the white furry chin, some of its teeth were peering out of its mouth and its eyes were shut tight; the moment I saw it I was sure it had been hit by a car and the culprit had placed the poor thing here, our of even more harms way.

Just then I saw its chest gently moving up and down, the poor thing was still breathing; I took a closer look at it and “GOD DAMN IT”, the $0n of a B!t@h was just sleeping.

I tapped it on its hind paws twice, nothing, absolutely nothing, no sudden shriek or a frightened reactive pounce.

The Lazy ass bum!
SO I TOOK THIS PICTURE.

I then clapped my hands which made a loud echoing sound, this got its attention but it wasn’t the reaction I was expecting; it peered one eye wide open, the other a quarter of the way, took a good look at us and then shut them again without even a meow;

It actually did not care that we were standing right over its head, as if we were noting to it.

THE COOLest CAT in Bahrain, all it needed now was some shades!

SO, I TOOK ANOTHER PICTURE.

It must have probably been thinking “What does this A-hole want?”, and then went back to sleep.

All I can say is “RESPECT”.

End of the My Seminar, NOT BADDDDDD, i learnt two lessons for the price of one.

2007-06-10T08:11:00.000+03:00

THE SECOND DAY OF OUR SEMINAR STARTED OFF ON A BAD NOTE. (Monday, 4th June 2007)

I was driving to the venue already 10 minutes late; the music was at full blast from my IPOD and I was in the groove, ready for anything.

I didn’t expect the power to be off!

Thank you very much Ministry of E & W for embarrassing us in front of the Foreign guests and making us look like a third world country, Bravo.

It wasn’t until 9:15 am that the power was restored and we were back in the auditorium, before then we were fanning our selves with leaflets just to keep cool.

The first thing we were informed was that our group photo had been published in the GDN and Tribune, Cooooool; I have a copy now for my scrap book.

Anyways, the Seminar commenced, and yes, the moron’s continued to ask stupid questions, and yes, they also came up with the dumb ass comments, and of course i was freezing my @$$ off.

By the end of the second day, I had cozied up to three fellow attendees, one from Libya and the other two from Morocco. They were very friendly guys, well mannered and worth getting to know.

Later that day I took the three of them to see the BIC as they were dying to see it.

They were ecstatic.

DAY THREE WAS ANOTHER COLD DAY. (Tuesday, 5th June 2007)

Again I was late, 15 minutes to be precise, and by the time I reached the venue, the seminar had started.

I took my seat under the F’ing cooler and participated where possible.

The Omani delegates were worried about the events that were occurring in the country.

The day was over by 2:30 pm, and we were invited to an informal dinner at 8pm at the ‘Parsian Restaurant’ in Adliya, free food, ‘Yippy’!

I got to know some more people at the dinner, some of them were very nice, but I finally found the talkative one that blurted out shit that I just did not care to hear; it was one of the 9 Bahraini attendees; just my luck he had to be sitting next to me in the restaurant when the fenses were down and my guard was at its weakest.

My luck never fails me, it’s just too bad that it not good luck.

The day ended on a high note as I got to know the American hosts of the event better, they were very nice people. It’s not their fault that their President is an idiot, a moron, an absolute nincompoop.

A Saudi attendee closed off the day with a funny incident that had happened to one of his relatives who at the time of the incident was a delegate in the US.

It went something like this; his relative who had just attended a party at a junction in the US, had decided to take the under ground metro back to where he stayed. When he got onto the train, a passenger got on behind him. This frightened his relative as he had heard some awful stories about the under ground at night. So he took a seat and kept eyeing the guy from time to time just to make sure he was keeping his distance, the guy looked like an East Asian.

When the train stopped at his station, he put his hands in his pocket to make sure his belonging were safe, and realized that his wallet was missing. He turned and look at the guy, who in turn immediately jumped out of the train and started walking fast. Even thought the delegate was afraid he ran after the guy because all he had was in the wallet.

The chase went on for a hundred feet at least before the guy dropped the wallet and disappeared as the Saudi delegate stopped to pick it up.

When he reached his resident, and as he was changing, he noticed that he had two wallets in his pockets.

It seems like the other guy was innocent but had thought the delegate was out to mug his so he discarded his own wallet to stop him from persuading further.

The delegate was later able to contact the guy using the ID in his wallet; he profusely apologized for the confusion.

NOW THAT A FUNNY STORY, hope it’s true.

The last day (Wednesday, 6th June 2007)

I was late yet again, and by the first break I was sitting with the Omani attendees discussing the freak weather that was about to hit the shores of their home country. They had been informed that their flights home had been cancelled and the next available flight would be on Friday.

Our prayers went out to all their family and friends as well as all the Omani citizens.

So the day came and went; we had some VIP guests give us a closing ceremony speech and hand us our 'certificated of attendance' before we were sent off home.

I learnt a lot about the subject matter of the Seminar, but I also learnt that there are some very nice people out there; you just have to take a change, be sociable and take the opportunity to get to know them.

Let your guard down sometimes, it’s worth it.

My first blog CAME TRUE!

2007-06-10T08:01:00.000+03:00

On the 3rd of April 2007, I posted my first blog titled ‘NATION OF TRAFFIC LIGHTS’ where I criticize the Roads and Traffic directorate for setting up traffic lights in every nook and cranny, especially in the middle of high ways.

One of the areas I was emphasized on was the Traffic lights at the Al Khareeta ‘The Map traffic lights’, the junction that divides Manama and Tubli.

Well, what do you know; the government has announced a scheduled plan to remove the Traffic lights and build a fly-over instead.

The article that confirms it was in Thursday’s GDN;
BD10m project revamp on way

WAS I right or was I right?

Now, who wants me to read their future to them?

If you do, then send me an e-mail with your vitals, the date and time of your birth, and a little description of yourself; I will then forward you a mailing address where you can send me a cheque for $1000. When the cheque clears, I will send you the results.

Juts keep in mind, NO REFUNDS.

It doesn’t matter if you agree with the results or not, I’ve got the gift, NOT YOU!

I KNOW BEST!

My Experiance with Seminars 'SUCK big-time'!

2007-06-03T21:27:00.000+03:00

I'm attending a four day seminar, day one got over today (3rd June 2007).

It's hard to be attentive during a seminar when the room you're in is freezing cold; or when you are seated next to the entrance to the auditorium and the door does not shut properly, forming a sort of wind tunnel in the gap and thus producing a whistling noise similar to a tornado ( a very windy day in our terms), and the noise keeps ringing in your ear, and each time you get up and shut the door properly, a fellow attendee gets up to go out and leaving the door ajar behind them; or if you haven’t had a good nights sleep the previous day.

Other things that prevent me from grasping the subject matter are;
- When someone's mobile goes off, and rather than picking up the phone to silence the ring, the idiot allows it to continue ringing ant tries to look at who may be calling instead......Aaahhhhh
- People asking stupid questions or asking a question when the instructor has just given the answered to it
- Sitting directly under the air conditioner vent with no other seats vacant.
- The point that most pisses me OFF, is if the Seminar is here in Bahrain, SO no Business trip, no sight seeing for free, $hit that really sucks. I keep thinking of what could have been...and my great losssss...a lost opportunity to accumulate 'free mileage'!

I'm no coffee drinker, but when it gets so unbearably cold, i must pop out every 45 minutes and get a cup, and since I’m not a regular drinker, i am not very familiar on how much sugar or milk (coffee mate) to mix, so i gambled; my first attempt came out too sweat and my second bitter but i had a donut to sweeten my taste buds, so I win in the end.

Also, in my effort to continue to get my supply of coffee I inadvertently forgot to shut the door behind me, each time, so I too contributed to the hissing of the door.

The disadvantage of having this many drinks is that, yes, you have to frequently get up and go to the toilet to relieve yourself, also when your bladders are full, the cold some how gets back into your body?? Any which way you look at it I’m screwed!

A topic that almost always revives me from any state of limbo or boredom, and get my juices running is talking about People's dirty laundry or dragging their reputations in the dirt. Don't blame me, it's just human nature!

Usually, in Seminars i keep to myself with the occasional ‘hello’ and the nod of the head towards anyone who dares make eye contact with me; but on most occasions I just keep away from the weirdoes, who with my $hitty luck are the ones that talk a hell of a lot but never about anything that I am interested in, I never get the good ones or the good looking ones, or the ones that give away gifts.

BUT,

At the end of the day, i do get a benefit out of attending the Seminar's that get forced upon me (delegated to), just once I’d like to be given the freedom and choice to attending one I like which is in a country I haven’t visited yet.

Here's to wishing that in future.....

To the Ministry of P&W, I'm Sorry! I repent!

2007-06-03T21:19:00.000+03:00

This is in response to the comments made by a representative of the Ministry of Power & Water on how we, citizens of the Kingdom of Bahrain are consuming more power than was anticipated or is allocated to us and thus we being the main cause of the power black-outs.

SO, I humbly apologies on behalf of all the misguided Bahraini souls who thing it’s their god given right to live.

I for one am taking complete responsibility for my contributions in disrupting the Country’s power supply; I now understand how precious this resource actually is and why I should not be in the class of people that should benefit from it.

I now repent my misguided actions and am a born again Bahraini citizen (X). I’ve changed my old ways, taking into account your wise words of encouragement on how not to take away the resources that were meant for others.

To that effect, I have now stopped turning on all the air conditioners in the house; even if it is blistering hot outside & in, and the rooms feel like the insides of saunas; I now know that I do not have that privilege. So what I have decided to do is herd all of my family members into one room, and only turn on the air conditioner in that room and no where else, for half an hour between intervals of three hours each. That would mean that we only have the air conditioner on for a total of around 3 to 3 & half hours a day, the rest of the time we will sweat our a$$e$ off.

Also, I have decided that it’s not only the power supply that my existence is leaching off of but also water.

Therefore, I have decided the following;

a) We will flush the toilet only once a day; every one in the family has been instructed to perform their bidding, irrespective of whether the bowl is empty or not, and the accumulated pile of excrements will be flush down simultaneously in one giant pull of handle all at once. IS 3 AM A GOOD TIME TO DO SO? We want the time to be authorized so that our waste does not disturb other peoples waste as it passes through the sewer system. AGAIN SORRY FOR THE UNTENDED INTERFERENCE.

b) Also, we have applied a quota system and limited the amount of water that each one of my family member is allowed to use when showering, a liter of water will suffice. Additionally, we will be pulling straws out of a hat and the unlucky person who pulls the shortest will forgo their right to shower on that day; this saves an additional one liter a day.

I am also considering skipping a couple of days of showering if the need arrises; I’ll just ignore my misguided colleagues when they comment about my hygiene; hell, to them I might stink after not showering for a couple of days, but to me it will be the sweet smell of satisfaction of knowing that I and one of the few citizens that have their priorities straight.

So what say you?

Will this suffice to ensure that the power does not get disrupted again?

Next I will be responding to the comments that ‘the unemployed are expecting too much from the Government’.

(Sarcastically)

I AGREE!

Losing you child over a 'Special Offer' at GEANT, IS it worth the discount?

2007-05-29T10:33:00.000+03:00

A few weeks back, during last months GEANT hypermarket’s special offer week, my wife and I were walking through the isles looking around I the canned food isles.

We walk by this little girl who was desperately looking around trying to find her mother, she looked upset and was very bravely holding back her tears; we stood like mannequins in our spot, motion less holding a can of some thing or the other in our hands, our eyes firmly fixated on her, observing, just to make sure she was ok and until she found her mother.

She eventually did; relieved that she was safe we turn around and continue looking at the remaining un-chartered isles behind us, just then I hear over the loud speakers a GEANT employee announcing that yet another child was lost and looking for his parents.

F’ing parents should be taken out and shot.

Them, with their googly wide eyes, those discounts are sure worth loosing your child over.

Heck, GEANT might just have a special offer on kids tomorrow, so we might as well get two for the price of one.

There should be a child welfare representative on duty at the GEANT hyper market and any other locations where children are frequently being misplaced; alternatively the parents should be reported to the authorities and who in turn put a hefty fine on them.

Maybe if it’s not in their interest to look the other way when shopping rather keeping one eye on their child and the other on the product they intend to purchase, maybe then, they might think twice and be more careful and take care of what is most important.

I’d still shoot them but I know it’s not up to me.

Oh hey, the GEANT special offers are on again, and yes I was there today, and YES I heard yet another announcement of a lost child.

What, you want the gun now?

Traffic Directorate, sucking milk directly from the Cash Cow's udder!

2007-05-29T10:31:00.000+03:00

Have you ever wondered why, even after numerous declarations by the Traffic Directorate emphasizing Bahrain’s citizens to adhere to the Traffic Laws, or face stiff fines and / or time behind bars, there is no actual nation wide enforcement of some laws except during the last ten days of every month.

Have you notices that?

Yes!

Why do you think that is?

The offences that I am referring to are;
a) Not wearing your seat belts
b) Talking of a cell phone while driving

The new cell phone law just made some people very rich by selling lots of Bluetooth ear phones, but you can still hundreds of people continuing to speak on their mobiles while driving.

Why is that?

These are ‘cash cows’, and they have been milking them for such a loooooooong time, its pure profit being harvested at their discretion; income generated through non-application of existing Traffic laws which generate lots of income for the Traffic Directorate.

I have a theory that goes something like this; If the Traffic directorate come down hard on all offenders, and really implement a nation wide ban of the above two offences by making examples of perpetrators, then, the money will immediately stop flowing.

So the cows are a allowed to graze and every so often, they are herded back into the barn, plugged into the suction gizmos and the white gold just flows, milked till they quench their thirst, always leaving more for later.

Don’t get me wrong, there are many laws that the Traffic police won’t stand for and will stop offenders and issue citations, but they are not willing to let the udders dry out and continue suckling on them each time the thirst resurfaces.

Would you like a glass and some biscuits?

What do you think, have I lost it or is there really some truth to what I am saying?

You be the judge.

Pulp fiction on Dubai ONE TV, are you kidding meeeeeeeeeeee!

2007-05-29T10:30:00.000+03:00

It took me quite a long time to recover from laughter when I saw the advertisement on Dubai’s One T.V.; they were going to screen Pulp Fiction, Hahahahahaaahah.

If you’re a movie buffs or aficionados and still lurking out there, who’s watched and enjoyed Pulp Fiction, you will know that without the explicit and implied sexual scenes, the movie is utterly worthless.

And yet, Dubai’s ONE TV had put it upon them selves to screen the movie.

They did last week, and I didn’t watch.

Why should I, it was going to suck.

It would’ve been like trying to gnaw at a big juicy piece of steak, but just the bones NO MEAT AT ALL.

Anyways, I was watching DUBAI 1 TV today and one of (the many) spike lee movies about basketball was on; in one scene a guy & a girl are in a room; the guy tells the girl that they should play a game of One on One STRIP basketball, my ass, in six seconds flat, and the guy having scored on the girl, rather than seek her take something off, the scene changed.

Huh!

Figures, anyways, the movie really sucked and I wasn’t interested in watching the girl strip, I’m just trying to make a point here.

Dubai One TV should in future just stick to what they are able to show, nothing else.

END

Oh yah, does any one out there remember Saudi Arabia’s Aramco Channel 3?

Yes, they too censored a lot of stuff, but I just loved getting up early in the morning and watching cartoons and stuff from 9am till 12 noon and then 1pm onwards….

I especially loved the NBA and American football game that they put on. I remember like it was yesterday, I’d be coming back from school in our bus, and as soon at we reached my bus stop, I’d jolt out and sprint all the way home just to reach in the nick of time and watch what every time remained of the game.

Aah, those were the good old day.

Sorry, I got off tract there for a bit.

The fact still remains that Dubai’s One TV sucks and should stick to what they are good at and nothing more.

The question to as would then be, Why was I watching the channel if I don’t like it so much?

The WIFE!!!!!

SUMMERs HERE, and the Ministry of E&W are at it again!

2007-05-29T10:28:00.000+03:00

Today (28th May 2007) was a blistering hot summer’s day. IT’S THE BEGINNING.

Yes, this is the real summer and it’s going to get even worse. The SUN is damn hot and with the humidity that will be upon us, we are once again at the mercy of the Ministry of E&W.

A few days back, the Prime Minister reiterated that the government will be working extra hard to ensure that the increased demand in the power supply is catered for so as not to disrupt the lives of Bahrain’s residents.

I don’t believe the Ministry of E&W got the memo, in fact, I believe they are still following the old procedure of shutting the electricity off or / & turning off the water supply when people need it the most.

To my knowledge, TODAY, the power supply got cut-off in certain areas of Jed Ali at least once; and no fewer than three times in Manama.

So, prepare to get into your residential saunas and sweat it out.

This is just the beginning….

Want some lemonade?

I deliver for an extra fee!

But you might have to wait until after the power turns back on; it seams that in my haste to take advantage of this opportunity and make millions, and because it’s bitch dark now, I have mistaken the salt for sugar, there was no ice left in the fridge (it melted away) so I used frozen chicken nuggets and I can’t tell if the spoon I used was clean or not.

Other than that, I am now open for (delivery) business…….

The Clock within me was right all along!

2007-05-25T22:14:00.000+03:00

Every day, very early in the morning, my alarm clock goes off, with its ringing bellowing in the back ground, my clock is trying to communicate to me that it’s now time to get up and get into the ritual of the three Ss’ and then get ready and go to work.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Three Ss’, it’s ‘S#!t’, ‘Shower’ & ‘Shave’.

I always disagree with the alarm clock and put it back on to snooze mode, which indicated to the alarm clock that it must ring at another time; this is just to get that extra couple of minutes of deserved rest, or transitional sleep.

I believe all this happens because of the natural inner clock within me which is telling me that it’s just too early to get up, I know that it is right and ever one and every thing around me are wrong. This has been the case for all of the three decades or so that I have been on this planet.

I still remember in my hay days when my mum tried desperately to get me to wake up early and go to school; even then It took me a long time, I would some times get up and go to the wash room, turn on the tap and place one my hand under it so as to make the splashing sound, then I would close my eyes and try and squeeze a couple of minutes of sleep, before my mum would come and bang on the toilet door waking me up again and forcing me to finish up and get out.

Anyways, I bring this subject up because of the article that I read in the GDN on xxx, displayed below where an MP suggests that we should turn forward our clocks back to the original time that we were on in the 80s (or what ever time back ???) which was GMT+4.

For the full article go to
http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/1yr_arc_Articles.asp?Article=182961&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30064&date=5-23-2007

On a serious note, will this suggested change in time be an added advantage or a disaster.

Will we get more day-light or darkness?

Should 1 hour be added or deducted?

Will I get more sleep or LESS???

Dear OPRAH

2007-05-24T12:48:00.000+03:00

Dear Oprah,

I was watching TV a few weeks back and your show was on MBC4 (a regional sattelite channel in the middle east); on this specific episode you had a guests on who was encouraging American to learn more about the other 'Great Religions' of the world rather than being ignorant of the fact and listening only to what other people are saying (their opinion and not facts) i.e. the lies being told; you made a ‘Huh’ sound of confusion/disapproval when he mentioned ISLAM.

For someone who claims to be very open minded, peace loving and a defender of the human right, your reaction was quite the opposite and imitated that of a an ignorant person; the same people your guest was talking about.

American's have an arrogance that prevents them from looking at the whole picture when it comes to ‘why’ others feel negatively towards them, and the news channels don't help either by filtering all the actual news and leaving only the bits that suits their purpose and befits the lobbyists.

Every religion has its fanatics who quote scriptures to justify their actions; these must be taken with a grain of salt until you have a better and complete understanding of what the scriptures and holy books actually say & mean; you have not done so yet your actions suggest that your mind has already been made, and that is a big character flaw.

Also, I have recently read that you will be visiting Israel on a humanitarian gesture; I hope you have the guts to take a gander at the other side of the fence rather that restrict yourself to what the Israel’s PRs will be limiting you to, but I doubt that will ever happen. Americans have become fearful of speaking out against the Israel’s occupation of Palestine for fear of being branded an ‘Anti-Semitic’; you are no different. You and other Americans are spoon fed every thing that Israel’s armed forces give news agencies to be broadcast on the US airwaves /satellite channels, and you accept it without question.

Israel is going to be using your visit as a means of showing the world that you wholeheartedly support their cause and believe their ‘bull shit’ that they are only defending themselves with their pre-emptive attacks. THAY ARE THE VISTIMS HERE.

Your support and therefore that of millions of Americans’ who worship you, will be used to further justifying their continuing ‘illegal’ occupation of Palestinian lands and gradual annexation, until all traces of the existence of a Palestinian state is erased from the world and history books.

You will not see, and most probably have no interest in seeing, the atrocities being committed against poor Palestinian civilians, the crimes against humanity, the illegal eviction of people from their home, the demolition of homes while families are sleeping in them, and let’s not forget the genocide that is condoned and encouraged by your government.

It still amazes me that even after 40 years of occupying another state; Israelis are perceived as the victims.

Here’s an article by Stephen Lendman on his blog titled ‘Forty Years of Occupation’ depicting the history of the Occupation for you to read and laugh at on your trip to Israel:
http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2007/05/forty-years-of-occupation.htm

I also suggest you try and converse with prominent Rabbis, who have a very interesting theory on Zionism and a clear and precise definition of a ‘Jew’ verses a ‘Zionist’.

An interesting site is:
http://www.jewsnotzionists.org/differencejudzion.html

A clip from YouTube;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dSHl3C9kgY

This subject will probably not interest you much as the green back that you have collected over the years may dwindle if you even hint that what Israel is doing MAY ACTUALLY BE ILLEGAL & / or if you accept the fact that YOUR GOVERNMENT TURNS A BLIND EYE to the atrocities being committed by Israel against Palestinians; I guess you would agree that THERE IS DEFINITELY NO DOUBLE STANDARDS BEING EXERCISED BY THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT when it continues to veto the vote to ‘condemn Israel’ by the United Nations for YET ANOTHER INCURSION BY ISRAEL’S FORCES ONTO ITS NEIGHBOURS LANDS.

You know best, well at least that what the people around you say to you.

I suggest you extent your vision beyond the clouds around you and open your ears and listen to the other side of the conflict.

I hope you sleep well at night.

Regards
CX

I hate awkward moments!

2007-05-22T16:40:00.000+03:00

I hate awkward moments, and yesterday I had my lion’s share.

I was returning back from my customary pilgrimage to the toilet, a visit that I must perform at the end of each business day before leaving the office, else the flood waters burst half way home while I’m still in the car, also I’ve heard that it’s not good for the prostrates if you hold it in, anyway….

As I was heading back to my desk, a fellow colleague whom I have never conversed with walked along side me, heading towards the elevators which are located at our end of the building.

We both looked up and saw the silhouette of a guy walking on the upper levels, walking towards the elevators. The guy turns around and sees us, he’s about a hundred and fifty feet away, I think.

AWKWARD MOMENT ONE:

Any way, he sees us and waves, I squint but can’t make out who it is, so I don’t wave and lower my head just to make the guy believe that I hadn’t noticed him, also thinking that my fellow colleague was the subject of his farewell.

I turn around to my colleague and he has a blank look on his face; DAMN, he didn’t know who it was either.

Feeling sorry for the guy, I look back up at him, he waves at us again as he gets into the elevator, so I wave back.

I turn to my colleague;

Colleague: “Did you know him”

ME: “NO”

The blank face returns back onto his face again,

Colleague: “Huh”

Me: “Yah”.

And another awkward moment ensues….

This would probably be the moment where you’d hear crickets in the back ground had we been in a movie.

We each go our own way………THANK GOD

Kenya ran against Kenya, & Kenya won.

2007-05-22T08:57:00.000+03:00

Hah haaaaaa,

Quote from yesterday's Tribune (21 May 2007)

Bahrain won another gold medal on the third day of the 15th Arab Athletics Championships held in Amman yesterday.Middle East distant runner Tareq Mubarak won the gold medal for the men’s 3000m steeplechase. Tareq has been competing in international athletics tournament and had recently won gold in the Asian games after edging on another Kenyan-born runner Gamel Belal Salem of Qatar to win on the same event for the first day of track and field competition.

IT seems like our import was better than Qatar’s.

I'd rather have a Bahraini attempt to compete in one of these events and fail rather than be represented by a 'naturalized' import. Does this mean that Bahrainis’ are not good enough? If you think so, then just look at 'Ruqaya Al Ghasra'.

This doesn’t improve the prospects of aspiring young Bahrainis’ who dream of competing in sports and other such events in the future. Since there is no support from the government, in future, Bahrain's government will again have to import athletes.

If other GCC states do it, it does not make it right, nor should we follow suit.

My Slogan: SUPPORT, not IMPORT!

Fart ATTack, in the CINEMA, PEW!

2007-05-21T09:31:00.000+03:00

I went to the Seef cine-plex during the weekend with my wife and son to watch a movie, and to forget the miseries of life.

We were going to watch ‘HOG WILD’.

Personally, I enjoy watching movies cause for a moment, if a movie good enough, you may actually feel you are somewhere else, in a different world, someone special with powers, abilities and maybe lots of money, just for that split second, then reality sets in, SMACK, you come down to earth.

Do you know what I mean? Maybe it’s only me.

Anyway, we sat in our seats; I was eager for the movie to start; my wife just wanted to laugh and my son was pissed off that I did not take him to see another movie.

The introductions go by with no events, the movie begins, and within the first 30 seconds we get the first comic relief.

I continue to enjoy the, OH sorry, WE continue to enjoy the movie until suddenly, a stench overcomes my exuberance, like being hit in the face with a ‘Bag full of Shit’ or ‘taking a whiff of someone’s behind’ (something that i have never done and don't intend to do, so don't get any ideas); Yah, Not a pretty sight, HUH!

I turn around and look at my son, just in case he had let one go, he looks back at me in agony, holding his nose, my wife has also covered her nose and mouth.

The smell could have come from the guys sitting next to me, or the people sitting behind or in front of us.

WHO the hell do I shout at? WELL, no one!

In the end, we watched a movie that was quite funny though it had a weak story line, and got bombarded with farts, at least two times that we were aware of.

We were glad when we left the cinema.

SORRY TO HAVE GROSSED YOU OUT, AND I HOPE I HAVN’T PUT YOU OFF OF GOING TO THE CINEMA.

I on the other hand, will choose my seats wisely next time.

Keeping abreast on the Al-Azhar "Fatwa?"..How is it going to affect us at the office?

2007-05-20T20:07:00.000+03:00

The recent comment made by an individual at the 'Fatwa' Department at the 'Islamic University' in Egypt has sparked a lot of controversy.

To read about the incident refer to the Blog father's site for his blog "Gimie Boob" on the matter and the comment treads that ensued. Another site to visit is 'Improvisations: Arab Woman Progressive Voice ' under the article titled "A Modest Fatwa to Solve the Problem of All Fatwas "; and 'Al Arabiya' News article under 'توثيق الإرضاع هو الحل '.

What i want to comment on is how this incident is going to affect our daily dealings with female colleagues.

Well, when the shit hit the fan, i noticed that some of the women at the office were not taking it seriously; they were joking about it themselves, that was a good sign.

There were others that did not see the funny side of the misconstrued comments made by an idiot.

Me? Lets see, I did not appreciate hearing that another moronic Fatwa had been issued by an unqualified individual, or a person hoping to feed his own needs; but the fact of the matter is that it may not have been an issued Fatwa, it might have been just a comment. I Don't know.

BUT, the world is laughing at our expense, Muslims are at the receiving end of a sick joke that originated from us, and is being spread around all of the western world. There are probably going to be thousands, if not millions of comments and jokes by westerners on the subject matter without them actually getting the facts straight.

I can't blame them casue we sure haven't taken the time either.

So, i will attempt to answer the question 'How is it going to affect my dealings with female colleagues?' with all honesty.

Some of my colleagues may not look directly at me when we talk so our eyes do not meet; others will probably not even think twice about it; yet others will continue to joke about it; some may even join in the joke-a-ton being conducted by the guys, yet others may choose to say nothing.

ME, i made my feelings known in the comments tread at the ‘Blog fathers’ site, and my one joke in the title of this blog, so I will not be mentioning this circus show again.

It will blow over, but there have to be some change made.....

When the wolf cries 'WOLF'!

2007-05-17T09:23:00.000+03:00

The Jewish lobbies in the US and around the world has a practical way of deterring opposition, by crying out 'Anti-semetism' and branding any critic as an 'anti-semetic' they immediately get full immunity and unquestioned support by all. This is of course because they, the people in general and high positioned government officials, fear being branded as well.

Well, our government and its henchmen have learnt to do the same. Anyone who cries out foul play immediately gets branded a 'traitor', a person who is against the government or 'someone who is trying to incite hatred and Secretarianism'.

These have been rumours of financial irregularity on some government projects and within Governments institutions, illegal land grapping and distribution and so on and so on, but never a clarification from the government, only the familiar cry of 'WOLF'.

This bigotry must end. The wrong doings or 'MISTAKES' by the government should be exposed by none other them government officials and representatives. There should be a clean slate on which we may build a better future for everyone living in our country.

We need to go forward but the only way to do so is by first going back to what happened in our 'black' past and enforce an all out closure, not a blinding cover-up.

There should be a transparency by the government on the reasons for 'foreigners' being nationalized for political purposed. Not all these rumours are false. If the government claims they are then, this issue can be set to rest by having ALL the Passport directorate records for the past 10 to 15 years open for public scrutiny.

I won't be holding my breath cause It ain't gona happen.

Mr. MP, Pika-Boo - I see you.

2007-05-16T08:49:00.000+03:00

The MPs have been in office for some time now and our ‘combined’ parliament has achieving nothing significant. There have been many short sighted proposals and other absurd ones. A major achievement, for their benefit, has been a successfully increase their own salaries. This is probably the only thing that all the MPs unanimously agree on.

Saying this, I understand our Parliament is still young and will need time to achieve productive change that may resemble anything close to what other country’s parliaments have achieved; but they must at least learn from the mistakes of their predecessors; sadly this is not the case.

They seem to be having too much freedom at our expense. The only reason they were elected to this prominent position, BY US, was to enforce productive and necessary change both in the LAW and the Standard of living, for the greater good of the citizens of the K.O.Bahrain.

Alas, there too they have fallen significantly short.

The only way to ensure that these changes, i.e. our interests and rights, are being protected must be for us to literally keep an eye on them.

An article in today’s (16th May 2007) Bahrain Tribune titled ‘Be in your Seats, MPs told’, just confirms the fact that since the MPs feel no one is watching them, they can get away with anything.

I propose that the Government install cameras in the Parliament and commission a dedicated local terrestrial channel to broadcasts all the Parliament sessions. It would be very interesting to listen in all the conversations and watch their reactions.

We would also be able to differentiate between the bench warmers, the activists, the fanatics, the puppets and the truly honorary MPs.

Brain dead! At such an early age?

2007-05-09T08:08:00.000+03:00

Today (8th May 2007) we completed work on time, for once, there was no last minute this or that, so most of the staff left by 3:30, I stayed until 4:00 just to finish up.

I did a last pilgrimage to the toilet and I was set to go home. I headed into our work ‘car park building’ and went up to the fifth floor to get in to my car and drive home. Low and behold, I had forgotten that I had come in early today and had parked on the third floor.

Pissed off, I walked down two flights of stairs down to the third floor, got into my car and drove home wards. While driving I remembered a somewhat similar incident that happened to me a very long time back.

FLASH BACK
I started working in 1994 when I was 19 years old, and after a year, at the beginning of 2005, I was able to get a loan to buy a car. Before then I used to walk to work daily, I lived in Manama (close to the police forth - now ‘Ministry of Interior’, in the ‘Mushber area’ and walked daily through the Manama souq to get to the ‘Shekha Hessa Building’ next to the NBB tower.

Anyway; with the car I could now drive to work.

The very first day, I went to work, as with most of the other staff, I had to park on car on the ‘cournash’; the sea front where the ‘Bahrain Financial Harbour’ now resides.

At 7:30 pm, after a very long day’s work, I was glad to run out of the office and stretch my legs. I walked towards the souq as I always did, passed by the ‘Bab ul Bahrain’, then the ‘Aloo Basheer’ shop, next I walked past the ‘Jafaar hamburger’ shop and finally reached home, in the ‘mushber’ area.

I went home, changed, relaxed and watched TV. By 11:pm, as I was about to get ready to go to bed, this unfamiliour feeling came over me of ‘me forgetting to do something or misplacing something’.

And WHAM, it occurred to me that I was now a car owner,

“SHIT”, I had come home walking and had forgotten my car which was still parked at the ‘cournash’.

The next morning I walked to work but never mentioned what happened to anyone, UNTIL now.

Spacing out.

2007-05-09T08:07:00.001+03:00

I have a problem; whenever I converse with a talkative person, I space out. Not intentionally, but if the conversation becomes a story telling fiesta or covers a topic that I have absolutely no interest in, then, ZAP, I’m in another world.

It’s cool though, you can see the person and their lips moving but you can’t hear a word, your toughs are free to roam; its something like an ‘out of body’ experience. What a rush……

The thing I like about how I handle myself in these circumstances is that when ever the space thingee does not work, Nooo Problem, I just make believe that I’m in the process of doing something urgent, which is a little distance away from the person, and all the while I still continue and pretend to be interested and listening by saying things like;

“ooooh”

“uha”

“Oh really”

Or the one I use the least, which is pop a question that takes the conversation into another direction; all this from a safe distance away now, the distance eventually kills off the conversation.

As you grow older, one tends to hate talking about inconsequential and irrelevant topics. Well, I fall under that category of people, there are people I know that don’t and just love to babble, on and on and on…. You get the picture.

Fallen Angels.

2007-05-09T08:05:00.000+03:00

Two angels lost their wings on Saturday 5th May 2007.
It saddens me when children are the victims of tragic accidents.

My heart goes out to the parents of Juval (was 13 years old) & Joel Saji (was 3 years old), whom both survived a (suspected) food poisoning incident which took the lives of their young ones.

No parent should ever out live their children.

I hope with faith and prayer both parents come to grips with the heartbreaking accident and move on with their lives.

“Ina lillah wa ina elahee rajoon’”
“We originate from god and eventually return back to him”

I NEXT you, so get back on the bus Byatch!

2007-05-07T08:56:00.000+03:00

There’s this really enjoyable American reality TV dating show called NEXT that is shown on the French channel ‘Europe 2 TV’; it’s entertaining.

The plot always starts with a contestant; any one of either, a straight guy or girl, a homosexuals or a lesbian, waiting outside a large black bus. There are five possible mates in the bus, each come out, one at a time, and for each minute that they survive with the contestant they earn a dollar. If the contestant does not like the possible mate, at any point of time, by calling out ‘NEXT’, the poor rejected mate has to collect the dollars earned and get back into the bus. It is then the next possible mate’s turn to walk out of the bus and take their chance at the firing squad. If the contestants like the potential mate, they may offer them an option to either take the accumulated 'pot' or take them out on a date. (added recently)

One of the funniest moments for me has been when a gay guy rejected all five of the possible mates, the way they reacted and pussy footed about, its just hilarious.

I was going to attempted to be funny with my wife so after we watched a couple of episodes, I turned to her to said, “NEXT”, she turned around, grinned and looked at me with that look that says, You even think about it and I’m gona smacked you right over the kisser. I shut the hell up and smile and asked her is she enjoyed it.

SO to relieve the stress that has been piling in the inner me, this goes out to all of you with the utmost respect;

NEXT

But really, it’s amazing the kind of RTV shows that Americans devise to get their kicks, some of them are sexually explicit and funky like E’s ‘Girls of the Playboy Mansion’ (sometimes funny and never sour on the eyes); others are adventures, dangerous and show the true colours of people, like Survivor (my favourite); and some just dumb like ‘The Simple Life’ with Paris Hilton & Nicole Richie.

Other cool mentionables are;
The biGGest looser, Joe Millionare, Hells Kitchen.

Peace

Our Traffic Directorate & The Four Stages of Acceptance

2007-05-06T15:51:00.000+03:00

Our Traffic Directorate & the Five Stages of Acceptance

I FINALLY went to the Traffic Directorate (TD) to renew my car registration yesterday (02 May 2007).

It took me 5 ½ hours to complete.

THE FIVE (actually FOUR, you'll understand why as you read) STAGES of Acceptance

Car examination - (Denial)
I reached the TD at around 1:30 pm and took my place in one of the queue lined up for the ‘Car Examinations’.
At around the 50 minute mark, there were only three cars before me and loads more behind at the back and to my side. With one car to go before it was my turn came, a traffic officer approached me, he asked for my ‘Car Registration’ and indicated to me to drive out of the queue and park to one side.
It took him only 20 seconds to complete the examination of my car; he sent me to the cashier (located in the ‘old building’ to request a new number plate as the old had turned white).

DENIAL - I couldn’t believe it only took 20 seconds; my thought were that there’s definitely something wrong and it’s probably going to come back and hit me in the face later on.

Requesting a new ‘Number Plate’ & The Cashier - (Anger)
I walked into the ‘old building’ and headed into the entrance of the ‘Car Registration’ section, there I approached a crowded counter. I pushed my way in between a couple of guys already standing there and shoved the papers (I had) in the receptionist’s face, asking him where I had to go.

He pointed me to Counter 7.

I went to Counter 7 and told the guy that I need a new number plate; He asked me THE QUESTION, I was screwed.

“Big or SMALL Number Plated?”

“Damn”, I could not remember, So, I ran out of the building, to my car, look at the front to make sure, then ran back into the building to counter 7 and said “BIG please”.

He processed my application and told me to go to the CASHIER.

ANGER –Me and six other people stood at the empty cashiers counter for 15 minutes. I spent this time looking around at the TD employees; typical of a government institution, of the many counters, only 6 - 7 were open and of these only 2 were dealing with customers; the others were manned by mannequins so I thought until one moved to pick up his coffee and take a sip.
IT pisses me off that the ‘$%# of a %!&#*’ cashier was nowhere to be seen. THERE WAS NO ONE THERE TO SUPERVISE THIS Bull $h!t. ‘If only I could turn into the ‘Incredible Hulk’ and SMASK everything in sight.

Alas, 20 minutes into the wait, we were directed to another counter. The cattle around me stampeded OVER leaving me standing in their dust, from being first I was now last, ‘M@&%#@ F$%#%^&’.

When my turn came it took the guy 45 seconds to process the cash and give me the receipt.

The stamps of acceptance;
I finished and ran back out to the same ‘traffic officer’ to get his stamp of approval. He stamped my papers and sent me to his colleague who did the same. I was then directed towards the ‘Traffic Citation’ office.

The ‘Traffic Citation’ (background) check - (Bargaining & Depression)
The office was in the next hanger. I walked over and entered; inside there were six tables each placed side by side to make a long counter. There were two employees sitting at the make shift counter, checking for past citations, collecting outstanding fines and stamping documents when your records was clear or Settled.

BARGAINING – I do not bargain, well I may…No, No, No!. I do not Bargain. (so this one is not counted)

I had to wait 15 minutes, in one of the two ‘snake shaped’ lines; and there were around 10 people in front of me. The ‘checkers’ were taking their time.

DEPRESSION - When my turn came up, I handed over my papers; the guy checked the system by banging on the keyboard, picked up his stamp and gave me the ‘A.OK’. 15 seconds, can you believe it, only 15 seconds ……….
I could see the black clouds hanging over my head; Huh, I walked out of the office sulking.

It was now time for the finally, I need to find a ‘Post office’.

Registration at the Post Office - (Acceptance)
I went to my good old ‘Post Office’ at the Bahrain Mall. There, again I waited 10 to 15 minutes; looking around, wasting time, thinking what I would have been doing that moment had I not had to renew my ‘car registration’.

Can you believe it, this guy just walks by me and three others standing in the queue at the post office, he handed over his envelope to the employee and ‘POW’, he completed his transaction while we were stood there in disbelief.

ACCEPTANCE – Which every way I turn, fate apparently has it out for me; So I take it up the ‘wazoo’ and move on with a smile on my face.

In conclusion
What could have taken maybe 5 minutes tops, took around 5 ½ hours; Including the drive to and from the TD as well as to the Post office and home.

Oh yah! If you did not get it yet, our Traffic Directorate needs an overhaul, no punt intended(ignore the 'T' as my spelling has been corrected by a lazy smart ass, just joking dude ; THANKS).

Inspired by 'MR BEANS'

2007-05-03T10:54:00.000+03:00

A couple of days back, my wife and I went to see the latest Rowan Atkinson movie titled 'Mr. Bean's Holiday '.

It was hilarious. (I especially liked the scene in the market where he lip synced to an Opera song, Niceeeeee & very funny).

I enjoyed watching him prance all over France, getting into trouble in his own stupid way.

I also like the fact that he had a small CamCorder which he used to record all the events that occurred to him. He held it in his hand, put it in his pocket and even placed in on the table while having his lunch, French style.

To get to the point; my wife has been nagging me for a long time to get a smaller CamCorder than the one we have. The one I have is almost 9 years old; it’s bulky and not very user friendly in today’s terms. Also, now a days it’s all about ‘digital’ and ‘DVDs’.

So by watching the movie and seeing how comfortably MR BEANS (as a colleague of mine calls him) held the CamCorder in his palm and put in his pocket as well, with little effort, I have now decided to start window shopping for one to appease my wife.

Now come the hard part, the specs, colour; does it take still pictures?

Hummmmm, how do I pay for it?
I know, subsidise!
Anyone want to buy a second hand Sony TRV45 for BD50 (USD 135).

I think in 'BLOG'

2007-05-01T12:12:00.000+03:00

You know how in cartoons & comic books the conversations are in bubbles hanging over the characters heads; well, that’s how it has become for me since my very first blog which started at the beginning of this month (april 2007).

Its weird; any incident or the day to day events of life can trigger my mind to drift off and then, ‘POP’ appears the bubble with hundreds of thousands of ideas for my next blog subject.
The problem is that all my thoughts (the actual words I want to write) and the structure start to ooze out of my mind and spill out.

I now have a problem scooping all those thoughts back up to reconstruct the bolg on paper, or in this case, soft format.

Well, on to my next venture.....

'Love Birds' Divided

2007-04-29T13:25:00.000+03:00

I went to the ‘Post Office’ at the Bahrain Mall today to renew my driving licence which expired 3 days ago. Finally!

While I was standing in the queue waiting for my turn, I looked around (as usual) eyeing anything that moved just TO KILL TIME. My eye caught sight of a man with a rose in his hands. ‘Wow, there is something going on there’, I thought, so I observed secretly, looking at the counter then turning around from time to time; like a ‘Bird Watcher’ looking at a exotic bird ritual in its natural environment; in this CASE it was a guy waiting for a girl.

When I next turned around, I saw the girl approaching the guy, he was holding the rose in his left hand which was to his side, ‘Humm’, I thought, ‘You’d usually see the hand stretched out waiting to greet the girl with the rose’.

They must have been feeling awkward because they were looking around to see if anyone was looking at them, I immediately turned back towards the counter.

When next I turned around, they were holding hands and were about to sit on the bench opposite the lifts. The girl sat down and laid the rose on the bench next to her, the guy sitting on the other side, they were still holding hands.
They began to talk.

I continue to look at them thinking, ‘how hard it is in our culture for young ‘lovers’ (used loosely) to meet & get to know each other before contemplating marriage’; my thoughts and views on the subject will the contents of another blog.

Anyways, I turned to look at the counter again as It was now one person away from being my turn. I glanced back to look at them and my eyes met the guy’s eyes; pretending to be looking around, I did not immediately turn back but rather continued to look around, up and to the side. I looked down at my phone and fidgeted with it, pretending to make a call.

When I next turned their way, they were gone.

Alas, the love birds had flow the coupe and it was all because of me. The stopped feeling like a ‘Bird watcher’ and now felt like a predator that had just let it prey get away.

Just missed the bullet.

2007-04-29T10:59:00.000+03:00

Yesterday (Saturday, 28th April 2007), I left home at 5:00pm on my way to a 5:30 appointment at my barber shop, for the monthly hair cut.

So I got into my car and started to drive, I passed one traffic light and then another, then I noticed that the traffic flow in front of me was slowing down dramatically.

‘What Gives?’, I thought, ‘It’s definitely an accident’, something that’s frequent on our roads.

I patiently sat in my car, one hand hanging out the window and the other on the steering wheel, lazily looking around (as I always do) trying to kill time, which I had a lot off since it was only 5:05pm and my appointment was at 5:30pm.

The traffic slowly began to ooze forward, sometimes a couple of feet, other times a good length. I finally reached to the point where I could actually see what was causing the commotion.

‘Damn!’, the traffic police have setup a check point; It must be the end of the month and the government needs money to pay their salaries, as is the norm.

I felt confident of not being stopped as I was abiding the law by (a) wearing my seatbelt, (b) not speaking on the phone, etc.

Unfortunately, as soon as I saw the first copper, he signalled me to the side.

‘What gives’, ‘This is not good’. I am in deep doo doo; reason being that my licence had just expired 2 days back and I still had not gotten off of my fat @ss to go and renew it.

I was desperate, so the only thing I could do was;

I parked on the side on the road indicated by the officer, put on the hand breaks, turned the car off, and got out.

I walked to the officer, with my hands raised in disbelief, “Wash sayer, ana maa sawate shay ghallat” (what gives, I have done nothing wrong).

He raised his eye brows and looked at me angrily, “ana askari, wa min hagee awagaaf ay wahed” (He meant he was a government official and has the right to stop any one he want to). I had no arguments there, but, I needed to get out of the situation fast, it should not get worse or I’m screwed.

Immediately, I said “Amee, mub kasdee shay, ana bas gaed asallak leanaa maa sawate shay ghalat” (Sir/uncle, I don’t mean anything except that I don’t believe I have done anything wrong)

“Laa”, he said, “Traeegtok galat, ana askari…..bla bla bla bla” (he said that my behaviour was wrong and I should not argue with him since he represents the government ……repeating some of his previous comments)

Anyways, he told me that he stopped me because the digits on my car’s number plates were not visible; which was caused by the long 5 hour drives that I had driving to and returning from Qatar in 2004/2005 (I’ll blog about it sometime in the ‘Down memory lane’ section). Again I had not moved my fat @ss to get them fixed, up to now I was using a marker to colour them blue.

Had he booked me I would have been given 2 citations, unbeknown to him, I was trying to weasel my way out of the situation without showing him my licence.

And I succeeded, he turned out to be a nice guy, thought he did not look it. I got off with a warning and was told to go to the Traffic directorate, to get new number plates.

“Inshallh, bacher barooh almoroor hag tasgeel sayartee wa batlob lee rakum gadeed” (what I meant was; ‘Yes sir. Thank you very much, I will be going to the traffic directorate tomorrow to register my car and will request a new number plate’).

My tactics worked, I missed the bullet this time, now it’s only a matter of getting off my @ss and doing the needful.

Oh yah, I should be registering my car this month, there are still 2 days to go.

I hope to renew my licence at the Post office at Bahrain mall today, then my insurance policy in the evening and, ‘ooh sugar’, I forgot, my right side mirror has been broken for the last three months, I don’t think my car will pass the traffic directorate’s examination without it.

I have yet to get it fixed. Aaah mann!

Weight Loss Diary

2007-04-26T11:48:00.000+03:00

I have decided it is high time i start that diet, ahem ahem, changed in diet that i have been contemplating for so long.

My pants do not fit anymore, my belly has popped out and i weight more than i should for my height.

Therefore, i will be POSTING my daily diary, exercise routine and food intake here. I will also be weighing my self every 15 days......

My height: 5 foot 7 inches
Weight: 94 kg
Waist:
I aint giving my but size!

Starting from 26th April and for the next three months, ending 25th July 2007. The ideal weight for my height is around 70 kg. I don't thing i will reach it exactly but my aim is to get as close as possible.

My philosophy is to reduce the energy intake (not completely stop), and then consume the utmost energy possible via exercise.

I don't follow anyone's diet schedule except mine, and this is how it is; First i exercise daily, i cut out all bread and rice; cut our fizzy drinks, sweets, chocolates and cakes; well actually i try to. There are going to be tough times ahead but i will persevere in the end.

SO,
============================
26 April 2007 - (Day 1 of 91 days)
Breakfast: Chicken Breast Salad
Lunch: Missed Lunch
Dinner: 3 Hamour (fish) fillet
Exercise: 5k jog, 3x20 sit-ups, 2x10 push-ups.
Liquids: 1.5L water, 3 orange drinks
Notes: The food intake was ok, there exercise torture, i was able to run the 5k with minimal discomfort.
============================
27 April 2007 - (Day 2 of 91 days)
Breakfast: Missed Breakfast
Lunch: Half a Grilled Chicken
Dinner: Medium size cut of Water Mellon
Liquids: 2L water, 2 orange drinks , 1 Pineapple Juice
Exercise: One and a Half hours of playing basketball, 1x20 sit-ups,
Notes: The basketball game was a good exercise so i did not job. I may do both later on but i need my body to get used to the daily exercise routine first. Skipping the junk food was not a problem as i was asleep one third of the day and busy the other two.
============================
28 April 2007 - (Day 3 of 91 days)
Breakfast: Missed Breakfast
Lunch: 6 hot dogs
Dinner: 4 hot dogs & a medium size cut of Water Mellon
Liquids: 1/2 L water, 2 orange drinks
Exercise: 1x20 sit-ups,
Notes: I was unable to exercise today because my ankles hurt from the previous day's game. This is not good. I must push my self not to skip my exercise routines.
===========================
29 April 2007 - (Day 3 of 91 days)
Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs mixed with onions (Bade wa bassal)
Lunch:
Dinner:
Liquids: 1 tea & milk, 1/2L water,
Exercise:
Notes:Today i read the label on the Orange drink and saw that it had 150 calories, sugarrrrrr, so I have decided to stop drinking it. There goes one of my incentives.
============================
30 April 2007 - (Day 4 of 91 days)
Breakfast:
Lunch:
Dinner:
Liquids:
Exercise:
Notes:

VIP or RIP?

2007-04-26T08:59:00.000+03:00

On my way home yesterday night, I was stopped by a red light at the ‘Al Khareeta’ (The MAP) traffic lights, it was 9:40 pm, and I was heading towards Manama from playing Basketball with a couple of my friends at the Gulf Air club.

To pass my time, I looked around, at the ads on the large screen, at the ‘McDonalds’ logo (thinking of a Big Mac), I turned around and noticed a Traffic police car blocking the cars coming from the turn from the Manama freeway that leads on to the highway going towards Isa Town.

I realized that a VIP was probably headed our way, coming towards us from the Mina Salman port highway, my suspicions were confirmed when all the traffic lights turned red and no cars were moving.

So we sat and waited; at 9:44 pm, I saw the flashing lights slowly appearing from the distance, I braced myself and eagerly peered over trying to get a glimpse of the person in the on coming car. With no warning at all, the Traffic police car moved on, and a Range Rover with a Special Forces unit took its place, WOW, What’s going on here? Who’s THIS VIP? Is it a VVIP, or maybe a VVVVVVIP?

And when it did pass by I was shocked to see Lorries carrying containers, with ‘Special Forces’ in pursuit. This is not a blog about what was in the containers. My question here is much more important, so;

I got to thinking, these were only containers and we were made to wait for 4 to 5 minutes at least, NO VIPs, WHAT then would the REACTION of TRAFFIC POLICE have been had there been AN AMBULANCE STRANDED IN OUR LANE with its LIGHES FLASHING and its HORNS HONKING and a POOR UNFORTUNATE SOUL in the back with an EMMERGENCY, fighting for his life? What is Bahrain's Traffic law on something like this?

Truly best friends

2007-04-26T08:58:00.000+03:00

Do you know who your best friends are?

I bet if you really think about it, all the friends that you have do not really fall under this category.

So who actually is a best friend?

To me, it’s someone who understands you and knows what you want even before you do; someone who you can share your darkest secrets with and not be judged by; someone who you can discuss your dreams and desires with and your lives become stories that you verbally piece together, like a lego set; Someone you can talk to continuously for long periods at a time, even into the late hours of the night, just small talk; someone whose presence is enough to comfort you even if no words are exchanged; Someone who listened to you when you need to be heard; Someone who will go to great length to ensure that you are not discomforted in awkward moments; someone who will stand with you and comfort you when you break up with your first love; someone who will willingly do a favour and does not ask for anything in return; Someone who will share his breakfast with you when you forget to bring yours to school.

I had friends like this, but as faith would have it, they have all moved on to bigger and better lives, many of them are now in other countries; leaving me behind, alone. Don’t get me wrong; I have lots of friends that I talk to and go out with, but they can never replace the presence & comfort provided by being with your ‘best friends’.

Now a days, the word ‘best friend’ is used loosely to describe any and all the people we know. This is not so. True best friends are mostly made when we are young, in our school years and our neighbour hood.

In my school days, I had six best friends, each in a different period of my life, and they have all moved on;

1) Mohsin (Bahraini); my very first best friend; this was in my Junior 1 & 2 years. I remember days when I went to his house or when he came to mine, times when we played at school and the day he stopped talking to me for no apparent reason, that same year he transferred out of our school and I never heard from him again; and never have since.

2) Ali (Bahraini) ; Junior 3 to Junior 7, I met him when he first transferred to our school, I remember our class room door opening, he and his mother standing in the door way, the teacher giving him the empty seat next to me, and the rest as they say is history. We were very close, went out together, we were inseparable, weekends, holidays and special events. He left, for America to complete his high school and then went on to college. He later came back, worked for three years and returned to the US, he is now works there; is married and has a daughter, Layla. I have not spoken to him for the past two years but I still get news of him from his brother.

3) Ramzi (Bahraini dad /British mum); Junior 4 & 5, I once chipped one of his front teeth during a friendly skirmish. After school, we used to walk to his grandmother’s house, in Manama, wait till his dad picked him up and then I would continue on and go home. Ali, Ramzi & I had formed a play group and called ourselves the ‘Panthers’. He left after Junior 5 and I never heard from him since.
4) Jim (Seychellois); Junior 3 to 5, His father was a cook and worked at a Sheikh’s house somewhere in Zallaq. He always came over on weekends and we used to spend hours walking in the Manama souq. We used to read a lot of comics, and we always trying to see who was better at this or that; two events that come to mind are playing bean bag and a shop listing incident that I am not too proud of. He too returned back to his home country with his parents.

5) Nadaav (Indian); Junior 6 to Senior 1, we clicked from the first time we met, we were inseparable; anything and everything would get us giggling and then we’d burst into all out laughter. We gave names to all the teachers; our favourite was ‘Rat face’. We joked all the time and made fun of everyone. Alsa, he left with his family who were immigrating to Sydney, Australia.

6) Meraash (Sri Lankan); Junior 6 to Senior 5; We used to sit for long hours and discuss our dreams, what we wanted to do and what we would do if certain things happened, we shared our sadness and rejoiced in our happiness. He left for Sri Lanka when we graduated from high school; and later got a scholarship to a college in NY, USA. He loved reading comics and his favourite character was ‘Wolverine’. He was very talented and had an unbelievable ability to drawn fantastic sketches.

When you revisit certain memories in your life, one usually finds flaws in them, or remembers them differently than they actually occurred; I want to remember my best friends the way they are in my mind now.

I thank them for the good times and the bad; I will cherish the memories for all eternity. The moments that were shares together have made me the person that I am today; the visited we had gave me the confidence I have today, the discussions and ‘constructive’ arguments we had allowed me to aspire to bigger and better things.

I now have one best friend, my loving wife.

Labourers LAWS should consider more changes.

2007-04-26T08:47:00.000+03:00

In the past week, the Government and the filthy rich Businessmen has been at each other on the matter of transporting their labourers in unprotected, open top vans, trucks and Lorries.

Well I would like to point out al least three other points that they should be discussing as well;

a) A dedicate residential area only for the bachelors. They should not be allowed to live in residential areas where families live and children play. There is some discussion but not solid action yet.

b) The transport vehicles dropping the labourers off at the end of the working day should STOP at the bus stops not in the middle of the streets or roads.
Pictured below

c) Businesses should not allow their employees to take the trucks, Lorries, and other heavy load transportations home. This takes up a lot of scarce parking lots in residential areas.

MORE points & pictures TO FOLLOW

Designer Souls

2007-04-23T15:26:00.000+03:00

What makes ONE wants to own expensive goods, is it just to show off. I’m not talking about the desire to own and flaunt luxury goods such as cars, boats etc……The BIG STUFF ……….for the big fish!
I am talking the average Joe (and Jane to be politically correct) and their desire to own designer accessories; bags, sunglasses, wallets; and EXPENSIVE clothing necessities such as pants, shirts, etc..

Watches
Fendi, Gucci, Cartier; does a Rolex worth BD 4,000 or more tell time better than a BD20 or BD 40 Citizen or Casio watch?

Wallets & Bags (Prada,Chloe,Dolce & Gabbana, Fendi)
How about a Guess or Gucci wallet or bag, is the money held in such a wallet worth more than the notes in an ordinary BD 5 wallet, purchase power wise. I am aware some smart ass out there will say some thing in the area of “Huh, my Designer wallet holds more money in it then you make In a month”, to that I say, “Maybe”, or “Maybe you’re full of SHIT”.

Women have been known to squander their monthly salary on designer bags worth BD 200, 500, 1500 or more. What the hell is wrong with these people?

When one of them is asked to donate money to help the needy and poor or contribute anything to charity, ‘boingggggg’, they freeze up and the stiffs might actually give less than BD 1 ($ 2.65), only in shame.

But then when they see that must have X or Y, ooooooohhhh mamaaaa, sell the babies and mortgage the house cause I’m gona get some tonight.

Presto, just like that the Visa card pops out from thin air and SWISH, it gets swiped and the goodies are their to take home.

PENS
Gold & Silver pens worth hundreds; I know for a fact that my handwriting sucks no matter what, whether I write with a 50 fils ($0.13) pen or a BD150 ($380) one. It just sucks!

This phenomenon is in both women and men.

Millions are dying of war, famine, hunger and malnutrition; just imagine how many lives a Designer bag can save.

ME;
I got my watch in Melbourne, Australia in 1999, a CITIZEN for AUD 100 (BD 25 then [$66]). I love it.

I get my shirts from MAXX (Sitra Mall) for between BD 4 to 6 (Thanks to a good friend who told of the place when it opened). Why the hell not, its good quality and I go through them every two / three months. Why should I buy a shirt that costs BD 20 or 30.

My pen, actually pens, I go through two to three a month, you know me, big shot and all, writing all those big cheques, heheheh hehehe, seriously, I choose to write with the 50 fils ($0.13) pen; sometimes some worth 250 fils ($0.66).

The point is if you have lots & lots of money, then indulge yourself a little but don’t go over board.

What are you trying to compensate for?
‘Ching’, ‘Swish’, You just sold your soul for designer goods. Hope the attention you get is worth it. Come again……AND HAVE A NICE DAY..

Maid for Abuse!

2007-04-22T10:38:00.000+03:00

It has become common place for GCC nationals to abuse their maids/ house boys, and apparently even more so in Bahrain, a country known for its friendliness and hospitality. Not a day goes by without hearing of another incident or reading a news article published on the subject, usually describing the despicable and inhumane treatment by employers against their maids. These atrocities are being committed against innocent human beings.

Where is big Brother now?
How can the governments of the GCC states keep quite when such crimes against humanity are being committed in their own back yard? This I know is not comparable to genocide or slavery, but a crime is a crime is a crime.

This is physical, mental, emotional and financial abuse.

Hope;
They come to our country with the hopes of improving their children’s or families’ lives, leaving them behind for long periods of time. Some maids have been known to leave their new born children soon after they have given birth.
Others leave several children behind, hoping to earn an extra income to better their lived and give them a change in this miserable world.

This is the way we welcome them into our lives? Is this the type of people that we have become? How can this be acceptable?

Mistreatment;
Some are sexually abused or raped (to me they both have the same meaning but are different words, nothing more) by the dirty scum that we have living amongst us. If they do not concede with the B@$&&&&S requests, they are beaten and sent back to their countries without being paid their dues. One has to be pretty low on the human evolution scale to perform such despicable deeds in the same home that their wives and children reside.

Some of them do not get paid their wages for months on end, sometimes even being short changed when they are finally paid.

Others are beaten for no reason at all or maybe for for not doing a proper job or just wanting to sleep early because they are tired.

Yet others are being used as punching bags by abusive spouses (both Husband & Wife) who themselves are in a troublesome relationships.

There is much, much more;
Maids enticed and brought here under the pretext of finding good paying jobs but then forced into prostitution, etc….

Nothing justifies beating your maid, this is against our Religion and culture. What have we become?

The other side of the Fence;
There are always two sides’ to such an article; so as a sign of respect to mistreated and abused, I will post the other side in another blog.

$on of a B*%@&! Oh! HI, it's you!

2007-04-19T09:28:00.000+03:00

Have you every been cut off while driving on a freeway, highway, a narrow lane OR anywhere else for that matter?

I have, on many occasions i might add and I don't like it. It infuriates me to the extent that i just want to ram right into the other car and then flip the person(s) the middle finger; but i refrain from doing so as i am civilized (what ever that means). Though, i do call them a$$@@@@, b@$^&*d, $on of a B*%#$, and any other 'good word' that comes to mind, this goes for both guys and gals. I don’t discriminate between sexes; equal opportunity and all that.

Alas, it happened to me today (18th April 2007), AGAIN. I was on my way to work, late as usual and in a hurry to swipe my card on the Car Park entrance machine by the 7:30 am mark so as not to be tagged late, AGAIN. I was driving on the freeway that runs from Salmaniya to the Pearl round-about, past the first traffic light. On approaching 200 meters from the intersection leading to the round-about, this copper coloured 92 Ford Lincoln came right at me from the left, trying to cross over into my lane, i immediately put my foot on the breaks to reduce my speed & avoid hitting the jack ass. He swerves & pulls back just in the nick of time, twit.

I keep my calm and continued driving until i stop at the junction, i'm pissed off but because I'm almost late, i turn the other cheek; all this time I am still observing the @$$h&&amp;amp;amp;&; I had one eye on the road and the other on the left-side mirror, he was in it. He then begins to drive around me from the back; I got sight of him in my rear view mirror, and finally the right side one.

From the corner of my right eye, I could see his car pulling by my right hand side window. I got ready to turn around, grouped my eye brows together in an angry motion and was ready to turn around and give him the stare. As soon as I turned, I recognized him. He was one of the guys at work. (This is not the first time an incident like this has occurred between me and someone else I know, and I don’t believe it will be the last)

He smiled and waved; I smiled back and waved, and nodded my head in recognition.

We moved on...

Had it been someone I did not know, we would probable be at each others throats, waving fists, grunting, and swearing; and of course the universal sign for hello, how are you, and UP yours, the 'middle' index finger.

What do you do in an awkward situation like this?

I swiped my card at 7:33 am, AGAIN!

Visiting the Treasures of Ancient Egypt;

2007-04-18T13:22:00.000+03:00

On Monday, 16th April 2007, my wife & I went to the Bahrain National Museum (BNM) to get a glimpse of the King himself. The ‘buzz’ around Bahrain was that he was residing at the BNM and was admitting visitors.

Wow, I thought, his royal highness ‘King Tutankhamen’, right here in our back yard. It’s going to be so cool to see artefacts thousands of years old. I was sadly disappointed.

We walked into the museum entrance and stopped at the reception to get our tickets. “Salam u Alaykum” (‘Peace be upon you’ or ‘Hello’) I said. There were four men standing behind the counter (reception). They responded with ‘Alay Kum Al Salam” (‘peace be upon you’ or ‘Hello’).

“Tad karatain low samaht” (two tickets please).

We were told that the local BNM exhibits cost BD -/500 and the ‘PHARAOHS’, the exhibit that we were here to see cost BD 5/- . It has been publicised that just bringing the ‘Pharaoh – Treasures of Ancient Egypt’ exhibit to Bahrain has set back the Government of Bahrain around USD 1.5M. (I do not know if there is any truth to this) but I know that the government of Egypt would never lend its exhibits for free, this is a cash cow that they have been gleefully milking for years.

My wife’s eyebrows rose, “What? How Much?”

One of the guys behind the counter smiled and jokingly said that my wife probably thinks the BD 10/- that I going to pay would be better spent by taking her out to the dinner.

Hum, there’s a thought; Dinner or thousand year relics, “which one should I choose?”. This was a no brainier, I thought; I should have listened to his advice.

I paid for two tickets, got them and we walked into the museum’s hall way. A special section had been setup to the immediate right which led to the entrance of the ‘PHARAOHS’ exhibits.

Even before you walk into the entrance, the X-ray machine which has specially been brought in for this exhibit can been seen in the door way. My wife places her purse on the belt at one end, and it comes out the other, not beeps.

We walk in.

As soon as I took my first step, the guard standing at the entrance cries out “Mamnooh al Tasweer”!

“What the Hell? No Photographs!”
Only then do I see the side on the wall that reads ‘No Photographs allowed’, both in English and Arabic.

My wife and I are dumbfounded. To visit an exhibit like this but not be able to take photographs.

Aaaaahh the BD 10/-, Mother F&%$^&!

Too late to change our minds now, so we continue to walk in and the immediate thing that comes to mind is, ‘It’s rather dark in here’!

The lighting makes it difficult to read the labels below each exhibit, so I had to squint a lot; and not all the pieces on show are worth mentioning; there were some tiles, a large chunk from some pillar with hieroglyphics, some rings, earrings, necklaces, etc.

Out of all the items that were on display, the mentionable ones are;

1) The statue of a man sitting down with his legs folded and a baboon sitting on his head. [I do not know the name on the label],
2) The rather large statue of a pharaoh from head to elbow, with a long slender face and pop out ears, and a long gotee; wearing the usual CORBRA pharaoh wig, it was cooooooooool, a shame that I could not take a photo,
3) The Cover of a ancient toilet – toilet seat (yuck, I wonder who sat on it, maybe Cleopatra, heheheheheh),
4) A pharaoh’s Pet Cat’s grave,
5) King Tut's sarcophagus, the coffin was cool, but I wanted to see the King Tut himself,
6) Some beaded necklaces,
7) A wooden bed (it was OK),
8) And the Golden Mask, Niceeeeeeeeee…

We do the rounds, both downstairs and up and then walk out, not completely satisfied.

So the question here is, ‘Why is the exhibition so low key?’
I am sure that there are much more better pieces out there that were not brought with the exhibits.

Sheikha Mai definitely intended on exposing the Bahraini community to some of the greatest Egyptian artefacts and treasures, and I thank her for that. I just wonder what went wrong during the discussions for the Egyptain government not to want to bring all the other goodies, was it more money? Was it the Security?

Overall, my wife and I still enjoyed the exhibit.

I wonder if we can convince the Egyptian government to lend us the SPINX, maybe a PYRAMID or two, just for the three day F1 in 2008, hummmmmmm.

The 4-mulla is here!

2007-04-11T10:05:00.000+03:00

“The 4-mulla is here”, shouted out a colleague of mine as she gleefully waved the F1 ticket that she had just won, lucky b$*%h.

“Well, So what?” I said, pissed off that she won and I didn’t.

“Huh, I don’t need a ticket anyways cause I work at the BIC as a volunteer and have attended all the F1 races (and some other events) held in Bahrain and will be doing so this year as well”.

So there!

It’s actually true; I am a volunteer Marshal with an official badge and all. I wanted the ticket for my wife whom wants to attend and watch the awesome cars as they wizz & zoom by at ear shattering speeds.

[Note: The word is Volunteer; we do not get a cent from the BIC for our services, we get fed twice and are provided with lots of fluids. NOTHING ELSE! (For an event like the F1 there over 500 volunteer marshals assisting at least.]

I am not sure what the very senior marshals who have FIA badges and uniforms get, if anything??

Anyways, I along with hundreds of other (multinational) volunteer Marshals will be working our a$$e$ off this weekend making sure the event goes underway without any glitches (Inshallah); we have a reputation to keep up. We won an award for the best F1 in 2004 and lots of praise from Bernie Ecclestone (owner, promoter, and president) for our performance during all the previous F1’s.

We have to prove to the world that we (as Bahrainis’) are up to any challenge, SO BRING IT ON BABY.

It’s going to be hard work as we standing for most of the days and perform our assigned duties in the gruelling hot sun, resting only during the little gaps between races or practice / qualification runs and the prayer break. Every one does his or her part, from the volunteers who direct traffic; to the logistics team that ensure our tools, food and fluids reach us; the boundary riders, Scrutineers, the trackees, communicators, Accident and Emergency professionals and yes, the area where I work as well, good old ‘Grid & Pit’.
[The grid being the starting line where the race cars start from and the Pit being the Garage area where the cars pit in for refuelling and other…]

I personally perform two tasks; I hold the position of ‘Pit Exit One’, you will see me standing at the pit exit with my communications kit and a clip board in my hand noting down and reporting cars that violate certain rules. My second duty is ‘Grid Marshal’, I be standing next to one of the cars with a yellow flag in my hand, eyes focused on the my assigned car and driver as he rolls onto the starting line in anticipation of the of the green signal that initiates the ‘warm up’ lap. When they the cars complete one circle around the track and head back to the starting line, you will notice number sighs being held by marshals behind the pit wall, yes, one of them is yours truly. After which I will return back to my post as ‘Pit Exit One’. Sooooo Coooooool.

Alas, the F1 and its presence in the Bahrain have sparked a lot of criticism. Some quite valid, others not so.
The one I am most concerned with is that the least expensive tickets are around BD 40.000, the race is being in our country but 80% of Bahrainis can’t even afford to attend. That sucks! The tickets must be made affordable to Bahrainis’, a maximum of BD 10 for all three days, no more; foreigners can still pay the hefty sum that the BIC wants, that’s tourism.

I know the F1 is in the RED, things are amiss, contracts are being unfairly offered to suppliers / contractors without being auctioned off to the lowest bidder, etc. Also, the UAE and Qatar will also be hosting F1s’ within the next couple of years, as the news goes – There goes what little business we have…had....But that and much more are all another subject and another blog…….. (So wait for my Blog titles, ‘F1 or F them all’).

Anyways, Bahrain nu naaaa………

Crime against children - Justice the old fashioned way.

2007-04-09T10:43:00.000+03:00

This is the one (and only) thing that I side with the Taliban on.

Saudi Arabia & Iran also have the right punishments in mind;

Warning:
THERE IS A LOT OF ADULT CONTENT AND VULGARITY IN THIS ARTICLE, I HUMBLY APPOLAGISE FOR THIS AND REQUEST THAT MINORS DO NOT CONTINUE READING.

I’m talking about paedophiles, the bastards who Sodomise, rape, molest and sexually abuse children; teenagers or any one else for that matter. There is too much of this shit going on around us and a lot more injustice in the way the penal system reprimands the guilty vermin.

For instance, I want you to turn your attention to the article in (bottom right corner on page 6 of) yesterday’s (April 08, 2007) Al-Ayyam (Arabic) news paper. [The story has now been published in today’s (April 09, 2007) GDN; here is the link -http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/Story.asp?Article=177168&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30020]

The article in question describes an incident where seven (GDN states eight) youths kidnap two young boys (minors) and take them to a stable to sodomise them. One of the boys succeeds in escaping in the commotion and is seen running naked & crying in the streets attempting to reach his home. At home, he tells his family of the attempted violation; the family members immediately rush to the scene of the incident only to find that the stable in question has been vacated. There they are told that the youths have another stable that they frequent and might have gone there. The police are then informed. I do not know what happened next as the article does not state anything else. (The incident described in the article in the GDN is a bit different, but the fact remains the same).

What the Fuck is wrong with these disgusting perverts?
I want justice, No, I demand justice!
This has been going on for far too long. Not a month goes by without us having to read about another repulsive incident that has occurred. We (parents) do not and should not tolerate such behaviour in our society and must be heard.

Unfortunately, our penal system has left a lot to be desired; there is an existing sodomy law in Bahrain but I don’t believe that it is adequate for this day and age, Our residing Judges hand down lenient punishments (I believe its a maximum of five years) to the offenders and request them to pay meagre fees of, Say BD 50 to 200. WHAT THE FUCK!

I have seen many other articles mentioning such incidents that have appeared in the local news papers in the past years, so the above article is just one of many that occurred here in our “Pearl” of the Gulf. I am sure there are many more cases that we are not aware of, these could be because they are not made public to protect the identity of the victims or (mostly) for the fact the victims are so fearful that they do not report the incident.
I for one am sick of the filth that resides here with us. Enough is enough. It is time to make a stand, a time to demand that the Government change the law regarding this ugly behaviour in the filth that is the human psyche and behaviour.

I can only try to imagine what goes through the Childs mind when something like this happens; The scars are left on them for life and for that I demand that the MPs immediately put forth a proposal to change the LAW and make it a “criminal offence punishable by death”, no other punishment will do.
For once our MPs should think about other (the defenceless children) rather than the very important task of getting themselves a pay hike and the other mediocre topics that they discuss. Get your priorities straight, you loyalty should lie with the people not your pockets or what's below your belts.

The government is not doing all that it can, educating the children and public is just the first setp but not enough http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/arc_Articles.asp?Article=173943&Sn=BNEW&IssueID=30003, the punishment for the crime must be made severe. We need to make examples of the offenders so others conspiring to do so think twice.

Note to those who ask for compassion towards the offenders;
Firstly, FucK you, leave your comments somewhere else, I do not want to hear your bullshit. Secondly, the punishment would justify the crime if you or your children were the victims, you’d think the same.

The filth of humanity that carry out these crimes do not deserve to live on the Planet we live on nor breathe the same air.

The chickens come home to roost

2007-04-05T13:07:00.000+03:00

THE BIRD FLU VIRUS

Facts;
A) The H5N1 pandemic has so far caused some 166 (correction: Now 184) deaths of humans; Indonesia (63), Vietnam (42), China (14), Egypt (12), Cambodia (6), Azerbaijan (5). Turkey (4), Iraq (2) and Nigeria (1), according to the World Heath Organization.
B) Globally at least 200 million birds have died or been slaughtered because of the disease.
C) It is said that “The avian flu virus dies at 70°C,” so well cooked chicken is safe to consume.
D) "A person can contact bird flu if he is in direct or close contact with infected or dead birds, and will show symptoms like fever exceeding 38 degrees C, chest pain or respiratory infection symptoms like cough,"
E) The European Union and some other countries clear out infected farms by "slaughtering" the chicken on the farm and clear out the surrounding farms within 50km (at least) as well and burn the chicken in special furnaces.

I wonder if the GCC countries will implement measures that resemble anything close to what these countries are doing, i predict "Rebranding" and sale under different names. i.e here is a news article on an incident that occurred in Kuwait [i lost the link, sugerrrr, i will find and link it later on].

Self explanatory news clips:

March 29, 2007 - Egypt Seeks to Bar Live Bird Trade Over H5N1 Fears - (Reuters); CAIRO - Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak (Telfone Omomee) proposed a law on Wednesday to bar trade and transport of live birds to help prevent the spread of the bird flu virus that has so far killed 13 Egyptians, state media said.
Since the outbreak of bird flu in Egyptian poultry in February 2006, 29 Egyptians have contracted the H5N1 virus. Most of those who fell ill were reported to have had contact with sick or dead household birds.
March 24, 2007 -
Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Agriculture is dealing with an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu at a farm in the Eastern Province, reported the Saudi Gazette. The ministry carried out tests on turkeys, parrots, peacocks and ostriches on the farm and found evidence of the virus, after which all the birds were culled and the entire area sterilised. Investigations are underway to trace the source of the outbreak.
March 31, 2007 - Bird flu far from safe (Kuwait Times)
KUWAIT: Despite assurances from the Minister of Health, Maasouma Al-Mubarak that there were no human infections with the bird flu virus, the situation was not as safe as announced, reported Al-Rai.
The Chairman of the Board of the Public Authority for Agricultural Affairs and Fish Resources, Eng Jassim Al-Bader disclosed how serious the situation actually was in the infected Wafra farms, saying, "We already have over 65 teams comprising 400 employees working on fighting the virus and burying all the infected birds in a large trench," adding, "over 1.1 million birds have already been buried." He also urged all citizens and expatriates not to transport live birds into or out of Wafra until official notification.
April 08, 2007 - Dead Pigeons Cause Panic – (The Saudi Gazette)

DAMMAM - RESIDENTS here are afraid that a recent rash of dead pigeons is because of bird flu, the Arabic language daily newspaper Al-Madina said Saturday.
Many pigeons at the Iskan buildings in Dammam are sick and cannot fly, residents said, while others died starting several days ago.
However, Dr. Abdul Jaffar, administrative head of bio-security for poultry farms in the Eastern Province said on Tuesday, “There is no cause for alarm over these reported deaths.”
“The bird deaths reported are about pigeons and sparrows that are highly resistant to the bird flu strain. The reported are due to other diseases” that don’t affect humans,” he said.

Hogwash! I don't claim to be an expert, but it's a bit suspicious that the incident occurred not very soon after the H5N1 virus was discovered.

Informative Sites:
1) Out Ministry of Health has a dedicate web site:
http://ai.moh.gov.bh/BahrainPlan.asp

What's weird here is that it the site explains what actions will be carried out when an infected bird is discovered in Bahrain, its a reactive measure rather than a pre-emptive one. What gives? Is the MoH stating that the disease will be duped by first allowing it onto our land, then surrounding and overcoming it by the sheer number of our armed forces. Aaaaaah, maybe we can get the chickens to cross the road all at once, SPLAT, that would surely do it. Scratch that.... I suggest you read what’s on the site and come to your own conclusion.

2) The International Hospital of Bahrain has a web site that provides a lot of information:
http://www.ihb.net/contents/avianflu.asp

3) A Blog that is tracking the H5N1 virus.
http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/

My Action Plan for Control and Prevention of Bird Flu
STOP eating the chickens, i think they are pissed off. They don't seem to like being fried, roasted, grilled, filleted etc ... (drooll, drool yummy).

On a serious note,
The disease seems to be getting closer to our shores and we urgently need to be educated on the subject matter to enable an efficient prevention and eradication measure. We also need to be more cautious of what we eat, from where and how we eat (I mean the food), hygiene is of the utmost importance.

We should be asking questions like;
1) Have there been any incidents in Bahrain yet?
2) Are the Health and Emergency services adequately trained?
3) Is the government doing enough?
4) What do i as a citizen have to do?
and , and, and.......

The Government of Bahrain must exercise complete transparency on this matter; there should be educational programs on TV advising us on the dangers, the do's and the don'ts. We need to know the facts and the most responsible party in this matter should be our Government. This is not the time to cover up (not that they are doing so, but from past....). SO, Answers pleessseeeeeee.

Wouldn't it be cool if the only side effect of the virus was that people ran around clucking like chickens and laid eggs thus eradicating world hunger?

[ I suggest you guys google the word 'cluck' and see how many weird sites you get]. sheesh!

Employment for Sale

2007-04-05T09:45:00.000+03:00

Yesterday (4th April 2007) , an article appeared in the 'Bahrain Tribune' under the heading "Health agreement with Manila today - (Kingdom will hire 1,000 professionals to boost services)" and today (5th April 2007) another article on the same subject has been printed in the GDN titled "MoU boost for nurses".
This is in addition to the 1,000 already being employed. There goes 1,000 good jobs that could have been given to capable Bahrainis’.

Lets get one thing straight, I agree that the health Care employees in the Philippines are better trained, not only because of the up to date education system but for the very fact that their population is around 72 million (1998 figures) and as such each and every Doctor / Nurse continuously get exposed to hundreds of different ailments and diseases leading them to become experts just by the sheer fact of being repeatedly exposed to the many diseases and ailments.

Who is getting the better end of the deal here?
"We are, as an immediate step, looking at sending Bahraini health professionals, particularly nurses, for training to the Philippines," said Dr Hamza.

"In the near future, we would also look at further augmenting the nursing strength in Bahrain by recruiting more professionals from there."

Say what?
If we are going to send our nurses (must be Bahraini of course, of course) to get trained in Philippines, shouldn't we just pay their Government for the educational services and 'on the job training' which they will providing rather than offering them the vacant positions which should go to the Bahrainis' being trained or the new students that graduate each year.

Where are our MPs now?
Is this not an important subject?

I guess not solely based on the bloggs i've read today, polygomy comes to mine.

I wonder if they are distributing queue numbers, huhh!

Ah well, who listens when the winds blow (i don't mean the wind that blows when we eat gaseous food) the leaves off of trees?

NATION OF TRAFFIC LIGHTS

2007-04-03T08:05:00.000+03:00

The global markets have just announced that there is a shortage of 'Traffic Lights' (TL) in the worlds supply due to the high demand from a small island in the oil rich Middle East known as the 'Kingdom of Bahrain' (KOB). Apparently, the 'TLs' are now more in demand than the local currency and is being used as a means of barter/exchange for high quality goods and services.

For god sakes!

Now a days, every which way you turn you are bound to drive on to a road that has a lot of 'TLs' installed on it, distributed every 2/3/4 hundred meters. It’s just mind boggling and it just sucks!

What’s the big idea? Does anyone in the Government ('Big B' - Big Brother) actually consider performing studies to verify the best solutions for solving problems or do they just fake it? Apparently it’s the latter.

The introduction of more 'TLs' to replace redundant 'roundabouts' is not the answer, it just adds to the problem. The fact of the matter is that there are just too many cars driving on Bahrain's roads and the road system have not evolved to cope for the demand nor has 'Big B' learnt from past mistakes, this is apparent in the way the new road systems are being planned. I don’t expect this to change any time soon so the same blueprints will probably be used to plan future road constructions.

The Solution: Well, there never is one specific solution to a problem; the best solutions I believe are always a combination of things (changes / alterations or implementations). Someone out there must have heard of an over head (I think that’s what they’re called). An excellent solution to bottle neck causing TLs as junctions, don’t you think? All our highways must have these built on/into them? (you understand what I mean). Hey, even Saudi Arabia and Qatar have them, I wonder WHY?

(Picasso was on leave so you will have to make due with my artistic impression)

I am certain this would be the solution to at least three bottle neck TLs that lead to heavy traffic pile ups daily;
a) one being the TL at the cross-road junction on the highway that runs from the Mina Salman to the Saudi Causeway at the point where the Map of Bahrain resides (i.e. the Al Khareeta – The Map traffic lights), dividing Manama and Tubli
b) the second is the TL at the cross-road junction that immediately succeeds the ‘Al Khareeta – The Map traffic lights ‘, dividing Manama and The Sitra Causeway,
c) A third, the Bahrain Financial Harbour TL which has caused huge traffic pile ups that reach far back as the Seef High Way (Coubry) and beyond.

You can probably point out hundreds of other TLs that have given you nightmares.

The trick is getting someone at the ‘Big G’ to listed and implement. Hello, anyone out there………

WELCOME to my (crazy) world.

2007-03-12T08:37:00.000+03:00

Hello to all,

You are forewarned that I am 'HE of a thousand thoughts' but very few words.

Well, not really!

I have so many things I want to write about, but cramming them all into a neatly structured format is going to be Very difficult since I have a tendency to freely skip from one idea to the next.
In a normal blog(g), you would see a beginning, a middle, some smart comments and a conclusion (an ending).

In my blog(ggg)s you are going to be presented with an idea or an observation, explained miserably, with my thoughts spread thought out, a stop, well actually more of a pause than a stop, a stammer, a trip (head over heels most likely) to nowhere (its more of a splat, as I am falling flat on me face) with my hands firmly secured in my pockets (just lucky I guess).

The END will seem soooooooooo far away, and when it does arrive, you will be left wondering "was it really worth it?", while I stand satisfied; moving on to my next conquest.

So, I say "YESsssss!”. [I really do not have an idea why I am saying “YES” here, but is seems a good place as any and it fits].

Enjoy my blog(g)s and please (do not) hesitate to post your (productive) comments.

Welcome into my world (madness more like it).

I hope you now understand (and forgive).

PEACE.