BuJ Al Arab

BuJ moves to Twitter...

2011-11-15T10:51:00.000-08:00

I finally opened a Twitter account... please do follow me at:

@PianoMKD

In about a month I've tweeted more than 200 times.. so please come and follow me :)

Miss every single one of you guys!

Jordan - Morocco - Yemen

2011-05-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

What do these countries have in common:

Jordan: Wants to join the GCC and is welcomed... Yuk! I'll take harees over mansaf any day! I hope their welcome was just a political politeness.

Morocco: Wants to copy Jordan!

Yemen: Must be tricky to meet the PM when you're urging the main honcho to retire :)

More here...
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/gcc-studies-jordan-morocco-membership-bids-1.806159

picture

Piracy...

2011-05-10T14:31:00.000-07:00

Thanks USA...

After all it was Obama that got Osama...

http://gulfnews.com/business/features/the-spoils-of-piracy-1.804626

The full article is worth reading should you want to learn something new.

Peace.

Ben Ali in the air

2011-01-23T06:28:00.001-08:00

This is infinitely funny!!! Especially the Egyptian reaction!

Canadians Favours

2010-12-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

From Gulf News

http://gulfnews.com/opinions/editorials/canada-isn-t-doing-favours-to-the-uae-1.699402

When Dubai Police Chief, Lieutenant-General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, revealed that Canadian authorities have arrested a suspect in the murder of Hamas commander Mahmoud Al Mabhouh, Ottawa pretended to have been caught off guard. It seems Canadian authorities wanted to keep the arrest secret, perhaps to avoid angering close ally Israel.

Some think the Canadians might have backtracked on this issue, by even trying to deny it ever happened, as a response to the beating the Canada-UAE ties have taken in the past few weeks, over a disagreement on airline landing rights. If that is the case, Canada will only be shooting itself in the foot. Security cooperation, especially in combating state-sponsored terrorism, like the assassination of Al Mabhouh in Dubai earlier this year, should not be affected by trade relations.

If Canada thinks it is doing the UAE a favour in arresting a wanted criminal, it surely is mistaken. Terrorism is a global threat and the UAE, according to United Nations reports, is at the forefront of international efforts aimed at eradicating this plague.

Security cooperation is not an option. With terror activities rising, transparent security cooperation is the only way to ensure global peace.

.....

How every interesting! Especially after I've read this news article below...

http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/uae-considered-keeping-mabhouh-hit-under-wraps-wikileaks-cables-reveal-1.333793

Guys.. keep all your purchases private.. be they for weapons or DVD's before New Years... and stay safe!

Dumb Circular

2010-12-28T07:01:00.000-08:00

Apparently...

"No compensatory off for New Year holiday
Ministerial circular declares Saturday holiday for public sector"

How fucking dumb are we? Next year they might issue a circular declaring that the week is 7 days long.

Insult our intelligence sometimes, but this is baseless and pointless. Everyone gets a holiday on new years.. just because it's on a weekend doesn't make it OK.

http://www.emirates247.com/news/government/no-compensatory-off-for-new-year-holiday-2010-12-27-1.334625

Three towers

2010-12-25T18:40:00.000-08:00

From left to right:

1- Decadence and Sin: Address hotel (3rd place in terms of relative height).

2- Humility and peace. Minaret (2nd place).

3- Agressive Expansion. Burj Khalifa (1st place).

Here is the same picture as one from the previous post, but minus the plane. This shot was taken a few days after the picture with the plane.

Enjoy...

PS: Am thinking of submitting this to a photo competition.. any ideas?

Photographic winner...

2010-12-25T13:43:00.000-08:00

... yes, Mr Rosh is correct!!! It's the Burj Khalifa.

A small prize for those who can guess how many tries it took to get this shot!

Hello guys.. great to see you: Dots, Mr Rosh, AA Rose, Ema...

and, I guess I'm here now.. that's what counts!

What's hanging?

2010-12-24T23:18:00.001-08:00

Guess what is hanging from the bottom of this plane?

The Abundance of Idiocy

2010-12-21T18:35:00.000-08:00

...and various other tales!

1- Why do very small cars drive around with all their lights? low beams and fog lights included? You only need the fog lights when it's foggy. Dumb asses. I'm also seeing big cars driving with just their fog lamps. It must be perceived by cool by those with IQ's of under 10. Or those who are overdrawn in that department. Yesterday they just baked the cake, and some guy was desert driving with just his fog lamps.. needless to say, he could barely see!

2- Why are the authorities fixated with banning speeding? When you really need to ban people who change lanes suddenly and those who do not observe lane discipline. Actually I noticed that all drivers almost have their own lane. The FJ Cruiser number 6669 from Al Ain drives at the fast lane always. The Corolla number 84204 Shj2 drives with his fog lights at the 2nd lane. The Emirates Bus dude with 31 people drives on the 3rd lane, the heavy laden truck going to Gusais drives on the 2nd lane too, but does just 60kmh. You can see this poses problems when you're doing Emirates Road speeds! Still, the authorities will penalise speeding rather than incorrect lane discipline. Dumb.

3- If your empty plot of land is surrounded by pavements and is made of 100% pure UAE silicon, and you park on it, then the RTA will automatically slap you with a fine for "parking on the pavement". But you cannot slap them with trespassing.

4- If you're Indian then you do not look before you cross the street, but you cross quickly. If you're Arab then you also do not look, but you pass much more slowly, especially in the face of oncoming traffic. Must be all that obesity and mental retardation...

5- In the UAE indicators are used to confirm a lane change. In other countries they are used to indicate before a change. We'd like to see more Indicators used and less Confirmators.

6- to be continued...

The Insolence of Prosperity

2010-12-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

Happy National Day!!!

Almost 39 years ago, our forefathers (I don't mean only genetically) drew out the first sketches of the union of states that is now the United Arab Emirates. Things pretty much went up for us from then. I know because I am a child of such a union as I was born a few years after the union. The federation was a win-win for all the states involved and was the only logical thing for us to do after the British left the region (for now, they have since returned, but this is not the post for that). I might be biased, but out of all the Gulf states, both Arab and Persian, I believe the UAE enjoyed the most benefits from this. The fact that we're starting to be noticed regionally and to an extent internationally is a proud testament of that.

I grew up in an Emirates of needs and wants. We needed so much and let's be honest, we didn't have much. They named one of the main squares in Sharjah the Kuwait Square as a thank you to the people and government of Kuwait for their help to build the UAE Educational system. When they launched Emirates, the first flight was actually to Pakistan back in 1985. Now when we think of Pakistan we think of something stupid and racist or we think of cricket or political instability. Many people still refer to construction works as "Indians". How rude! And if you ask an Emarati grandfather, he will surely refer to the local currency in the UAE as the rupee, even though the UAE Dirham has been in circulation for many many decades. What better testament to how much we owe to our brothers from the Indian subcontinent.

In fact, prosperous families used to send their children to India or Kuwait to be able to finish high school because not so long ago, most schools in the UAE were only available until a primary level or only taught the Koran. In a few decades I was lucky to be born in the UAE, to be educated in its schools, and that was to such a level that I found it easy to continue my studies at Harvard and Oxford. Bravo to the UAE.

Cars were a luxury. In fact they were an oddity. Healthcare was patchy to say the least. Airconditioning was no where to be found. The main airport was in Sharjah (see here http://wikimapia.org/#lat=25.3470415&lon=55.3898048&z=17&l=0&m=s&v=9 King Abdul Aziz Street used to be the runway on the old Sharjah Airport ). Dubai's runway was still new, and was very much a dusty place.
Et cetera, et cetera...

I know this blog has become an old and dusty place too, but I have meant to write this post for some time. Not so much to remember the past, but to voice my condolences perhaps to our present, and to pray to our future, and the future of this country after we leave it for our children.

What have we become now? A nation of fat, slow people. A Nation of smokers. Diabetes and heart disease are so common even though we have amazing and cheap healthcare. We would fight over a parking slot nearest to the mall door when our fathers wouldn't have known what a mall is. We pay millions for a small number plate, even more for a phone number.

So here is what happens in today's UAE. I bet you Sheikh Zayed would not be happy, I know for a fact that Sheikh Rashed would NOT BE HAPPY at all. This is not the UAE he left. I remember the day Sheikh Rashed died like it was yesterday. I felt a deep sense of loss and that was shared by everyone, from the oldest Emarati to the Indian dude that has heard of the UAE and is spending his first few days here, and even the odd palm tree felt sad. Sheikh Rashed, may Allah bless his soul, was the true architect of the union, and many of you young guys do not realise this.

Driving down the roads is not only dangerous, but it makes you liable to being abused and cut against. I had to drive my family to Sharjah yesterday and I was checking my mirror briefly towards the left only to find that the small gap I left between me and the car in front was now occupied by a dumb fuck who took the modest safe distance as an invitation to cut me. I braked suddenly to avoid a collision and the idiot son of an idiot soon changed lanes. This doesn't happen back 20 yrs ago or so... people used to be polite when driving. Here, we've become a nation of speed freaks. You don't buy your car depending on your budget or the utility, but you look at two things.. you look for cars that people will respect and fear you in, and you also look for cars that can be the most agressive (e.g. loud exhaust or blinding high beam). I bet if you stop the random idiot on today's roads they will tell you that the high beams are purely for flashing and overtaking rather than driving at night on unlit streets.

Oh my lord...

What about the workplace? Ok, so we have more women at work, but they are learning the bad habits of men. Answering phones or e-mails here is rare, so you have to actually visit all the places you have business with personally in order to get the service you need.

Speaking about service, why is it normal for someone to cut in front of you when you're trying to ask a salesman something? Why will the new person always get priority? Why do people give priority in situations when they are meeting face to face and then the fone rings and they can't wait to answer it quickly. Of course if they were alone they would just let it ring.

I can go on, but you get the idea.

Is this the UAE that our fathers dreamt of? I bet it isn't the UAE that most expats come to dream of. I know almost all visitors come here thinking they will learn or at least hear some Arabic, but the only Arabic you'll hear is swear words on the street. Let me stay away from our language problems, coz that needs a whole other post!

Past prime concerns were getting enough food and medicine, or even education. Current concerns are getting enough fatty foods and smoke and a good movie to watch when we want. Even exercise has been abused. Gyms now offer free access to a DVD library if you sign up. (pointless?!?!). Most guys go there to check out girls, rather than to work out. What's going on...

We have to properly reassess our future in order to survive and in order to become a quality city and country. We cannot allow ourselves to be led by the whims and fashions of the dumb, rich, and weak. Above all...we must not tolerate the insolence of prosperity.

Emarat runs out of petrol - burn me!

2010-09-15T21:42:00.001-07:00

So it's been a while since I wrote, and that's because of a noticeable lack of interest in the topics gracing our lives. So please excuse my absence. However, yesterday (15/9/2010) a few weird things happened that demand to be mentioned.

First of all, my car needed to be filled with petrol so badly, the fuel indicator dipped below the zero indicator. So when I finished from my teeth-grinding boring meetings I pulled into Enoc (one of the 4 petrol providers in UAE) to fill up with regular gasoline (Special grade 95 RON Octane). The attendant told me that they are running dry and they have only Super 98 and Diesel. So I requested a full tank of Super 98 (which I believe is superior on long distance journeys). Before I could say "twitter" the tank was filled up because motorists refused to pay more to fill up with better quality petrol. Typical.

The attendant told me that they have problems with supplying fuel. Thanks ENOC.

Today I read in the papers that Emarat (another one of the basteurd petrol sellers) have run out of petrol due to technical problems with the supply chain, and they also mention financial problems with loans etc that won't be fixed until they can charge market prices and drop the state-sponsored price-system.

Read more here:

http://gulfnews.com/business/oil-gas/emarat-running-out-of-petrol-1.682789

"Emarat is finding it difficult to get bank loans to enable it continue to sell petrol below cost, so it's trying to ration the limited quantity of gasoline it has. The company is incurring a daily loss of about Dh2 million due to the subsidy on the fuel and compensation from other businesses such as convenience stores isn't enough to cover the losses," an Emarat source told Gulf News. "This problem will continue until the government frees petrol prices," he added.

DAMN YOU "Emarat source"!!!!!!

http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/fuel-supply-shortage-in-emarat-petrol-stations-2010-09-16-1.291413

The Emarat petrol distribution company announced that some of its 200 stations in Dubai and Northern Emirates are facing supply shortage of fuel (special Benzene). The company spokesperson told Al Bayan that “the shortage is due to technical issues related to the process of unloading cargo from ships to tanks in Jebel Ali". Khalid Hadi, Director of Information and Marketing of Enoc said, "All fuel stations of Enoc and Epco is functioning normally and is able to provide various types of fuel without any problems."

Not only dues Emirates 24-7 above show an ENOC picture when they are talking about Emarat problems, but they mention a very interesting point made by Mr Khalid Hadi, Director of Information (you can direct fictional movies, but can you direct information?!) that Enoc is not having "any problems".

OK. Sir.

What about the Enoc station site 1088, terminal ID 00108803, on Oud Metha Road that was empty of cars yesterday because you couldn't supply petrol to it cheap enough that people will buy it?

Also are we dumb enough to believe that in a country that can build the tallest building in the world, and the widest motorways, and the best airline that you cannot deliver fuel? Don't take us for stupid people please. It's like when Bush and Bliar (sic) convinced us that our security was threatened by Iraq and we HAD to invade and kill the innocent to protect the innocent.

Yeah right.

Also, ironic that the shortage came exactly 2 years after the collapse of Lehman Brothers (my screen shot of the bbc webpage from 2008 is attached).

However, seems not only the UAE is suffering from greed and stupidity. Pakistan, the only Muslim nuclear power is unable to supply its citizens with machine-readable passports in the UAE because they are only printed in Pakistan.

Please, please, when will the stupidity end?!

Salam

Losing battle for hearts - opinion

2010-09-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

The following is an article in the Opinion pages of Gulf News/Guardian:

http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/losing-battle-for-hearts-1.680575

It sums up this mess we live in very nicely. Happy Eid everyone.

....

In the US, a crackpot pastor threatened to burn copies of the Quran and finally cancelled his plan yesterday after appeals from the president, the secretary-general of the UN, and Angelina Jolie. In Afghanistan, five US soldiers are charged with murdering civilians at random and collecting their fingers as souvenirs, while Nato troops open fire on protests against the pastor's plans.

In Britain, the normally hawkish International Institute for Strategic Studies says the threat from Al Qaida and the Taliban has been exaggerated, and warns that the war in Afghanistan risks becoming a "long, drawn-out disaster".

Meanwhile, Tony Blair cancels two appearances in London to publicise his memoirs after anti-war protesters pelt him with eggs and shoes in Dublin.

Welcome to the world of the ‘war on terror', on the ninth anniversary of 9/11. It is a world more divided, fearful and conflict-ridden than a decade ago.

"We need to win not just the military action, but to win people's minds," Tony Blair told CNN in November 2001, at the height of the Anglo-American bombing of Afghanistan. But the struggle for Muslim hearts and minds was allowed to morph into a seeming war on Muslims. The ‘war on terror' has resulted only in more war and more terror.

It all seemed so different in 2001. The mayor of Tehran called his counterpart in New York to offer his condolences, as Iranians held candle-lit vigils in solidarity with grieving Americans. Palestinians lined up to donate blood to the survivors of the attacks. Islamic scholars and clerics across the Middle East denounced the murderous barbarism of Al Qaida. Polls showed that vast numbers of hearts, minds and souls in the Muslim world were with the West.

But along came Guantanamo Bay, the catastrophic and illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003, photos of prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib in 2004, and allegations of torture and murder at the US air base in Bagram, Afghanistan, in 2005.

By 2006, Muslims across the globe were horrified and radicalised by the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon, conducted with the blessing of Blair and his partner in crime, George W. Bush.

The ‘hearts and minds' brigade had to beat a humiliating retreat.

Hopes were raised again in 2008, with the election of Barack Obama, with a Muslim middle name and an African heritage. In his first six months in office, Obama declared that "the US is not and will never be at war with Islam"; in a speech in Cairo he symbolically "reset" relations with Muslim communities.

But Guantanamo is still open for business, and the president's demand that the Israelis ‘freeze' illegal colonies has fallen on deaf ears. The war on terror has been ramped up in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and the Horn of Africa. The deaths of US soldiers in Afghanistan and Pakistani civilians in US air strikes have increased on Obama's watch.

On Thursday, the US President said Pastor Jones' plans to burn the Quran would be a "recruiting bonanza" for Al Qaida. Yet he fails to recognise how the West's war in Afghanistan provides a similar boost to extremists — on both sides.

The "enemy" in Afghanistan, concluded the IISS report released last week, is "incentivised by the presence of foreign forces". And inside the US the likes of Jones and right-wing Republican bigots, frothing at the mouth over the ‘Ground Zero mosque' take their cue from aggressive leaders like Blair, Bush and Obama — who send more and more troops to fight and die abroad, in faraway Muslim countries, while denying any link between militancy and western foreign policies.

Whether the swivel-eyed priest goes ahead with his plan to immolate Islam's holiest book is, ultimately, irrelevant.

The battle for hearts and minds was lost long ago.

Mehdi Hasan is senior editor (politics) at the New Statesman.

The 99 - TED Talks - Dr Naif Al-Mutawa

2010-08-06T13:13:00.000-07:00

Watch this...

Israel does it again - to the Rachel Corrie

2010-06-05T07:17:00.000-07:00

Not satisfied with their performance last weekend, the Israelis have blocked yet another ship laden with aid to Gaza. The ship is named Rachel Corrie after the activist that was crushed to death by Israeli bulldozers a few years back.

Fortunately there was no violence this time. However, why does Israel insist on harrasing aid shipments to Gaza over waters which it no longer even occupies? Surely if the UAE starts blocking ships in Iranian waters then all hell will break loose.

Why does Israel continue to exist above the law?

Why is the Egyptian border with Gaza still closed?

More info:

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/aid-ship-rachel-corrie-intercepted-by-israeli-troops-gaza-committee-1.636962

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10245176.stm

The excellent cartoon is kindly provided by Carlos Latuff: http://latuff2.deviantart.com/gallery/

Image: Swedish Demonstrators

Check out this most excellent gallery of pictures from demonstrations from around the world against the recent Israeli actions. It's scary how many countries are listed there.

http://andfaraway.net/blog/2010/06/05/palestine-%D9%81%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B7%D9%8A%D9%86%E2%80%8E-palestina-palaistine/

Forgotten Floatilla

2010-06-04T08:59:00.000-07:00

So it's only been a few days since the Israeli massacre aboard the peace floatilla.. so, the big question is have we already forgotten about it?

I hope not, and I leave you with this most excellent clip.

Found here:http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/06/israel-flotilla-raid-breakdown-of-whos-right-and-wrong.html

Peace.

Blue Waters - Jewish Piracy

2010-06-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

As you know, the Israelis have have boarded an international aid ship heading for Gaza while it was in international waters and murdered 19 of its members. The ship was carrying the Turkish flag and Turkey as well as all Muslim and Arab nations are furious, the world is furious too at this act of state-sponsored barbaric piracy by the Middle East's "only democracy".

Democracy my ass...

Coming soon.. more stuff on this.. but until then I leave you with this excellent cartoon by my friend Carlos Latuff.

More info:

Carlos Latuff on Twitter
Carlos Latuff on Deviant Art
Ferroviasdobrazil.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/middle_east/10203726.stm

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/palestinian-territories/palestinians-arabs-demand-probe-of-israeli-raid-on-gaza-aid-flotilla-1.635135

Is it OK to chant "down with Israel?"

I wouldn't mind also driving the Israeli state to the sea since they seem quite at home there.

Two beautiful pictures

2010-05-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

Here are two beautiful pictures that adorn my computer desktop. With my new Macbook Pro 15" as a new member of the family (i7 all the way!), there is even more screen to show off these beauties :)

I leave them for you to enjoy at your pleasure. Please note if you own the copyright please let me know and I will remove them immediately. These are not my pictures, but some I found online. It's worth clicking on the pictures to enlarge them because the current resolution will not do them justice.

The pic below is from the National Geographic and is probably one of the most nicely taken pics I've seen in a while. Take some time to allow it to sink in.

This pic below is unknown in its source but I love its peacefulness. Also reminds me I wanna live at some point in the woods in tune with nature :)

Peace.

Abutt's Finest Hour

2010-05-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

[This post is written as a reference post]

We all relish on a bit of debate and dialogue, none of us have taken this to heart and to such extremes as much as aBit who is known by many names including Ultra Blue.

The authour of this blog had a debate with him about female body building which turned sour very quickly. I thought it's best to publish this properly for everyone to see him for who he is, and also because the coward is known to delete his comments after they have been read.

Interestingly.. He rudely refused offers of a hug then it took him a good few days to muster a reply.. oh well, maybe he was simmering slowly to a boil. Pathetic.

Pathetic 1:

You can bring your whore body building wife as well, the one I'll have a pakistani laborer rape after I beat you and have you jailed for whatever reason the cops can come up with.

Again, the innerwebs, its an amazing source of entertainment.

WHY WONT YOU ANSWER MY SIMPLE QUESTION MOTHERFUCKER????? WHY YOU WHORE LOVER? IS YYOUR WIFE THE TYPE WHO DOES YOU AND YOUR BROTHER AT THE SAME TIME???????

Yalla, answer that and stay fashionable tool.

Posted by ultra[blue] to BuJ Al Arab at 17 May 2010 09:55

(Interestingly, you can be arrested for saying less than what Mr ultra[blue] just wrote.. oh well)

Pathetic 2:

Oh, and my driver fucked your sister last night! Expect a 1/2 bangladeshi nephew in 9 months! Muahaha!

Best thing is, if I choose to delete these comments, you cant prove shit! YOU ARE POWERLESS UNLESS YOU MODERATE!

So do it! I DARE YOU AND YOUR WHORE WIFE!

And and I was kidding about meeting you to talk. IF YOU ARE MAN ENOUGH come meet me in AD and I will BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU and have you jailed. YOU will be jailed.
COME. I DARE YOU!

(hmmm, it seems he will teach me a lesson by using his 200kg body to sit on me! If he's such a fat-man himself why not displace his fat-self to DXB?)

Pathetic 3:

A combination of the 2 Pathetics above, as well as the words "f-you" repeated about 654 times over about 40 different comments. He probably just learned about the "copy" and "paste" functions. Oh dear me. All this was trigged coz I proposed to hug him? oh dear me.

Very Worrying 1:

Having read this in Gulf News this week...

http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/crime/quran-tutor-jailed-for-molesting-six-year-old-1.628692

We hope the police catch him soon and may this be a sign for all haters and pedophiles that you are not above the law.

For more details on how to get in touch, the racist lurks here. FYI, all comments and e-mails are saved should they be needed in the future. All this can be easily verified by a 3rd party.

......

Unfortunately, this week we saw the ill-fated airline crash to Mangalore from Dubai. Sadly, it was observed that aBit's blog had a very racist post that stirred a lot of feelings, especially from the Indian community for its racist ideas.

Read for yourself:

http://www.al-emarati.com/2010/05/rip-plane-victims.html

Incidentally, one of the fiercest critics of racism was our Prophet Mohammad who fought it fiercely and the same applies to slavery.

We pray for his mental stability to return, and for Allah to protect us from all evil.

Updated : 25 May 2010

Seems the whole blog has been deleted or blocked somehow. Very peculiar indeed.

Nina Simone - My Baby

2010-05-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

A classic...

RIP to aircrash victims

2010-05-22T19:26:00.000-07:00

On a flight from Dubai to Mangalore (not Bangalore) yesterday disaster struck as the plane tried to make a tricky landing at what is called a "tabletop" runway. i.e. one which is proceeded with a valley or a drop that makes overshooting the runway a scary adventure.

Sadly 158 out of the 160 passengers perished. Even more sadly, the flight departed from Dubai and included a Gulf News member of staff who perished as well. Incidentally, it was Gulf News that rocked my morning by reporting this sad piece of news.

http://gulfnews.com/news/world/india/air-india-plane-crashes-in-southern-india-1.630447

Before people get too excited, the pilot was British with more than 10,000 flying hours and 26 landings at Mangalore. The co-pilot was Indian, and although he had less flying time than his Captain, but, he had more landings under his belt on this dangerous strip.

May they rest in peace.

The Entabulator

2010-05-22T11:18:00.000-07:00

For all you smart engineers out there, and everyone else too!

For more information please click here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turboencabulator

Historical Tweets - D-Day

2010-05-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

This just cracked me up!!!

page reference

Please click to enlarge. (Wish most things worked like that, hihi)

Bad aftertaste - 62 years on

2010-05-15T05:55:00.000-07:00

I woke up this morning and looked at my Calendar that read 15 May and I knew it was a bad day. I usually have had better memories on this day in the last few years, but for the goodness of me I didn't know what today signified.

Thanks to Dubai Jazz, I remembered. I just read this post on this blog which is copied here in its entirety:

15th of May - 62 Years on the Nakba: A Few Memorable Quotes

"The cleansing of Palestine remained the prime objective of Plan Dalet."
David Ben Gurion (the 'Founding Father' of Israel)

(Plan Dalet was a premeditated plan designed in part to ethnically cleanse Palestine during the establishment of the state of Israel)

"Only a state with at least 80% Jews is a viable and stable state"
David Ben Gurion

"Arab evacuees from the towns and villages left largely because of Jewish — Haganah, IZL or LHI — attacks or fear of impending attack.......[however],an extremely small, almost insignificant number of the refugees during this early period left because of Haganah or IZL or LHI expulsion orders or forceful 'advice' to that effect"
Benn Morris. Author of "The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited", Cambridge University Press, 2004.

"This leads to a figure of 73% for departures caused directly by the Israelis. In addition, the report attributes 22% of the departures to "fears" and "a crisis of confidence" affecting the Palestinian population. As for Arab calls for flight, these were reckoned to be significant in only 5% of cases…"
A report by the military intelligence arm of the Haganah (the Jewish paramilitary force), which refutes the claim that the +750,000 Palestinians left Palestine of their own volition.

"Allon repeated the question: What is to be done with the population[50,000 Palestinian inhabitants of Lyd and Ramllah]? Ben-Gurion waved his hand in a gesture that said: Drive them out!"
The Memoir of Yitzhak Rabin "Soldier of Peace"

"I'm a Zionist!"
Joe Biden, VPOTUS.

"The Middle East is obviously an issue that had plagued the region for centuries"
Barack Hussein Obama, POTUS.

---------------------------

"The viciousness of Israel is testament to its knowing that Palestinians will always remain steadfast and defeat its past and present attempts to erase them"
Joseph Massad (Associate Professor of Modern Arab Politics at Columbia University)

"Revolt! you're only going to lose the tent and the shackle"
George Habash (the late Palestinian leader)

"All that you have done to our people is registered in notebooks"
Mahmoud Darwish (A renowned Palestinian poet)

"When a brown man resists, he's a terrorist. When a white man resists, he's Robin Hood"
Dubai Jazz

"It must have sucked to be an Arab in 1948/49"
A Zionist, arguing the Nakba with Dubai Jazz on some political forum.

"So, going by your logic, it must have also sucked to be a Jew in Europe circa early 1940s?"
Dubai Jazz, replying to the said Zionist.

http://dubai-jazz.blogspot.com/2010/05/15th-of-may-62-years-on-nakba-few.html

An excellent source of maps:

http://joshberer.wordpress.com/maps/middle-east/

Moroccan Magic

2010-05-14T00:00:00.000-07:00

After posting videos about Italian engineering on two wheels (Ducati 796), it's time to shed some light on a different passion of mine - offroad motorcycling! Specifically, in Morocco!

The following is courtesy of the National.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100501/MOTORING/704309958/1678/yourview

We knew there was something different about this trip when the doctor started taking pictures of everyone. “So I can know which limbs to re-attach to whom,” said our sardonic sawbones. That our travelling physician, Axel Thiäner, a trauma surgeon from Munich, was (semi) having sport with us – German style – was little consolation. We had seen his mobile medical cabinet containing all the necessary gear to perform a roadside hip replacement. What was this? Just what had I got myself into?

Our small group was about to embark on a 1,000km (mostly) off-road motorcycle ride through the heart of Morocco that would see us leave the relative civilisation of Marrakech and head south and east to Ouarzazate and Boumalne Dades, over the famed Atlas and Jebel Saghro mountains and the Gorges du Dades and traversing some of the craggiest overland passes in the world.

And as dangerous as that might be, the good doctor was not here for us. No, he was here because Hendrik von Kuenheim, scion of the man who saved BMW and now general director of BMW’s Motorrad division, was here. We moto journalists may revel in delusions of our own self-importance, but there really was only one man on this trip that actually was important. Put another way, if we all lost our limbs simultaneously, I knew whom the good doctor would be saving first.

I’ll ride anywhere, but not having ridden anything with knobby tires for more than five years filled me with a certain amount of apprehension, an unease that turned into full trepidation when I thought of trying to muscle a 225kg R1200GS through deep sand. Ever the pragmatist (that should read coward), I insisted on riding the smaller F800GS.

Northern Africa may well be full of sand dunes, but we saw none of it. What we did see were rocks. Small rocks and big rocks; sharp rocks and round rocks; bare rock still part of massive outcroppings; others seemingly strewn specifically to send the front wheel of BMW GSs piloted by nervous journalists slewing sideways. Did I mention that said rocky roads were often accompanied, in the finest tradition of Third World civil engineering, by steep and prolonged drop-offs? It was the toughest/scariest/most attention-focusing off-roading I’ve done in quite some time.

Sometimes, cowardice can lead to inspired choices. When push came to shove (as in trying top push a bike out of sand wash or humping, trials-like, over big boulders), the lighter 800 was the right choice. Hardly to be described as lithe, the F800 is close to 50kg lighter than the R1200, a reduction that was keenly felt during one particularly long plod through a washed-out river bed covered in the softest, wheel-swallowing, golf-ball-sized gravel I’d ever seen. Correcting the inevitable front-wheel washouts and sometimes-spectacular rear wheel slides was a lot easier riding something that didn’t feel quite as heavy as a touring bike.

But what was surprising – indeed, extremely surprising – was how easily the big R1200 (outfitted with Continental TKC 80 off-road tyres) handled the rest of the off-roading. Yes, shaft drive and that bulky engine mean that it occasionally felt like trying to dock the Queen Mary without a tugboat, but thanks to that same hulking, opposed-twin engine, the centre of gravity is admirably low. And the R1200GS’s front-to-rear weight balance is almost ideal. There are indeed an abundance of kilograms housed in the 1,507mm between the big GS’s axles, but they are ideally situated, making traversing all but the slowest and softest terrains remarkably easy. Thanks to that lower centre of gravity and its much smoother low-speed throttle response compared with the 800, the R1200 was actually easier to navigate than the 800 on some trails, especially distinguishing itself on rough, rocky descents.

On-road, of course, the R1200GS is magical. Newly fortified with a slightly detuned version of the double-overhead camshaft, 1,170cc engine from the high-performance HP2, the 2010 GS may have lost five horsepower and a little more than five Nm of torque, but it gained an enthusiasm missing from previous versions of the Boxer engine. It responds with more low-rpm alacrity, has wonderful mid-range punch and even spins eagerly to an 8,500-rpm redline. The new engine really does change the personality of the entire motorcycle.

The F800GS, of course, can’t match the 1200’s on-road poise. Above 120kph, the front end feels decidedly light. Nor is its seating position as expansive or comfortable. But then very few bikes can match the R1200GS in this regard.

On-road behaviour, however, was inconsequential as we rode up the Tizi-n’Tazazert pass. What poses as a road looked more like a photo of rock-strewn Mars than any terrestrial topography I’ve ever seen. Approaching the summit, we, of course, congratulated ourselves on our manliness, only to then watch a local, dressed in flip-flops and a baseball hat, start down the very same goat path aboard a Docker 50 scooter complete with chrome passenger floorboards and bald street tires barely an inch wide. Consoling ourselves with the fact that he couldn’t make it down the tougher, south side of the pass was truly the last refuge of the once pompous.

But our five-day sojourn was far more than a simple test of men versus machine (though that eight-kilometre traipse through the rocky river bottom did threaten to turn our entire ride into a Survivor episode). Indeed, while I came to ride with von Kuenheim and test motorcycles, what I left with was an overwhelming appreciation of all that is beautiful about Morocco.

Rural Moroccans, for instance, are the very epitome of welcoming hospitality. And while urban Morocco borders on the Third World (with a few luxury hotels thrown in to keep the tourists happy), the countryside is positively medieval. Kids in Marrakech often have to play football in the street because the community can’t afford a playing field; kids in the dusty villages that seemingly popped out of nowhere can’t even afford a ball.

Yet we were universally greeted with good cheer, even though we were often riding through their front yard/vegetable patch/laundry room (that last would be the river beds the local women use to hand pound centuries of dust from clothing). Inevitably, every kid in the village would rush out to greet us; the girls usually to wave demurely while the boys would try to enthusiastically give us all high fives.

And the food! I now have a new favourite cuisine. Move over sushi; begone you woefully bland and unhealthy French Hollandaise sauce. Everywhere we went, no matter how far off the beaten path, the repasts were nothing short of spectacular. Nothing was fancy, but its delectability lies obviously in the details. I was so captivated by a simple salad, made of mostly tomatoes and onions, that I contemplated stuffing some in my pockets to take it home with me.

And, of course, the countryside is always full of surprises, not the least of which is that Morocco would seem to be very popular with movie producers. Outside Ouarzazate, for instance, we found the “Jerusalem” set for The Last Temptation of Christ. At Aït Benhaddou, the entire ksar, or fortified city, was renovated for the filming of Lawrence of Arabia and has been a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1987. Other temporary monoliths included a miniature double of Mecca and another ruin that could have passed for anything from Agadir to the Alamo.

But, for my favourite place, we have to go back to the aforementioned Tizi-n’Tazazert. High atop the Jebel Saghro mountains, despite the incredible impassability of the trail, stands a hotel. Not like anything normally recognized as a hotel, but a rocks and mortar lodge that could have well been built a millennia ago (it was actually christened in June, 2005), so basic were its accommodations. But the food, limited though it was, was great, the peppermint tea always piping hot and the view nothing short of spectacular. There was even a presidential suite – a 4m x 2.5m single room with no private toilet, a rock floor covered with numerous blankets to soften the sleep and a small desk.

But best of all was the seclusion. Other than motorcycle adventurists and the occasional, truly mad off-road bicyclist, your world would be completely at peace. Indeed, book a room atop Tazazert and you will never be farther “away from it all.”

But the hard part is getting there. You might want to bring a doctor, just in case.

motoring@thenational.ae

Now turn to the left

2010-05-13T00:49:00.000-07:00

I found this hilarious picture that I thought I'd share with you following the Farah Malhass post that so many of you absolutely devoured!

I believe the picture speaks for itself! I believe it's from 2008.

image link

Here is my original post on bodybuilding:
http://bujassem.blogspot.com/2010/05/farah-malhass-arab-female-bodybuilder.html

I actually went to school with one of the guys in the picture.. he's a very cool guy and I wish him the best :)

Two high fives make ten

2010-05-12T05:28:00.000-07:00

politics is dirty and disgusting.. that's what was going through my mind when I heard that Cameron was to become the UK's new Prime Minister. Either you get old, ugly, and inefficient leaders in the UK or you get young, ugly, and inexperienced ones.. oh well..

The fact that the LibDems are now in bed with the Tory's is a scary thing. I read that many LibDem voters will scramble to vote for Labour next time, coz the voted LibDem in 2010 to avoid handing power to the Conservatives, and what did the LibDem leader do? Oh, he went to work for David Cameron who has been able to become Prime Minster.

Also what do the new guys in power do on their FIRST DAY? Oh, they announce that parliament will be fixed for 5-year terms. This has never been done before, and the Prime Minster in the UK can call a General Election anytime they see fit. Obviously this is a weak and faltering government in the making and they want maximum time to get things wrong.

Tut tut tut..

Famous Handshake video

The British public have decided that no one really has their full mandate to government. The electorate rarely does that, and that's why hung parliaments are very rare in the UK. Hung as in without a majority, not with a noose! What some expected is that some kind of coalition/minority government will result and a new General Election will be needed before the 5 year period. This hasn't happened and this lame new weak government has dictated they will stay around for 5 years. I don't suppose they can just decide like that. It should go for a Commons vote and I hope the Labour dudes block this!

For those of you reading this in my archives in 2015 (if we're alive).. you'll probably agree with me that this government hasn't done much good in these last 5 years.. oh well.. nothing new!

BBC article

EDIT 15 May 2010

I found this funny pic on news.bbc.co.uk and thought I'd share:

Image Source.

We love Iran

2010-05-10T01:35:00.000-07:00

This is a post specifically for our new commentor Mr/Ms DGray who would like to comment about Iran.

Anyone wishing to talk about Iran, please pour your comments into THIS post.

Thanks!

khosh amadid

Image Credit

LATE NIGHT EDIT 10/5/2010 10.00pm

I got this article from a Jewish newspaper in Israel...

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3881674,00.html

Don't worry it isn't blocked by eatzeft...

"Iran protests UAE 'occupation' remarks

Islamic Republic's state TV says country's foreign ministry summoned United Arab Emirates' top diplomat in Tehran following 'irresponsible and uncalculated' comments over Gulf islands dispute

Associated Press Published: 04.27.10, 17:43 / Israel News

Iran's state TV says the country's foreign ministry summoned the United Arab Emirates' top diplomat in Tehran to protest against comments made by the UAE foreign minister on the ownership dispute between the two nations over three islands in the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

The Tuesday report says the envoy was summoned to protest the "irresponsible and uncalculated" remarks by the Emirates' foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Al Nahyan last week called on Tehran to end its "occupation" of the islands.

The UAE claims ownership of Abu Musa, Greater and Lesser Tunbs islands at the entrance to the Strait of Hormuz. Iran has controlled the islands for close to 40 years."

To be honest.. as much as I admire the Iranian people I believe the Iranian Gov should have a big fat middle finger shoved not only in its face (as shown in my last post about Iran here) but shoved somewhere else too.

I have to stress that some of my best friends are Iranian and they are lovely and classy people. However this government is very lame and they are point blank occupying our lands. Moreover, they are very aggressive towards anything in the Arabian Gulf. Just coz they call it the Persian Gulf they feel anything that comes in contact with it will become Persian. How stupid.

Just like the 3iyam in the UAE (Emaratis from Iranian decent). Some of them are cool, but a good part of them are very racist towards Arab Emaratis. They still have their own language at home etc even though they are recognised as full Emarati citizens by law, yet they insist on speaking a version of Farsi at home. The federal UAE law clearly states that Arabic is the official language of the UAE, so you'd expect that UAE citizens would at least use this language at home, no? Funny if Barack Obama speaks in Spanish to his kids, and Sarkozi speaks in English, and Putin speaks in Chinese.. not good.

If Iran really wants to become a better place then why not abandon their stupid nuclear plans or modify them to follow the UAE's model (we're building powerplants but we won't touch the fuel, it will get imported, used, then exported). Let them enter into an arbitration process with the UAE to sort out the islands issue. Honestly, I don't think the UAE really needs them, but if we're treated with respect I am sure the UAE will be happy with a compromise. Plus, hold on a minute. Iran is known to be a country of intense cultural diversity (Farsi, Pashtu, Azeris, Yazidi, Arabs etc all live in Iran) and it's much much bigger than the UAE, so really, do they need those pesky islands? By the way, as far as the UAE is concerned, we still have UAE citizens living on the 3 islands that Iran is making life very difficult for them. Also, Iran should not steal any oil under the lands surrounding the Islands until the conflict is resolved.

I can go on for a while.. but that's enough for now.. what do you think Miss Gray?

How good is your GPA?

2010-05-09T00:00:00.000-07:00

hehe, enjoy this article courtesy of the National :)

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100502/NATIONAL/705019866/1042

The émigré taxi driver uses three languages in a sentence in an effort to make himself understood as he navigates traffic. While he may not realise it, he is contributing to the development of an emerging form of local communication.

“Acha, acha, acha, ana Waziristan lakin ana no danger man,” he says to a passenger. “Pakistan danger ziyada. Roh sida?”

The translation: “Good, good, good, I am from Waziristan but I’m not dangerous. In Pakistan there’s a lot of danger. Straight ahead?”

The message is typical enough, as is the driver’s way of expressing it, in a blend of Arabic, English and Urdu.

Spoken in taxis, restaurants, souqs and homes across the Gulf, this emerging patois has remained unacknowledged and even been mocked by many Arabic speakers as crass or comical.

That, however, is beginning to change. Gulf Pidgin Arabic (GPA) has caught the ear of language experts who recognise that broken Arabic and the new dialect are not same-same.

“Arabs who study Arabic mostly study classical Arabic and I think that it’s only recently that even Arabic dialects have been considered worthy topics of research,” said the Norwegian linguist Unn Gyda Naess.

“It has to do with academic tradition because Fusha, the classical Arabic, is so highly linked to higher education.”

Ms Naess found herself captivated by the conversations of migrant workers while working at the Norwegian embassy in Saudi Arabia. Intrigued, she made it the topic of her master’s thesis. She found that the pidgin had specific rules for grammar, vocabulary and pronunciation, which she believes are still changing and evolving.

Not everyone in the academic community is as receptive to GPA. To some, it is a threat to the integrity and beauty of Arabic.

The limited vocabulary of pidgin prevented people from forging the deeper cultural and social bonds they might build by speaking the classical language of the region, said Dr Ahmad al Zubi, the chairman of the Arabic language and literature faculty at UAE University.

“I don’t want to see that our cultures are not connected to each other,” he said. “The only solution is [Arabic] classes. The Government should teach these courses if they want people to communicate well.”

Pidgin, usually a mixture of three or more languages, is a simple dialect used by people who do not share a common tongue. Found the world over, they have no native speakers and are used by groups that have limited contact with each other but need to communicate for a specific reason, such as trade or military purposes.

JR Smart coined the term GPA in his 1990 paper Pidginization in Gulf Arabic, which examined its use in newspaper comics. It was almost 20 years, however, before GPA attracted the interest of other academics.

It had existed in some form for a long time because of the Gulf’s history as a trade hub, said Dr Fatima Badry, a professor of linguistics at the American University of Sharjah.

“Speakers from different linguistic backgrounds try to help each other to communicate,” she said. “So, at the beginning, you try to speak the others’ language, but when you don’t have the vocabulary to do that you go to the vocabulary of your first language. Once the words are being used frequently they become part of the conversational exchange.”

If pidgin is passed to a second generation, it can become known as creole, a more stable linguistic entity. Academics will be watching to see if GPA makes the leap.

For now, Gulf Pidgin Arabic has helped people from diverse backgrounds to communicate. Mohammed Hanif, 46, a taxi driver from Pakistan, said his experience in dealing with passengers had taught him to appreciate a simpler mode of communication. “I’ve lived in the Gulf for over 20 years,” he said.

“When I was new [in the region] I wasn’t good at Arabic. In Oman, many people were talking in Arabic and Urdu. Here it’s more English. So I had to learn to talk to everybody, so everybody understands.”
While GPA is earning recognition in academic circles, those who speak it may still find themselves chided by purists for talking like a taxi driver. Given the world of social possibilities it opens up, that may become a compliment.

Arabic base with foreign flavour

Gulf Pidgin Arabic (GPA) uses a simplified form of Gulf Arabic both grammatically and phonetically, research by the Norwegian linguist Unn Gyda Naess has shown.

For example, standard Gulf Arabic has three classes of negation, while pidgin uses only two – “ma” and the ubiquitous “mafi”, which has yielded the well-worn phrase “mafi mushkala”, universal Gulfspeak for “no problem”.

Likewise, the nine vowels and 29 consonants used in Gulf Arabic have been reduced to just five vowels and 18 consonants in GPA.

While hard-to-pronounce sounds including the guttural “kh” and “gh” have been dropped, new ones such as “p” have slipped in.

GPA uses Arabic as a base and borrows specific words, usually nouns, from other languages. Examples include “chico” for child and the Urdu word “sida” for straight.
azacharias@thenational.ae

Beirut I love you...

2010-05-07T00:00:00.000-07:00

Just a few more days to go to our trip... :)
Just in case the guys from the Institute wanted to know...

If anything, the music is just beautiful.

Farah Malhass - Arab Female Bodybuilder

2010-05-06T05:28:00.000-07:00

Jordan seems a very unlikely country to produce what might become the Arab world's first female body builder. Her name is Farah Malhass and I was pleasantly surprised when I saw her picture gracing Gulf News' front page this morning.

http://gulfnews.com/pictures/sport/jordan-s-female-body-builder-1.622719

Click on the link to see for yourself.

While I'm no fan of tattoos I'm all for Farah to persue her love for bodybuilding. What do you think? Is this amazing or gross?

Go Farah Go!

IDF Internet Troll

2010-05-05T00:00:00.000-07:00

Amazing!

http://www.kabobfest.com/2010/04/11-signs-of-an-idf-internet-troll.html

I won't copy/paste anything here except the hilarious troll picture.. so please click on the article and enjoy!

Thanks Abu al Kabab!

Etisalat on youtube

2010-05-02T00:00:00.000-07:00

I found this on youtube recently about Etisalat...

I think it's completely distasteful to the engineers that designed the tower, and to the workers that built it, and to the numerous guys that work to maintain it.. and of course a big insult to one of the most beloved companies in the UAE - Etisalat.

Completely wrong, I think they should block this video! Disgusting!

PS: now that the egyptian cable has been fixed, you can appreciate this disgusting video even more.

Ducati 796

2010-04-30T00:00:00.000-07:00

Beautiful beyond words...

Please view the video directly on youtube due to formatting reasons...

Enjoy!

Calling all cops

2010-04-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

First of all let me congratulate Dubai Police on their excellent results at the Dubai Government Excellence Awards 2010.

If you remember, it wasn't long ago since I last ranted about driving in the UAE and specifically Dubai. Specifically from Sept 2009:

http://bujassem.blogspot.com/2009/09/loony-lanes-driving-post.html

This is when I listed the top 20 things that the stupid/crazy UAE drivers tend to do when behind the wheel of a car.

More recently, from Jan 2010 I wrote this post:

http://bujassem.blogspot.com/2010/01/lane-dis-cipline.html

The topic is pretty straight-forward, it's all about lane-discipline.

So after more than a year since my return to Dubai, I'm still suffering from the f***ing idiots on our roads. They come in all shapes and sizes (fat and thin) and (Nissan Armadas to Nissan Sunnies), as well as slow and fast, left and right lanes, up or down a bridge, and driving pretty much in anyway they like.

We unfortunately had an assasination here in Dubai of a Hamas leader, not the most peaceful group, but since when has Dubai become the playground of thugs so openly? Our Police really does an amazing job going after the killers and of course liaising with Interpol etc..

They also do an amazing job keeping us safe in our homes, streets (pedestrian only), offices and airports.. Seriously, I have no criticisms on that front, and can safely say that Dubai probably is one of the safest cities in the world.

Now, my issue is this: The police spends a lot of time, effort and money to do the all the right things but with the wrong priority. Ok, it's great that we're going to go and put the Mossad chief in prison, and to liberate Palestine, and so on, but why not do all that after you've improved the situation on the road.

Sorry, but by giving stupid black points and rediculously expensive fines to motorists left right and centre you are not improving the situation and that cannot be considered good Police work. I'm sorry, but it just is not the case.

Both my parents have got black points on their licenses and they are probably one of the safest drivers that I know. All of this happened in 2010. Their driving attitudes and styles did not increase this year, nor have they had any accidents since they been both driving that was their fault. Dad had an accident where his car was totalled but that was more than 15 years ago by a guy with an Omani car and no license or insurance. So why is the Police penalising people that are at no risk to the public?

As a younger male driver, I am statistically more dangerous, and yet I have less black points than either parent! My felony was to use the 4x4 capabilites of my car and to drive in the sand to avoid the congestion due to a traffic accident ahead, probably caused by bad lane-discipline.

So the issue is this, from the zillions of Dirhams made from fines, why doesn't the Police spend some money to work on lane-discipline? I believe if we observe the right lane discipline we will benifit with:

1- Better safety. If you are slow, stay right, and if you're overtaking then go left. Never leave the lane to your right empty, and if it is then move into it. If everyone knows exactly which lane he/she should be in, then it's only normal for accidents to be reduced.

2- Higher road capacity. When you look at motorways in a civilised driving country like the UK, you'll notice the slow lane has the most wear and tear to it, because it's got the most traffic on it (including trucks). However, here the most utilised lane is the 2nd lane from the fastest, because everyone seems to think it's their lane. If you're a complete idiot, then you'd "park" in the fastest lane and not care about people behind you. This leads to huge inefficiency in the utilisation of the road. My humble estimate is that if we observe proper lane discipline then we can easly increase the road capacity by 30-40% without any changes to the road (thus no cost). All this by changing our driving attitute.

3- Predictability of driving leads to less road rage. Less road rage means less accidents and of course less speeding. But wait a minute, less speeding is bad if you get more than 600 million dirhams annually from fines (zawya) which is approx 15% of the Police's annual budget, and an even higher percentage of its undesclosed revenues.

I can go on and on, but we cannot continue to drive to be an international city with open borders and expect people to want to live here if we cannot get simple things right. Dubai has an amazing will to succeed and can do anything if it puts its mind into things. Who would have thought Dubai can build 3 terminals in less time it takes London to build one (T5 Heathrow = 19 years, wiki)?? Dubai famously built extensively into the sea and built the tallest building in the world. Given the current economic climate, it seems that's a title that Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai) will have for a long time to come. Dubai also designed and built a world-class metro system in under 5 years. Other countries take 10-15 years for FAST projects.

Why can't we get our brains together to fix the situation on our roads. After all I believe Dubai's roads are probably the best in the Gulf and the Arab World even, and more fun to drive in that the roads I been on in England for sure, but not Wales!

So please Dubai Police, please, please, do something about lane-discipline!

Etisalat Press

2010-04-23T00:00:00.000-07:00

Well well well, the Q1 results for 2010 are out and Etisalat has made just under 2 billion dirhams in profits.
This is an offensively large amount of money especially for a small country (UAE has about 5 million people) that is going through a recession of sorts.

If this performance continues all through the year, and you cut a bit off for inefficiencies and what not, you will get a grand profit of about 7 bn dirhams a year! Just to clarify that's about $2bn! This qualifies Etisalat in my opinion to practically print money for its shareholders. It's a printing press, plain and simple.

To get an idea what this money could do, 7 bn shared over the whole UAE population would mean each one of us gets a handsome 1400 Dhs a year.. this equates to about the price of a good mobile phone. Now since it's only possible for Emaratis to buy Etisalat shares, we can safely assume that only Emaratis will profit from their profit.

So, for every Emarati there are 4 expats, this means that each one of us gets 5600 Dhs.. which could handsomely cover my annual fuel bill for my gas guzzling V8 SUV and bike, and this includes the coming 10-15% hike in prices.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20100418-703266.html?mod=WSJ_World_MIDDLEHeadlinesMideast

Odd plate out

2010-04-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

Can you spot which one is the odd one out?

To all the petrol heads out there..

2010-04-20T20:51:00.000-07:00

... here's a present for me to you!

It takes a while to load in the UAE considering some cable near Malta is twisted...

Might be better to view the video directly from the original site (by double-clicking anywhere on the video, except the play button).

Enjoy!

Expensive petrol is cheaper for you

2010-04-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

Surely if you're in the UAE, you've been following the petrol price hike here, due this Wednesday of 0.15 Dhs/litre. Personally I think the stupid and inefficient Sharjah toll on trucks at 100 Dhs a go is worse and will affect us more, but that is another matter, especially since increasing taxes during a recession is about the dumbest thing that you can do.

Anyway, so here's how you can save money by buying more expensive petrol.

First of all, in the UAE you have two types of petrol: 95 Octane and 98 Octane.. different companies call them different things, e.g. Eppco/Enoc calls 95 = Special, and 98 = Super.

Octane rating is how much heat you'll get when you burn a unit of fuel, so the higher the number the more efficient the fuel is.
Just to get an idea, back in the days, fuel was at 80 octane, and in most countries 90 or 91 octane is normal. However you can get up to 99 or 100 octane apparently.

So, back to the UAE, a full tank of 95 or 98 weighs exactly the same (as far as your car is concerned), however if we go with my car for example, a full tank of 95 costs about 110 Dhs and 98 at 130 Dhs. However, the more expensive petrol can take you about 25% farther on the same tank than the cheaper one.

This is amazing because it means that you waste less time during your short life to stop and fill up for petrol. You also burn fuel more efficiently. You're also saving the environment by making your engine live longer because it's a more efficient fuel and will limit wear more.

The funny thing is that these bastard petrol companies are smart, they do not say that they are increasing the price by a percentage, but instead they increase it by a fixed amount, which is 0.15DHS FOR BOTH GRADES, which means as a percentage the price hike hurts less when you buy the expensive 98. Hence another reason why you should only buy 98.

Here's my tip on how you can save money by spending more money, however the biggest saving for me is time, coz I hate to wait at petrol stations for my tank to fill up.

Sigma of posts equals ten

2010-04-18T13:06:00.000-07:00

It's been busy lately, but here is my Sigma of posts.

I will try to keep it brief but these websites have been lurking on my browser for weeks, and here am I sharing them with you.

1- Sabbah History Lesson:

http://blip.tv/file/3467330

Click this link for a short video on the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

2- 21,000,000,000 Dhz is a lot of money:

This is actually very scary... to quote...

"Car crashes are robbing the country of as much as Dh21 billion a year, research has found...The Dh21bn (US$5.7bn) is equivalent to the value of one in eight barrels of oil the UAE exports, or almost half of Dubai’s tourism revenue each year."

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100403/NATIONAL/704029790/1182/enewsletter

3- Court asked to define ‘Israeli’

"A group of Jews and Arabs are fighting in the Israeli courts to be recognised as “Israelis”, a nationality currently denied them, in a case that officials fear may threaten the country’s self-declared status as a Jewish state...Israel refused to recognise an Israeli nationality at the country’s establishment in 1948, making an unusual distinction between “citizenship” and “nationality”. Although all Israelis qualify as “citizens of Israel”, the state is defined as belonging to the “Jewish nation”, meaning not only the 5.6 million Israeli Jews but also more than seven million Jews in the diaspora...The interior ministry has adopted more than 130 possible nationalities for Israeli citizens, most of them defined in religious or ethnic terms, with “Jewish” and “Arab” being the main categories..."

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100406/FOREIGN/704059795/1186/enewsletter Really merits reading!

Image Credit: Carlos Latuff http://latuff2.deviantart.com/gallery

4- Israeli Arabs urged to try 'reverse discrimination' against Jews:

The title kinda says it all..
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100410/FOREIGN/704099830/1183/enewsletter

5- Bedouin leave city for their desert roots:

"Abandoning this lifestyle, in which English is rarely spoken and neighbours know each other intimately in these wide open spaces, for the city is out of the question, said Mr al Harthi, a Saudi who works as a policeman in Abu Dhabi."

Amazing eh? No jokes about camels please.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100415/NATIONAL/704149864/1184/enewsletter

6- Publish banned Gaza 'war crimes' report, says Arab Israeli MP:

Again, this is worrying news..

"The investigation by Uri Blau, who has been in hiding since December to avoid arrest, concerned Israeli preparations for the impending assault on Gaza, known as Operation Cast Lead. In a highly unusual move, according to reports in the Israeli media, the army ordered the Haaretz newspaper to destroy all copies of an edition that included Mr Blau’s investigation after it had already gone to press and been passed by the military censor. The article was never republished."

Surely, nothing is to be lost since Israel is the region's only democracy.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100415/FOREIGN/704149932/1186/enewsletter

7- BBC News Audio slideshow: Classic cars in Gaza:

You really have to see and hear this to believe it.. plus what an amazing surname..Mahfouz Caberetti.. which derives from Kibreet or a form of Sulfur I believe..
BBC website, click here

8- Is this where the holy land is headed?

"Jerusalem, April 31, 2027: The final segment from what was known as the Security Wall was torn down yesterday as street signs in the holy city were changed in preparation of the upcoming Unification Day of Israel-Palestine, four years after the Great Middle Eastern war of 2023."

Riveting reading here...

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100411/OPINION/704109912/1080

9-Stranded leader runs country by iPad:

A big win for apple.. who by the way have delayed my new laptop by 3 weeks because of the iPad.. I want something with a keyboard that is touch-sensitive, and i can type with my eyes closed, so forget the iPad for now.. but until this.. read on..

"Running a country? There's an app for that.
When Norway's prime minister found himself stuck in New York as a volcanic cloud grounded flights to Europe, he fired up his new Apple iPad and did the job remotely."

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TECH/ptech/04/16/volcano.ash.norway.ipad/index.html

10- Don't forget the children of Gaza:

This video makes me doubtful that any good is left on this earth, and specifically in countries like Israel and Egypt.

http://www.kalamullah.com/children-of-gaza.html

Notice how the occupiers are referred to by religion and not by nationality.

Really worth a watch, and a sob. The poor sods.

Peace. Salam.

Sheikh MBZ and Prez Obama

2010-04-14T05:47:00.000-07:00

Cool picture of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed (AD Crown Prince) and President Obama in Washington, presumably yesterday 13/4/2010.

From WAM:

http://www.wam.org.ae/servlet/Satellite?c=WamPhoto&cid=1267001201230&pagename=WAM%2FWAM_E_Layout

RIP Sheikh Ahmad bin Zayed

2010-04-08T11:13:00.000-07:00

Death is always painful.

Sadly it seems to strike when we least suspect it.

I won't say much except that it is painful to see a young son of the UAE and of Sheikh Zayed die suddenly like this.

I'm referring to Sheikh Ahmad bin Zayed, may his soul rest in peace.

Sadly, this reminds us of events that happened 2 years ago when the UAE lost yet another one of its sons, Sheikh Nasser bin Zayed.

Again, both seemed to have met their maker in aviation-related accidents.

Allah yer7amhum wo inna lillah wa inna ilayhi raji3oon.

The National and Gulf News

PS: please excuse my absence.. i realise i should have written this earlier, but better late than never.

She's got balls, and a finger!

2010-04-08T08:16:00.000-07:00

For more details:

http://htmlgiant.com/web-hype/i-love-this-woman/

Israeli sperm quality down and Israeli fish shows female characteristics

2010-03-30T20:49:00.001-07:00

I read with interest the following article from the leading paper in Israel:

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1084574.html

Last update - 10:03 11/05/2009

Study: Quality of Israeli sperm down 40% in past decade

By Ofri Ilani

The quality of Israeli sperm has declined alarmingly in the last decade, according to recent research conducted at Jerusalem's Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus.

The cause for the decline is not known, but it's believed by some researchers to be connected to the exposure of children and pregnant women to hormones and other contaminants in food and water.

Conducted by Dr. Ronit Haimov-Kokhman, the study showed a 40-percent decline in the concentration of sperm cells among the country's sperm donors from 2004 to 2008, compared to those of donors from 1995 to 1999. Hadassah's sperm bank is now turning away two-thirds of potential donors because of low-quality sperm, as opposed to one-third in the past.
Advertisement

Haimov-Kokhman's research is to be presented today at a conference of the Israeli Society of Fertility Investigation in Tel Aviv.

Kokhman said the study was carried out to test the theory of the director of Hadassah Hospital's sperm bank, Ruth Har-Nir, that sperm quality was in decline.

The research confirmed that in 10 years, the average concentration of sperm among donors declined from 106 million cells per cubic centimeter to 67 million per cubic centimeter. The rate of sperm motility has also declined: from 79 to 67 percent, although the profile of donors did not change over that period; they are still young, healthy and do not smoke.

According to Haimov-Kokhman, the quality of sperm has declined in most Western countries, but in Israel it has been particularly rapid.

"If we keep going at this rate, a decline of 3 million cubic centimeters of sperm cells per year, we'll reach an average of 20 million in 2030. The World Heath Organization defines this as fertility impairment."

Studies showing a decline in sperm quality began to be published worldwide more than a decade ago, along with research indicating a rise in the rate of defects in the male reproductive system.

In Israel, too, a study was published about a year ago, showing an increase of about 30 percent in defects in the male reproductive system. In addition, in the past decade, the number of cases of testicular cancer has doubled.

A number of chemicals in the ground and in drinking water have been identified as impacting hormone levels and secondary sexual characteristics. These chemicals include plasticizers called phthalates, used in food wrappings, cosmetics and a various insecticides. Studies published in Britain have highlighted a clear connection between continual decline in sperm counts and chemicals in the environment.

"I would suggest that a concentration of estrogen in the water is a cause of change, Haimov-Kokhman says, noting that hormones in the ground come from both human and animal waste that reach the aquifer via sewage. "The ground is full of estrogen that produces estrogen-saturated fruits, vegetables and plants."

A study published in Israel two years ago revealed that the high level of female hormones in a stream near Beit She'an, apparently originating from women swimmers who were taking birth-control pills, caused fish to develop female characteristics. However, the researchers say that the level of hormones in the country's main waterways is negligible, and cannot be the source of impairment of the male reproductive system.

"While it's true that the evidence is only circumstantial, even the connection between smoking and lung cancer took a generation to prove," Haimov-Kokhman notes.

-----------------

Apparently if the trend continues to 2030 Israelis will be classified as "infertile" or needing "fertility impairment". I wonder if this will be an issue since by 2030 most of Israel's natural predators (cheifly Palestinians) will probably be exterminated or contained in foreign prisions.

That's what happens when you steal someone else's water!

Israel and UAE Women

2010-03-30T04:38:00.000-07:00

I read this excellent article in The National the other day:

Don’t lecture UAE on women, Israel told

Mahmoud Habboush

* Last Updated: March 29. 2010 1:15AM UAE / March 28. 2010 9:15PM GMT

BANGKOK // An Israeli politician got more than he bargained for when he said UAE leaders should be talking about women’s rights in the country instead of lobbying against Israel’s actions in East Jerusalem.

Majalli Wahabi, Israel’s deputy foreign minister, was reminded by a female UAE official that according to UN data, the Emirates rank higher on the empowerment of women than his country.

Mr Wahabi spoke shortly after Abdul Aziz al Ghurair, Speaker of the FNC, addressed the annual meeting of the International Parliamentary Union meeting in the Thai capital.

Just before the meeting concluded, Amal al Qubaisi, the FNC’s only elected woman member, took the podium.

“Jerusalem is home to 220 historical sites with symbolic value not only to Islam but also to international heritage,” said Dr al Qubaisi, who wrote her doctorate dissertation on the preservation of architectural heritage.

She said Israeli practices in Jerusalem contravened the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the destruction of cultural heritage by occupying powers in territories under their control.

As for women’s rights, Dr al Qubaisi noted the Emirates ranked 17th in the world for women empowerment, while Israel was 24th, according to the UN’s Human Development Report 2009.

She added that women occupy 23 per cent of the FNC’s seats, eight per cent of Cabinet positions, 33 per cent of leadership positions and 66 per cent of public positions.

“Women are empowered in the UAE at all political, social and economic levels,” Dr al Qubaisi said.

Her remarks were greeted with applause by many of the representatives of the 131 parliaments attending the conference.

The Israeli official had criticised the UAE’s insistence that Israeli actions in East Jerusalem be included on the meeting’s emergency agenda, saying that earthquake relief in Haiti was a more pressing matter.

“The Israeli practices in Jerusalem are not only a breach of Palestinian Arabs rights, but a violation and a threat to the feelings of Muslims around the world,” Mr al Ghurair said in his speech.

The Israeli government announced earlier this month plans to build 1,600 Jewish settlements in East Jerusalem while the US vice president, Joe Biden, was visiting Israel, triggering a rare row between the Jewish state and the US.

“I request the formation of an international parliamentary committee to look at what is happening in Jerusalem and report to the union’s conference next year,” Mr al Ghurair said.

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, warned on Saturday at the opening of the Arab League’s summit in Libya that the peace process was unlikely to move forward “as long as Israel maintains its settlement policy”.

Islamic and Arab states have repeatedly criticised Israel’s excavation works outside the Al Aqsa mosque. Many Palestinians believe that Israeli extremists want to destroy the mosque to rebuild the ancient Solomon’s Temple in its place.

Mr al Ghurair said that changing the Islamic features of Jerusalem “is an unambiguous violation of the international treaty signed by all countries with regard to protecting the cultural and natural heritage of humanity”.

“We, the Arabs, have tentatively listened to the calls by the international community for peace with Israel,” said Mr al Ghurair.

“And the Arab leaders have held on to the Arab peace initiative throughout their meetings and resolutions, but our calls have been ignored.”

mhabboush@thenational.ae http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100329/NATIONAL/703289866/1186/enewsletter

Also.. this video clip is EXCELLENT.. I suggest you view it.. another excellent piece of work by Dr Norman Finkelstein.
http://www.who-sane.com/2010/03/dr-norman-finkelstein-2/

Unsquare Dance - Dave Brubeck

2010-03-25T00:00:00.000-07:00

Check out these dance moves...

The last 20 seconds of the dance is just spectacular :)

The Brubeck magic lives on...

Let’s Talk About Israeli Racism

2010-03-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

An amazing post from a fellow blogger:

Just yesterday, I wondered to a friend if maybe Benjamin Netanyahu is disrespecting Barack Obama in part because he is black? And lo and behold, David Bromwich wrote today in the Huffington Post:

“Racism as much as fear drives the Israeli policy toward Palestinians. This has always been known. But who now will deny that there is also, in the Israeli distrust and visceral ridicule of Barack Obama, an undercurrent of racism?”
He goes on to point out the parallel between racism against Palestinians by the Israeli settler movement, and racism against blacks by their staunchest supporters in the U.S., the white evangelicals he calls Christian Zionists. It is almost as if, their segregationist fantasies defeated here at home, the religious right is projecting them onto the Holy Land by helping the settler movement to build an apartheid state.

“The operation of Israeli racism against a black American president is powerfully enforced by the settler movement and by its American allies, the Christian Zionists. … Settler racism and Christian Zionist racism (associated with the ‘birther movement’ in the U.S.) converge in a belief in the political and the social superiority of Israeli Jews over Palestinians — a superiority that for the Christian Zionists corresponds (in ways that need no comment) to the natural superiority of American whites to blacks.”
He calls on Americans to become aware of the racist nature of the Israeli settlement project, and its implications for American security interests.

“Will Americans now stop calling the annexation wall — which cuts off West-Bank Israeli colonists from their Palestinian inferiors — ‘the security fence’? It is a wall. Its function is only partly to secure. It is there also to separate, to mark off, and to overawe. … The separation produces…a condition of constant inequality. It seems too weak to call the result ’segregation.’ Ehud Barak, a solid authority one would have thought, has recently called it apartheid, and language that is accurate in the eyes of the defense minister of Israel should be good enough for Americans. …
“The existential threat in the vicinity of Israel is not extermination but expulsion. And Israel is the agent rather than victim of that threat. The project is being carried forward by legalized acts of dispossession, by harassment, by deprivation of useful work, and by the deliberate infliction of misery.”
Fortunately, he feels that Americans are starting to become aware of these ugly truths. Beginning with the war in Gaza, and continuing through the diplomatic crisis surrounding Joe Biden’s visit to Israel, forty years of self-imposed silence in the American media, which have prevented a frank discussion of Israel’s policies, are starting to fray.

“So the door to an honest discussion of Israel and Palestine has been opened wide. Too wide for AIPAC, and all its journalistic outlets, to close with their usual dispatch. We are in possession now of the realistic knowledge that Israel’s policies endanger American troops and American interests; that by creating new terrorists, those policies also threaten the security of the United States. …
“It is one thing to sacrifice yourself for a friend in the cause of justice; another to sacrifice yourself for a friend in the cause of injustice.”

http://www.eatbees.com/blog/2010/03/17/israeli-racism/

How will Israel spin this?

2010-03-23T10:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you Ultra Blue

from the bbc:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8583041.stm

Date: 23 March 2010

Expulsion of diplomat sends a strong signal to Israel

By Jeremy Bowen
BBC Middle East Editor

Mr Miliband took the decision after an investigation by British Police
Britain's foreign secretary David Miliband has taken the decision to expel an Israeli diplomat after the UK's serious organised crime agency turned up evidence that Israel cloned British passports.
The Israeli diplomat is not the ambassador himself, but the expulsion sends a very strong signal to Israel of Britain's disapproval and anger.
The indications are that the person who will go will be the head of the London station of Mossad - Israel's secret intelligence service.
Diplomatic sources say Britain does not have evidence that Mossad murdered senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai.
However, the accusation was made by police in the United Arab Emirates.
They presented CCTV footage showing an alleged Israeli hit squad, some disguised with wigs and others wearing tennis gear, following Mr al-Mabhouh in the hours before he was killed.
Britain's relations with Israel have been difficult for some time.

Mr Mabhouh was murdered in a Dubai hotel room, police say
Israel resents Britain's support for greater clarity in the labelling of products from Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
And late last year the former Israeli foreign minister, Tzipi Livni - now Israel's opposition leader - was forced to cancel a trip to Britain at short notice after a warrant was issued for her arrest on war crimes charges.
Worldwide, Israel is now under all-round diplomatic pressure from its allies.
The Americans, with the support of Britain among others, are pushing Israel to stop building for Jews on occupied land in Jerusalem, on the grounds that it makes negotiating peace with the Palestinians next to impossible.
Past attempts
If Israel is implicated in the murder of Mr al-Mabhouh, it won't be the first time.
During his first term as prime minister in 1997, Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the poisoning of another Hamas official, Khaled Meshaal in Jordan.
However the attempt was bungled after Mr Meshaal's bodyguard captured two of the Mossad hit team.
Mr Netanyahu was forced by a furious King Hussein to send the formula for the antidote to Jordan.
Mr Netanyahu also had to offer to release the Hamas leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin to Jordan to mollify the King, who had recently signed a peace treaty with Israel.
Sheikh Yassin was a thorn in Israel's side until he was killed in an air strike in Gaza in 2004.
Mr Meshaal survived and is now the leading political figure in Hamas, living in exile in Damascus.
The attempt to kill him was one factor that led to the Israeli public turning against Mr Netanyahu in elections in 1999.

Brubeck Jazz by others

2010-03-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

Here's some beautiful clips, renditions rather than originals.

The bit at 1:20 is just amazing, how he modulates from one key to another!

The bit at 1:50 is hideous!

The kid below is just amazing:

I had to dig this classic one out of youtube!!!
Of course it's by the man himself, Dave Brubeck, but I thought u might appreciate the classical look of the "magic" carpet!

Urbanization (sic) of Dubai

2010-03-21T00:00:00.000-07:00

I found these amazing pictures via NASA (I subscribe to the newsletter).
They chart the rapid development of Dubai via sattelite images from 2002 to 2010.
I'll shut up and let the pictures do the talking.

By the way it's worth checking NASA's page on this as they have twice the number of pictures that I have uploaded.

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/WorldOfChange/dubai.php?src=eoa-ann

Emirates or Etihad?

2010-03-19T22:39:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this piece of news a few weeks back?

Emirates, the Dubai government-owned airline, said the logo of Gulf rival Etihad Airways appeared on its in-flight entertainment system due to a “technical error.”

The branding of Etihad, owned by Dubai’s neighbour Abu Dhabi, was shown intermittently in the background of a film playing during Emirates flights last month.

source

Well, seems the tides have turned!

Or maybe it's just me.

Click here: http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100320/TRAVEL/100315941/1188/enewsletter

And in more detail...

What do you think? Or do I just have too much time on my hands this beautiful Saturday morning?

Take Five

2010-03-19T10:11:00.000-07:00

So, I was riding in the hood, minding my business, looking for a sand-dune to attack with my new bike, and I come across a boat parked in between two villas. I don't notice it for long and continue riding past in 3rd gear, looking out for any kids that usually play on that street corner.

So, I do my business in the sand, then I come back, a bit sweatier than usual, and I notice the same boat, in the same place, but now I notice the name. It's called "take five" but transliterated (not translated) into Arabic!!!!

I thought I had to take a picture of this in Arabic to show it to my dear friend Louis. So here it is:

What is infinitely more funny is that after taking that picture, I decided to walk around the boat, and I saw something written in English. So I decided to take a snap:

For those of you who have no clue about the subject matter, the boat owner is obviously a Jazz fan, and he's paying homage to the one and only Dave Brubeck and his time-less classic "Take Five"

Enjoy! Thanks Paul Desmond. Shot in 1961.

FYI, back in the early 2000's, I had the honour to meet the great legend himself LIVE at a concert. He kept us waiting for hours and after more than 12 songs, he played Take Five as his last song. It's a brilliant bloody classic!

In case you can't get enough, here is a more recent clip with better sound quality:

Long live Brubeck!

He almost graduated from music school without being able to write music, that's how talented he was!

Israel supermarket spoof parodies Dubai killing

2010-03-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

From the famous BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8561247.stm

An Israeli supermarket chain is using a spoof of surveillance footage showing the alleged assassins of a Hamas commander in a television advert.

The advert's fake grainy surveillance footage shows actors wearing elaborate disguises.

Dubai police released footage they said showed the assassins of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, some dressed for tennis, as they followed him through his hotel.

Israel's secret service is widely suspected of being behind the killing.

But the government says there is not enough proof that its agents were involved.

In the advert for Mahsanei Kimat Hinam shops, disguised customers prowl the supermarket's aisles and an actress wearing a wide-brimmed hat says she: "cannot admit to anything". The final line is: "We offer killer prices."

Advertising executive Sefi Shaked said the campaign was inspired by the original footage.

"We were fascinated by the technique of using surveillance cameras instead of high-production cameras, and the latest events in Dubai have given us a great opportunity," he said.

"It's a parody, a take-off of what happened in Dubai. All the Israeli television comedy shows have done it, so why shouldn't we?" he added.

Can you spot the difference between both pictures?

Who said Israelis can't be funny?

PS: BBC bias is evident, they used the word "killing" instead of "assassination" in their headline. However, this is another matter altogether.

Touring Doha

2010-03-15T03:02:00.000-07:00

As you know my dear readers, I am a big fan of motorbikes.
Here's a recent clip showing what I've been up to during my last visit to Doha.
Needless to say, kids, do not do this at home (or on the streets)!

It appears that this was filmed during a bad-hair-night! hahahaha

Pulling the Tablecloth

2010-03-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

I loved this clip.. thanks to my supplier/agent :)

I wouldn't watch it past 45secs!

Belly of the beast

2010-03-11T00:00:00.000-08:00

Some Spectacular footage, even if I say so myself, captured on a Contour HD helmet cam, secured to the the nose gear. The flight was JNB-MPM and we were cleared for a visual approach onto RWY 05 as...

Mundo dos Sonhos - Dubai Assassination

2010-03-10T00:00:00.000-08:00

(click on image to enlarge)

Edna Spennato's newest work reminds us very clearly of Gulliver's travels and the people of Lillyput while the latest "pre-emptive" strike on sovereign UAE soil reminds us rudely of people without morals, religion, or goodness left in them.

I encourage you to read the full words at the artist's blog here:

http://mundosonhos.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/murder-in-dubai/

FYI, I'm against the police calling for PM's of other countries to be arrested no matter how bad the PM is. This is a political matter and that's a job for our President.

Israel anounces settlement expansion on eve of peace talks

2010-03-08T19:32:00.000-08:00

RAMALLAH // Israel yesterday announced plans for a controversial settlement expansion just a day after a divided PLO Central Committee reluctantly agreed to endorse US-sponsored proximity talks.

The plans for 112 apartments in the ultra-Orthodox Beitar Illit settlement in the Bethlehem area were announced as an exception to the partial settlement construction freeze that Israel agreed to in November under US pressure.

It is unlikely to play well with US administration officials, as the announcement coincides with what is supposed to be the finalisation of preparations for indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians and on the morning of the visit of Joe Biden, the US vice president.

In an interview published yesterday in Yedioth Ahronot, an Israeli daily, Mr Biden said the partial settlement construction freeze had not come through agreement with the United States or the Palestinians and that it was “not everything that we wanted”.

for more...http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100309/FOREIGN/703089835/1185/enewsletter

Jordanian Bedu

2010-03-08T00:00:00.000-08:00

Jo-Bedu or http://jo-bedu.com/ have been kindly introduced to me by the lovely Roba at itoot. They have a cracking collection of t-shirts, and if you're in Amman it's definitely worth paying them a visit.

Here's a selection of their work, you can get more than 400+ pictures on their facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/photo_search.php?oid=2374355051&view=all

Enjoy!
If you're in Amman please buy me one!

Mabhouh gone quiet

2010-03-06T00:00:00.000-08:00

Hasn't the media gone silent on the recent Dubai assassination?
Steps need to be taken to ensure that the UAE does not turn to a place where filthy monkeys do their filthy business.

Abed Al Raouf Al Mabhouh (centre), the son of Mahmoud Al Mabhouh, carries the coffin of his father along with Hamas members during his funeral procession at the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk, near Damascus, Syria on January 29, 2010.

Image Credit: AP

UAE Blue Eyes

2010-03-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

This is one of the earliest works by one of my brothers.

You know who you are.

Much love,

5o N

Jordanian Clothing Line

2010-03-03T04:18:00.001-08:00

This goes out to all my Jordanian friends with all my love.

iPhone Lebanon - One app at a time

2010-02-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

The Lebanese need phones, and they need to look cool.
Hence the iPhone sells very well over there.
Now, there are a number of new apps that are designed to cater for this excessively cool people.
Click on the poster below to enlarge:

http://qifanabki.com/2010/02/21/the-iphone-app-store-comes-to-lebanon/

Stay connected in Lebanon with one of those apps.

IRAQ>N

2010-02-26T20:00:00.000-08:00

Barack Has a Dream...

More artwork from The World of Dreams

Simply Brilliant.

After Tuesday..

2010-02-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Just read this at my buddy's blog:

Jazzical Aficionado

Just cracked me up!!

Latuff on Dubai

2010-02-24T08:18:00.001-08:00

Simply Brilliant!

Thank you Carlos Latuff

http://Latuff2.deviantart.com/art/Mossad-agents-now-wanted-154934328

Seems we'll have a busy week with loads of zionist visitors hahaha
Shame they can enter my blog even with an israeli passport :p

Iran's threat to airlines

2010-02-23T00:00:00.000-08:00

In a new bullying tactic by the Islamic Republic, Iran has threatened all airlines that do not refer to the block of water South of its lands as "Persian Gulf" with grounding of their planes. The following article in the words of seasoned writer Loveday Morris of The National explains more.

This has serious implications on many airlines connecting Iran with the rest of civilisation. The threat extends to airlines using the neutral term "The Gulf" as well. Notice the threatening use of language from Tehran, implying that by using a name such as "Persian Gulf", they have some kind of right over the Arab states that surround it. ABIT like England claiming part of France since it overlooks the English Channel.

“The airlines of the southern Persian Gulf flying to Iran are warned to use the term Persian Gulf on their electronic display boards,” said Mr Hamid Behbahani (Iran's Transport Minister), according to IRNA, the Iranian state news agency."

This blog has always asserted that the world historically called the body of water Persian, and that the Arab states would probably continue calling it Persian if it weren't for Iran's increasingly hostile stance towards its Muslim neighbours since the 1960s. Very ironic given that it's the region's only "Islamic Republic".

All these word fights are happening while Israel silently tests a drone that can fly to Iran. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8527268.stm. Notice even the BBC calls it "The Gulf".

Forget for a second typical Israeli fear for their own lives (they sent live pilots into Iraq in the early 1980s to destroy their nuclear plants) by sending drones. However, Israel is a serious threat, whilst Iran's bark is most likely more threatening than its bite.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100223/NATIONAL/702229806/1041

Iran's threat to airlines

Loveday Morris

* Last Updated: February 23. 2010 12:20AM UAE / February 22. 2010 8:20PM GMT

Iran has demanded all in-flight mentions of the waterway to use the "Persian Gulf" or airlines risk being banned from Iranian airspace. Jumana El Heloueh / Reuters

Iran has warned airlines that fail to use the term “Persian Gulf” on their in-flight monitors that they will be banned from the Islamic Republic’s airspace, which could have an impact on UAE-based carriers.

Hamid Behbahani, Iran’s transport minister, has demanded an apology from the Iranian airline Kish Air after one of its stewards referred to the Arabian Gulf during a recent flight.

The minister described the term as “bogus” and went on to threaten other airlines.

“The airlines of the southern Persian Gulf flying to Iran are warned to use the term Persian Gulf on their electronic display boards,” said Mr Behbahani, according to IRNA, the Iranian state news agency.

“If the airlines aren’t willing, they will be forbidden to fly in Iranian airspace for a month on the first violation, and upon repetition the aircraft will be grounded in Iran and flight permits to Iran will be revoked.”

A spokeswoman for Emirates Airline, who declined to be named, said the airline tries not to use either term.

“In our in-flight magazine and on our website, the area in question has not been labelled, as the focus is on our destination cities,” the Emirates spokeswoman said.

She could not confirm how the area was referred to on in-flight route-mapping displays, or whether the airline had been contacted by Iranian authorities. The airline operates 21 weekly flights to Tehran.

Etihad Airways and Air Arabia could not provide comment yesterday.

A Greek air steward for Kish Air was fired and given 20 days to leave the country after he used the term Arabian Gulf on a Tehran-bound flight earlier this week. The unnamed flight attendant threatened to detain passengers when they complained of his use of the term, according to IRNA.

Noufal Mohammed, the manager of Kish Air’s Dubai office, declined to comment on the incident.

The name of the waterway has been a source of contention between Iran and the Arab countries that border it for decades.

It is referred to as the Persian Gulf on most maps and documents published before 1960, but Arab states argue it should be known as the Arabian Gulf, since most of the countries that surround it are Arab ones.

Some people and organisations avoid either name and refer to the area simply as “the Gulf”. But even that is often met with anger in Iran, which often cites the United Nations endorsement of the term “Persian Gulf” for the body of water.

Dr Abdulkhaleq Abdulla, a politics professor at UAE University, said he did not think much would come of the threat, which he described as “bullying”.

“It’s a non-issue that Iran is trying to make into a political issue,” he said. “There are much more important issues to attend to in the region.”

lmorris@thenational.ae

Sderot or Najd?

2010-02-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

We've all been serenaded by Israel's stories of hurt and suffering from Sderot. That's the tiny village right next to the border with Gaza. They have been pelted by Qassam rockets from Gaza that were the only thing to fly out of Gaza after Israel's crippling blockade (Egypt hasn't helped much either).

I even met the prick of a mayor, Mr Eli Moyal of Sderot during a propaganda tour (the picture above is mine) trying to convince us that Israel is peaceful and they are suffering big time because of the rockets. I suppose it's hard to understand that hungry, poor, and humiliated people will do almost anything to get noticed and get even.

That was a pig of a talk, we were harrassed by Israeli security goons, but we still managed to get to the talk and be heard. It was fun. I hope to be able to ask people like Netinyahu some proper questions soon, mind you, compared to the big cheese, Moyal is just a small sardine.

Anyway, the purpose of this post is to shed the light on Sderot's history, which in fact was that it was called Najd, and was an Arab Palestinian town before the Israelis razed it to the ground and build Sderot on its ruins in 1951. How very convenient. I wonder what the Arab Mayor of Najd would say about this?

Hold that thought, and read what wiki has to say:

"Sderot was founded in 1951 (...) on the land of the former Palestinian village of Najd. Najd was a Palestinian Arab village, located 14 kilometers (9 mi) northeast of Gaza City. On 13 May 1948, Najd was occupied by Jewish soldiers from the Negev Brigade as part of Operation Barak. The inhabitants were expelled and fled to Gaza, and the village was then completely destroyed and leveled to the ground. In 1951, the town of Sderot was built over the village lands."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sderot

A typical shining example of brave Israeli history. The honour. The gallant bravery!

I'm a man of numbers, and I have been trying in vain to get some statistics on how many Sderot residents died because of these Gazan rockets, but I have found nothing. I found statistics however claiming that half of the village's residents are "casualties" of the attacks. Hmmm that means about 10,000 of 20,000 or so residents.

Ynet : Study: Over half of Sderot residents are Qassam casualties

So, 10,000 Israelis are casualties? What is the Israeli definition of a casualty? Ok.. let's look at nearby Gaza:

in 19 days of war, more than 1000 Gazans died, and 4800 were physically injured.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/14/gaza-city-fighiting-israel-un

That means physically hurt by an Israeli explosive device.

I still cannot find details of even one Sderot death from these painful rockets, even though there are 10,000 "casualties".

Amazing, that the propaganda machine managed to alert us to the plight of the modern Nadj residents (aka Sderot) while neglecting to mention the original resident's plight. The next step I guess is to find one of the original, pre 1948 residents of Sderot/Najd and capture their words on video.

براعة اللغة العربية

2010-02-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

براعة اللغة العربية

بيتان غريبان

*هذا البيت لا يتحرك اللسان بقراءته‎:

آب همي وهم بي أحبابي

همهم ما بهم وهمي مابي

* وهذا البيت لا تتحرك بقراءته الشفتان‎:

قطعنا على قطع القطا قطع ليلة‎

سراعا على الخيل العتاق اللاحقي

وهذه أبيات من الشعر لكن فيها العجب العجاب وفيها احتراف وصناعة للشعر:

ألــــــــــــوم صديقـــــي وهـــــــــذا محـــــــــــــــــــال
صديقــــــــي أحبــــــــــــه كـــــــــلام يقـــــــــــــــــال
وهـــــــــــذا كــــــــــــــلام بليــــــــــغ الجمـــــــــــــال
محـــــــــــــال يــــــــــــقال الجمـــــــال خيــــــــــــال

الغريــــــــــــب في هذه الأبيات .. أنــكم تستطيـــعون قراءتها أفقيــا ورأسيـــاً ...!

أنظروا إلى هذا البيت :

مودته تدوم لكل هول .. وهل كل مودته تدوم

حاولوا قراءة البيت بالعكس .. من آخره إلى أوله حرفا حرفا .. ستكتشفوا الإبداع ...

فهذا البيت يُقرأ كما هو من الجهتين كلمة كلمة

* خطبتان واحدة بدون حرف الألف والأُخرى بدون نقط :

(حمدت من عظمت منته وسبغت نعمته وسبقت رحمته غضبه،وتمت كلمته، ونفذت مشيئته، وبلغت قضيته، حمدته حمد مُقرٍ بربوبيته، متخضع لعبوديته، متنصل من خطيئته، متفرد بتوحده، مؤمل منه مغفرة تنجيه يوم يشغل عن فصيلته وبنيه، ونستعينه ونسترشده ونستهديه، ونؤمن به ونتوكل عليه وشهدت له شهود مخلص موقن، وفردته تفريد مؤمن متيقن، ووحدته توحيد عبد مذعن، ليس له شريك في ملكه ولم يكن له ولي في صنعه، جلَّ عن مشير ووزير، وعن عون ومعين ونصير ونظير علم ولن يزول كمثله شيءٌ وهو بعد كل شيءٍ، رب معتزز بعزته، متمكن بقوته، متقدس بعلوّه متكبر بسموّه ليس يدركه بصر، ولم يحط به نظر قوي منيع، بصير سميع، رؤوف رحيم عجز عن وصفه من يصفه، وضل عن نعته من يعرفه، قرب فبعد و بَعُد فقرب، يجيب دعوة من يدعوه، ويرزقه ويحبوه، ذو لطف خفي، وبطش قوي، ورحمة موسعة، وعقوبة موجعة، رحمته جنة عريضة مونقة، وعقوبته جحيم ممدودة موبقة، وشهدت ببعث محمد رسوله وعبده وصفيه ونبيه ونجيه وحبيبه وخليله)ـ

وهذه الخطبة الثانية من غير نقط :

(الحمد لله الملك المحمود ، المالك الودود مصور كل مولود ، مآل كل مطرود ساطع المهاد وموطد الأوطاد ومرسل الأمطار ، ومسهل الأوطار وعالم الأسرار ومدركها ومدمر الأملاك ومهلكها ومكور الدهور ومكررها ومورد الأمور ومصدرها عم سماحه وكمل ركامه وهمل وطاوع السؤال والأمل أوسع الرمل وأرمل أحمده حمدا ممدودا وأوحده كما وحد الأواه وهو الله لا إله للأمم سواه ولا صادع لما عدله وسواه ، أرسل محمدا علما للإسلام ، وإماما للحكام ، ومسدد)ـ

The complexities of residency deserve debate

2010-02-18T00:00:00.000-08:00

The complexities of residency deserve debate

From The National: http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100216/OPINION/702159913/1080/NATIONAL

Peter Hellyer

* Last Updated: February 15. 2010 10:42PM UAE / February 15. 2010 6:42PM GMT

I read Sultan Al Qassemi’s column this week, where he suggests that “some” long-term expatriate residents should be given permanent residency status, with interest. It’s now 35 years since I first came to Abu Dhabi; if I can, I would like to spend more time here. I don’t have nightmares about being obliged to leave, but I do wonder how I would occupy myself if I moved to my house in Jersey, which has never been anything more than a holiday home for me, though I love it dearly.

Sultan’s suggestion, by the way, isn’t new. More than 20 years ago, a prominent Emirati businessman wrote a pamphlet that said much of the same, though it provoked little debate.

Sultan is absolutely right to stress that any creation of a permanent residency status for long-term expatriates, should not, and cannot, have any implications with regards to citizenship. If citizenship were granted more easily (albeit on the basis of individual approval by Government) to people who have been here for 25 years or more, a situation would rapidly arise where a large percentage of UAE citizens were of origins utterly unrelated to the country and its Muslim, Arab and Gulf heritage.

It’s hard enough, as it is, to preserve the special characteristics of the country without the introduction of a programme that would, in effect, mean that the people of the Emirates – the Emiratis – were giving it away. As we can see from Fiji, where citizens of Indian descent account for nearly 40 per cent of the population, in that direction lies a host of political, social and cultural problems.

It would be difficult, too, to extend the possibility – not the right – of long-term residency to the children of any long-term expatriates, particularly those born here or who have lived most or all of their lives here, though I appreciate the problems that many face in deciding where they actually belong.

In a piece last August another columnist for the paper, HA Hellyer, (who, as many readers may know, is my son, born in Abu Dhabi just over 30 years ago), wrote: “No child born to immigrants in the UAE ever says: ‘I am an Emirati’ – it is just not part of how people respond to the question of nationality. Children always refer to the country of their parents, even if they have been born and brought up in the UAE. So did my friend – until he went away to university. There, for the first time, he began to develop a sense of belonging to the UAE: not at the expense of his other identities, but in addition to them. One day, a new Emirati student at his university asked him: ‘Where are you from?’, and for the first time he replied: ‘I am from Abu Dhabi.’”

That’s a phrase I’ve used myself. I would never call myself an Emirati, but, after 35 years, I am certainly from Abu Dhabi, in a real, if not a complete, way, albeit happy to remain British as well, not just in terms of my citizenship but also in my own assessment of my identity, though I frequently tell younger Emiratis that I have lived here longer than they have, since I arrived before they were born. I know, perhaps, more Emirati history and geography than they do, though I know less of the traditions and, of course, the language.

I am pretty satisfied with the balance of being, in effect, both British and from Abu Dhabi. I can’t imagine being obliged to sacrifice either. Thus the issue of whether there should be a formal framework to allow some long-term expatriates to stay here is not merely, for me, an academic issue.

It is, though, enormously complex.

Some expatriates spend decades here, earning a living and raising their children without ever knowing the country itself. They do so almost entirely within a bubble, relating primarily to the expatriate community or communities, but without engaging with the Emirates and with Emiratis. They are among those mentioned by Mr Al Qassimi who, because of their age, face the problem of no longer being able to obtain residence visas.

There are others, including friends of mine, well past the age of retirement, who have identified in a more meaningful way with the country and who, because of the relationships they have developed over decades, continue to have visas, provided through the businesses they have created or through the good offices of Emirati friends that they have made.

Most of the expatriates who have spent much of their lives here are currently obliged to leave at 60 or thereabouts, taking with them not only their knowledge of the country but also the savings they have made. That is a matter of economic concern.

Policy makers, however, particularly those in the UAE with its enormous demographic imbalance between citizens and others, need to consider social issues too. What will be the nature of the state that will emerge in the future? What can those residents with any degree of permanency contribute to it?

Most new arrivals to the UAE do not emigrate here – as people emigrate from Britain to Australia or from India to Canada. They do not uproot themselves from their country of origin to put down roots in a new country. Some, a few, eventually do, but for many it’s always a temporary process, however long it lasts. Their hearts remain at home.

I would welcome a debate, between both Emiratis and expatriates, about the matters raised by Sultan Al Qassemi in his recent column. My own view is that there are many other aspects besides the length of time spent here that need to be taken into account in determining whether it is beneficial for the country to develop a formal framework that would permit long-term residents the right to stay for the rest of their lives.

Peter Hellyer is a writer and consultant who specialises in Emirati culture and heritage

Expat Arrivals - new website

2010-02-17T00:00:00.000-08:00

You might notice that I added links to two websites on the right hand side of my site:

http://www.expatarrivals.com/dubai/moving-to-dubai

http://www.expatarrivals.com/abu-dhabi/moving-to-abu-dhabi

This was after being approached by the site to help market their site. It seemed like a good idea since the sites had some useful information for people wishing to relocate to the United Arab Emirates.

If you are interested in the UAE, then drop me a question via e-mail (it's in my profile) or this blog post through comments below.

Happy relocating!

Israel bullies British laws

2010-02-16T19:39:00.000-08:00

Well, we've known Israel to bully and murder neighbouring Arabs, and to make a joke of the UN via successive vetos from the USA. Now it appears that they are trying to spin the previous arrest warrant in the UK against Tzipi Livni to their favour. All this because she was doing her job and "fighting terror", reminds me so much about what you read about the Nazi party and just following orders.

Now now, invading land you withdrew from years ago and murdering everything that moves doesn't really classify as terror fighting as much as it might look like xenophobic genocide, but that's just me...

More reporting from The National: Tzipi Livni: I’m coming to London, arrest me
Who knows, maybe Jack Straw will do just that...

GDP growth and tall buildings

2010-02-14T00:00:00.000-08:00

I found this article by the Economist interesting:

(please click on the picture below)

http://www.economist.com/daily/news/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15205024&fsrc=nwl

(click above for the full article)

Stand with the Eleven

2010-02-12T12:30:00.000-08:00

Look what happens in the land of free speech.
Students get arrested for expressing their opinions, then threatened with expulsion.

On February 8th, Micheal Oren spoke at UCI. During his speech Oren was interrupted by 11 protesters who had every right to speak out. Now they are charged with disrupting the peace and being target...

Something Fishy

2010-01-27T19:36:00.000-08:00

“Isn’t it ridiculous that fishermen are required to buy fish from other fishermen, in another country?”

Abu Nidal

The full story: http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100128/FOREIGN/701279930/1186/enewsletter

(Image: credit)

Mensa Words

2010-01-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Guys.. I received this list via e-mail not so long ago. It really made me laugh. It's also quite sophisticated, so my simple mind did not understand every single word. However, I hope you'll find it fun and interesting.

The Washington Post's Mensa Invitational once again invited readers to take any word from the dictionary, alter it by adding, subtracting, or changing one letter, and supply a new definition.

Here are the winners:

1. Cashtration (n.): The act of buying a house, which renders the subject financially impotent for an indefinite period of time.

2. Ignoranus : A person who's both stupid and an asshole.

3. Intaxicaton : Euphoria at getting a tax refund, which lasts until you realize it was your money to start with.

4. Reintarnation : Coming back to life as a hillbilly.

5. Bozone ( n.): The substance surrounding stupid people that stops bright ideas from penetrating. The bozone layer, unfortunately, shows little sign of breaking down in the near future.

6. Foreploy : Any misrepresentation about yourself for the purpose of getting laid.

7.. Giraffiti : Vandalism spray-painted very, very high

8. Sarchasm : The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the person who doesn't get it.

9. Inoculatte : To take coffee intravenously when you are running late.

10. Osteopornosis : A degenerate disease. (This one got extra credit.)

11. Karmageddon : It's like, when everybody is sending off all these really bad vibes, right? And then, like, the Earth explodes and it's like, a serious bummer.

12. Decafalon (n.): The grueling event of getting through the day consuming only things that are good for you.

13. Glibido : All talk and no action.

14. Dopeler Effect: The tendency of stupid ideas to seem smarter when they come at you rapidly.

15. Arachnoleptic Fit (n.): The frantic dance performed just after you've accidentally walked through a spider web.

16. Beelzebug (n.): Satan in the form of a mosquito, that gets into your bedroom at three in the morning and cannot be cast out.

17. Caterpallor ( n.): The color you turn after finding half a worm in the fruit you're eating.

The Washington Post has also published the winning submissions to its yearly contest, in which readers are asked to supply alternate meanings for common words.

And the winners are:

1. Coffee, n. The person upon whom one coughs.

2. Flabbergasted, adj. Appalled by discovering how much weight one has gained.

3. Abdicate, v. To give up all hope of ever having a flat stomach.

4. Esplanade, v. To attempt an explanation while drunk.

5. Willy-nilly, adj. Impotent.

6. Negligent, adj. Absentmindedly answering the door when wearing only a nightgown.

7. Lymph, v. To walk with a lisp.

8. Gargoyle, n. Olive-flavored mouthwash.

9. Flatulence, n. Emergency vehicle that picks up someone who has been run over by a steamroller.

10. Balderdash, n. A rapidly receding hairline.

11. Testicle, n. A humorous question on an exam.

12. Rectitude, n. The formal, dignified bearing adopted by proctologists.

13. Pokemon, n. A Rastafarian proctologist.

14. Oyster, n. A person who sprinkles his conversation with Yiddishisms. (I presume you get this "Oy" reference.)

15. Frisbeetarianism, n. The belief that, after death, the soul flies up onto the roof and gets stuck there.

16. Circumvent, n. An opening in the front of boxer shorts worn by Jewish men.

Muslims in Mecca

2010-01-22T00:00:00.000-08:00

I read this article and it made me sad, and made me think:

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100120/BUSINESS/701209871/1186/enewsletter

They are opening a brand new luxury hotel in Mecca, Saudi Arabia and the VIPs from the hotel's management cannot attend the ceremony since they are not Muslims. Perhaps they should consider temporary conversion, just like some Muslims use temporary marriage to justify sex with prostitutes. Both are frowned upon obviously, and I'm sure that the former is punishable by some pretty painful stuff in Sharia law.

Anyway, the point of this post is why does Mecca exclude non-Muslims from visiting? It even gives Iranians a lot of difficulty because they are Shia Muslims and considered almost from a different faith.

Why does Saudi Arabia have the right to apply this rule? Isn't Mecca (and Madina) Muslim cities for all the Muslims? Why shouldn't Muslims have a say about this, and I don't mean only those in the Saudi Government? I am sure that moderates in Iran, Morocco, the UAE, and Egypt would allow non-Muslims. After all, the big mosques in those countries are all open to non-Muslims.

What does this say about Muslims and Islam? We have something to hide? Of course so! I've been to the Vatican and La Sagrada Famiglia and probably a hundred churches and a few synagogues too. They don't ask for your faith, but for your respect. Most mosques actively welcome non-Muslims, but again, they ask for your respect.

(Image taken by BuJ, Barcelona, Catalan, Espana 2007)

I'm sure that the Prophet (PBUH) would support this, because he never actually banned peaceful non-Muslims from Mecca or Madina. In fact he actively traded with Jews and respected Christians (who respected him back). Jews and Christians are considered "people of the book" and should be protected in Islam. All of Judaism's and Christianity's prophets are revered in Islam.

Perhaps it's time for Saudi Arabia to wisen up, and open up.

Lane Dis-cipline

2010-01-20T19:20:00.000-08:00

The subject here is obvious. It's the lack of lane discipline in this country, the UAE. We have amazing roads, really world-class, but completely shite drivers. When you have more than one lane, you need to observe lane discipline. I'm not going to explain or define what that is, because most people should know it (if you have a driving license) and because the name is self-explanatory.

We have two kinds of morons on our roads. First is the type that use the 2nd fastest lane (they usually have light trucks or mini-busses, painted white) and they drive 40% slower than people on either side of them. This is very unsafe since it creates an island, and drivers have to overtake from either side. Obviously under-taking is illegal, but when the road is busy, many drivers do it. Sometimes you have no choice. My friend was once penalised (fine + points) for undertaking in the UAE because the car in front of him in the fastest lane would not move. Seriously, Police, you should fine the people who do not understand the concept of land discipline. We need to educate people, starting with the Police. You cannot apply a rule without understanding it first, no?

Anyway, back to the first type of morons. What happens when you have an island of traffic in the middle of the road is that it just confuses everyone and is a huge hazard. The Police recently published some publicity about honouring drivers who have not had a single penalty in the last 50 years. Have you seen the roads in the 1980s and before? Not a single radar. Not a single traffic jam. No wonder, there are no fines. Then these folk are probably too old to drive now and yet have a driving license (there is no maximum age law in the UAE), and most do not pass driving/eyesight tests to drive. Anyway, I criticise the Police, they need to look at all aspects of driving and not just focus on speeding or the use of a seatbelt. Oh yeah, the demographic of this first group of morons are the ever-popular Indian Subcon people, as demonstrated in the picture above taken from India (image credit: Picasa)

The second type of Moron is he who drives in the fastest lane and yet is the slowest driver. I won't waste much time on this, because it's obvious how dangerous that is. Sadly, as mentioned above, the Police do not penalise them and penalise those who overtake from the wrong side (undertaking) to move forward. These people usually become non-responsive if you use your high-beam to indicate your need to overtake, or your horn. They usually have stickers written in Arabic on the back of the car, and they are usually Emarati with a driving IQ between that of a goat and a 13-year old dog.

(image credit: here)

Note that we have minimum speed laws on the motorways here, but no one is aware of them, especially the Police. If they are reading (doubt many of their types can read English), then please note and take action. We're a laughing stock to the world, we have the best roads and the worst drivers and a lack of smart policing.

Dubai assassination is latest of Mossad’s miscalculations

2010-01-20T00:00:00.000-08:00

Dubai assassination is latest of Mossad’s miscalculations

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100219/OPINION/702189968/1080/foreign

Alan Philps

* Last Updated: February 19. 2010 12:29AM UAE / February 18. 2010 8:29PM GMT

It is said that the perfect spy is someone who cannot attract a waiter’s attention in a restaurant. This seems to be true of the hit team which murdered the Hamas military leader, Mahmoud al Mabhouh, in Dubai last month. The individuals revealed by the Dubai police are no Sean Connerys or Mata Haris, rather the type of people you would not remember if you bumped into them on the street.

The unforgiving camera angles of closed circuit TV footage and the dorky disguises they used only accentuate their grim ordinariness. Surely the ranks of young men and women wanting to join the world’s security services – many of them addicts of the BBC’s Spooks and similar glossy intelligence dramas – will now fall off.

The painstaking work of the Dubai police has proved one thing. The all-seeing surveillance camera has killed off the notion that a forgettable face, a wig and a moustache are enough to make a good sleuth. To the surprise and embarrassment of the Israelis, the Dubai police have been able to combine their surveillance footage with visual intelligence from different hotels, the airport and passport control, as well as cell phone information, to put together a timeline of the operation and a compelling movie, complete with cast list – an Ocean’s 11 stripped of glamour.

As the Israeli investigative journalist and expert on the Mossad, Ronen Bergman, has concluded: “This is the end of an era, the end of the assassination that leaves no trace, where you could perform such an operation with no marks. In the modern age it leaves a lot of marks, whatever way you perform it.”

Apart from that, there is much that remains murky in the operation. Reaction in Israel, initially quietly jubilant, is now tempered with unease over the political and diplomatic fallout. The standard Israeli government response to any accusation of assassination on foreign territory, the challenge of “Prove it!”, is pitifully threadbare in this case. The fact that the passports of British citizens who live in Israel were cloned to provide false papers points the finger unerringly at Mossad and makes the organisation look cavalier with the security of its own citizens.

According to security sources quoted by the BBC yesterday, the cloning of the passports was done to a very high degree of sophistication, beyond the capability of most intelligence services. This is further evidence of Israeli involvement, as Israel has a long record of faking British passports.

In the 1980s Israel promised to stop this practice after a courier taking a consignment of eight blank British passports to the Israeli embassy in Bonn – then the capital of West Germany – left them in a phone booth. The passports were picked up by the German police, and eventually traced to Israel.

The passport issue, as well as the revelation that the Israeli embassy in London was funding a Palestinian double agent who was hiding a big arms cache in the city of Hull, caused the British government to order a freeze in relations with Mossad and the expulsion of three operatives. The Mossad station in London was effectively closed down – but not for long. By 1998 there were five operatives back working in the London embassy, according to a standard history of the organisation.

The summoning of the Israeli ambassador to London, Ron Prosor, to the foreign office yesterday to explain the use of fake British passports should be seen in this light. While politics demands that the Israelis be reprimanded when they are caught out, normal co-operation between western intelligence services and Mossad tends to be restored fairly quickly. The key fact is that the Israelis are never caught cloning American documents. That would get the organisation into real trouble, whereas the wrath of European countries can be dismissed, or so it has proved in the past.

There are calls in the Israeli press for the current Mossad director general Meir Dagan to quit. But it seems unlikely he will go. He has a reputation for daring which pleases the Israeli public. He would have known that a murder in a five-star hotel would yield some embarrassing surveillance footage, but it was clearly considered a risk worth taking.

Israel wants the world to be repeatedly reminded that its arm is long. Mr Dagan is generally credited with the assassination of Imad Mughniyeh, the military commander of Hizbollah, in Damascus in 2008 – though there is always the possibility of several forces being involved together. With al Mabhouh, the aim would be to remove the stain of failure dating from the failed assassination by poisoning of the Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal in Amman in 1997.

Vengeance and doing what makes the spooks feel good is not a policy, however. It is hard to think of any strategic gains that Israel has acquired from its long history of assassinations. When dealing with broad-based movements such as the Palestinians, no man is irreplaceable. Indeed, the dead man is replaced in time by someone usually more ruthless, and sometimes more competent.

In 1988 Israeli commandos killed Abu Jihad, the Fatah military commander, in front of his wife in Tunis. If such a respected figure as Abu Jihad had been alive, it would surely have been easier for Israel to make a historic accommodation with the Palestinians over the past 15 years.

The tactical lesson of the impossibility of carrying out a clean murder in a five-star hotel with security cameras in every corridor has been learnt. The real question is: what strategic goal does Israel achieve by carrying out assassinations? Certainly not its proclaimed goal of peace.

aphilps@thenational.ae

Mundo dos Sonhos - The World of Dreams II

2010-01-18T09:48:00.001-08:00

I had to share these new works of art from the talented Edna Spennato

http://mundosonhos.files.wordpress.com/

What's wrong with Arabia?

2010-01-17T19:35:00.001-08:00

What's wrong with Saudi Arabia?

First, this Saudi man cuts off his own penis (then goes to intensive care) because of a disagreement with his father over marriage. Perhaps he should have done something to his father rather than himself?! Or maybe it wasn't that useful anyway.

Read here:http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/saudi-man-cuts-off-genital-after-blocked-marriage-plans-1.569368

Then, Saudi Arabia cancels the Islamic Games (which have only been around since 2005) because the Iranians called it the Persian Gulf. WHO CARES?!?! Maybe if the Arabs got off their fat backsides and did something, things would improve. Or are they scared Iran will beat them in every single game? Ok, we have our differences with Iran, but pulling out of the games should be a last minute resort. I read the news daily, and I was not even aware that the games even existed, or that there was a naming disagreement. All I got was that something I didn't know about was cancelled. Whoo hoo!

Come on, you hold games between GCC States and Iran and you don't expect a naming issue?! Dumb. This should have been agreed in advance.

Read here: http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/saudi-arabia/islamic-games-cancelled-over-persian-gulf-name-1.569378

(Image credit: http://www.iran2009.com/)

Odds of Terrorism!

2010-01-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

Following the crazy news of an African man wanting to blow up his balls for Christmas, I found this interesting and informative poster below. Obviously bear in mind it's "targeted" at an American audience :)

Source:

www.boingboing.net

(please click on picture to view in the correct size)

Burj Khalifa - Officially Opened - Pictures!

2010-01-05T03:14:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

Finally, Burj Dubai, or Burj Khalifa has been officially opened by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashed al Maktoum, Ruler of Dubai last night 4 Jan 2010. Which also marks his 4th year as Ruler of Dubai.

Here are some pics I took when I went up the Burj, and some pics from the opening night as well. Enjoy!

Pic from the opening night, with the fireworks doing their stuff!

More Fireworks from 4 Jan 2010!

This was taken from the 124th floor, or the observation deck. The highest floor is 158.
You can see how small other skyscrapers below are!

My favorite picture! The shadow of the Burj intersects SZR Junction 1, or the Defence Roundabout (old name).

A good view of the Business Bay

How small is Dubai Mall from this altitude?!

Ok, the engineer in me had to take this shot! The cleaning cradle is seen here from level 124 all the way to the supports much higher up. Cool view :)

This is a pic of the Address hotel (that I hate so much, but that's another story)

Enjoy and copy with referencing to this blog, coz these pictures are all mine.

Mundo dos Sonhos - The World of Dreams

2010-01-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

I was honoured to receive an e-mail from Edna Spennato who is the authour of:

http://mundosonhos.wordpress.com/

Edna is from Brazil, a compatriot of the great Carlos Latuff that has been mentioned earlier at several places at BuJ Al Arab. Actually Latuff coined (or used) a very strong phrase called "copyleft" which encourages people to copy his work and spread the word.

For more Latuffian info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Latuff

I first stumbled on Edna's blog when I was researching apt pictures for my post, Arrested Development:

http://bujassem.blogspot.com/2009/12/arrested-development.html

However, it seems Edna has found my blog and since we share the same views, I welcome you to visit her excellent blog using the link above. Edna is from Brazil and speaks Portuguese. Mundo dos Sonhos means World of Dreams.

Here below are some of her recent works. Enjoy.

هل تدفع غزة ثمن التوريث؟!

2010-01-02T00:00:00.000-08:00

This is an excellent article by Alaa Al Aswany, a smart Egyptian journalist. The article is taken from his website and is about the situation in Gaza, Egypt and Pisrael.

http://alaaalaswany.maktoobblog.com/1618365/هل-تدفع-غزة-ثمن-التوريث؟/

مقاله علاء الاسوانى (( جملة إعتراضية ))
فى جريدة الشروق
29 ديسمبر 2009
هل تدفع غزة ثمن التوريث؟!

بعد أن نشرت الخبر جريدة «هاآرتس» الإسرائيلية وأكدته الإدارة الأمريكية، اعترفت الحكومة المصرية ــ أخيرا ــ بأنها تبنى جدارا فولاذيا تحت الأرض على طول الحدود مع غزة من أجل إغلاق الأنفاق التى يستعملها الفلسطينيون لتهريب الطعام والأدوية.. فى ظل حصار خانق قامت به إسرائيل منذ أكثر من عامين واشتركت فيه مصر بإغلاق معبر رفح أمام الفلسطينيين.. ولنا هنا بعض الملاحظات: :

أولا: الهدف من حصار غزة ــ كما أعلنت إسرائيل ــ هو القضاء على المقاومة الفلسطينية وتجويع أهل غزة حتى يركعوا أمام إسرائيل ويقبلوا بشروطها للتسوية النهائية التى سوف تضيع حقوق الفلسطينيين إلى الأبد.. لكن الصمود الأسطورى للفلسطينيين دفع إسرائيل إلى ارتكاب مذبحة وحشية، استعملت فيها الأسلحة المحرمة دوليا وراح ضحيتها أكثر من ألف وأربعمائة إنسان نصفهم على الأقل من النساء والأطفال.. وبرغم المذبحة والحصار لم يستسلم الفلسطينيون وظلوا يقاومون بشجاعة مما دفع إسرائيل إلى التفكير فى طريقة لخنقهم نهائيا.. والثابت أن الجدار الفولاذى تحت الأرض فكرة إسرائيلية أساسا ترددت الحكومة المصرية فى تنفيذها ثم وافقت مؤخرا وشرعت فى إقامة الجدار الذى تم تصنيعه بتمويل وإشراف الأمريكيين.. والغرض من هذا الجدار هو قتل الفلسطينيين بمعنى الكلمة، لأنه يقضى على آخر فرصة لهم فى الحصول على الطعام.

ثانيا: إن إغلاق الحكومة المصرية لمعبر رفح ومنع قوافل الإغاثة العربية والدولية من دخول غزة ثم إقامة الجدار الفولاذى لتجويع الفلسطينيين.. كل هذه جرائم مشينة من المحزن حقا أن يرتكبها النظام المصرى ضد إخوتنا فى العروبة والإنسانية. إن التضامن العربى والواجب المصرى نحو المسلمين والمسيحيين فى فلسطين، كل هذه اعتبارات لم تعد تعنى شيئا للمسئولين المصريين وهم يسخرون منها على الملأ. لكن النظام المصرى، فى خضم حماسه لإرضاء إسرائيل، لم يلتفت إلى أنه يشوه صورته أمام العالم أجمع.. إن مذبحة غزة الأخيرة قضت على ما تبقى من سمعة إسرائيل أمام العالم. لقد تزايدت أصوات الإدانة لإسرائيل فى الدول الغربية بطريقة غير مسبوقة. فى شهر أكتوبر الماضى ذهب رئيس وزراء الإسرائيلى السابق إيهود أولمرت لإلقاء كلمة فى جامعة شيكاجو، فوجد نفسه محاصرا بهتافات عدائية من الطلبة الذين أخذوا يصيحون فى وجهه «يا سفاح غزة.. يا قاتل الأطفال»، ولقد صدرت عدة أوامر قضائية غربية بملاحقة قادة إسرائيل بتهمة ارتكاب جرائم حرب فى غزة ولبنان. حدث ذلك فى بلجيكا والنرويج وأسبانيا وأخيرا فى بريطانيا حيث كادت الشرطة البريطانية أن تقبض على تسيبى ليفنى وزيرة الخارجية الإسرائيلية السابقة لولا هروبها فى اللحظة الأخيرة. صحيح أن معظم هذه الملاحقات القانونية تم إلغاؤها بفعل الضغوط الصهيونية الجبارة على الحكومات الغربية.. لكنها تدل بوضوح على حالة عالمية من إدانة إسرائيل لم تكن موجودة قط من قبل.. إن النظام المصرى ببنائه لهذا الجدار لا يغامر فقط بشعبيته المصرية والعربية (التى هى فى الحضيض) لكنه يلطخ سمعته الدولية تماما.

ثالثا: كل الحجج التى يسوقها النظام لتبرير بناء الجدار لا يمكن أن تقنع طفلا صغيرا.. يقولون إن مصر حرة فى إقامة الجدار مادام داخل حدودها ويتجاهلون أن حرية أية دولة وفقا للعرف والمنطق والقانون الدولى ليست مطلقة لكنها مقيدة بحقوق الآخرين.. فلا يمكن أن تتسبب مصر فى تجويع مليون ونصف مليون إنسان يعيشون بجوارها ثم تزعم أنها حرة فيما تفعله. يقولون إن الأنفاق تستعمل فى تهريب أسلحة إرهابية إلى مصر. ونحن نقول إن الأسلحة قد يتم تهريبها عن طريق ليبيا أو السودان، فهل تعتزم الحكومة المصرية إقامة جدران فولاذية على طول حدودها مع دول الجوار جميعا؟ واذا كانت وزارة الداخلية المصرية، بأجهزتها الأمنية العملاقة، عاجزة عن حماية الحدود فماذا تفعل بمبلغ 8 مليارات جنيه مصرى تنفقها سنويا كميزانية من أموال الشعب المصرى..؟!

إن النظام يرفع الآن شعار «الأمن القومى المصرى خط أحمر..».. ونحن نؤمن بهذا الشعار ولا نختلف عليه لكن الأمن القومى، فى رأينا، يبدأ بتحديد من عدو مصر..؟ هل هى إسرائيل أم أهل غزة..؟ واذا كانت إسرائيل عدوتنا وهذه هى الحقيقة ألا يكون من مصلحة مصر القومية دعم المقاومة الفلسطينية..؟!…. ألم يفكر أحد لماذا اضطر الفلسطينيون إلى حفر الأنفاق تحت الأرض..؟ لقد كانت الوسيلة الوحيدة لإبقائهم على قيد الحياة.. هل كان الفلسطينيون يحفرون الأنفاق لو كانت مصر تفتح معبر رفح وتسمح بدخول الطعام والأدوية إليهم..؟ وعندما تنشئ مصر هذا الجدار لتقتل الفلسطينيين جوعا هل نلومهم إذا منعوا إقامته بالقوة أو سعوا لتدميره..؟ ألا يعد ذلك دفاعا شرعيا عن النفس..؟ يتحدث المسئولون كثيرا عن الضابط المصرى الشهيد الذى قتله رصاص أطلق من غزة، ونحن نأسف بشدة من أجل هذا الشهيد لكننا نذكر أنه لا يوجد دليل واحد على أنه قتل برصاص حركة حماس، ونذكر أيضا أن إسرائيل قتلت باعترافها العديد من الضباط والجنود المصريين على الحدود..فلماذا لم تغضب حكومتنا من أجل الأمن القومى آنذاك..؟ وأين كان هذا الأمن القومى عندما اعترف الإسرائيليون بقتل مئات الأسرى المصريين ودفنهم فى مقابر جماعية أثناء الحرب ولم يتخذ المسئولون فى مصر إجراءا واحدا ضد مجرمى الحرب الإسرائيليين..؟.يقول المسئولون فى مصر إنهم يغلقون معبر رفح خوفا من هجرة جماعية فلسطينية إلى مصر.. وهذه حجة سخيفة وساذجة فالذى دفع الفلسطينيين إلى اجتياح المعبر هو احتياجهم الشديد إلى الطعام.. وقد اشتروا بأموالهم ما يحتاجونه من التجار المصريين ثم عادوا من حيث أتوا.. ثم ماذا نتوقع من الفلسطينيين بعد ما أغلقنا بالجدار الفولاذى آخر فرصة للحياة أمامهم ؟!..هل يلومهم أحد اذا اندفعوا بالألوف واجتاحوا معبر رفح بالقوة هربا من الموت جوعا..؟ إن هذا الجدار، بالإضافة إلى كونه فعلا مشينا ووصمة عار على جبين الحكومة المصرية لن تزول أبدا، يشكل خطرا حقيقيا على الأمن القومى المصرى.

أخيرا.. ما الذى يدفع النظام المصرى إلى كل هذا الخضوع للسياسة الإسرائيلية..؟

هناك سببان لذلك.. أولا أن النظام يعتبر أى انتصار لحركة حماس دعما للإخوان المسلمين مما يهدد الحكم فى مصر.. وهذا خطأ كبير لأن انتصار المقاومة أكبر تدعيم لمصر وليس خطرا عليها أبدا.. كما أن الإخوان المسلمين، بحكم حجمهم وتأثيرهم، لا يشكلون تهديدا حقيقيا للنظام المصرى الذى يشيع ذلك دائما من أجل تبرير الاستبداد أما السبب الثانى فهو أن النظام المصرى قد تعلم أن تنفيذ رغبات إسرائيل هو الطريق المضمون إلى الرضا الأمريكى.. لقد حصلت إسرائيل من مصر فى سنوات قليلة على ما لم تحصل عليه منذ توقيع اتفاقية كامب دافيد.. الإفراج عن الجاسوس عزام عزام واتفاقيات لبيع الغاز والأسمنت وحصار الفلسطينيين وأخيرا هذا الجدار المشين.. من هنا نفهم الرضا الأمريكى على نظام مبارك.. منذ أيام صرحت السفيرة الأمريكية فى القاهرة مارجريت سكوبى قائلة: «أعتقد أن الديمقراطية فى مصر على ما يرام..» هذا التصريح الغريب يوضح لنا إلى أى مدى يسيطر اللوبى الصهيونى على السياسة الأمريكية.. ستظل أمريكا راضية عن نظام الاستبداد فى مصر مادامت إسرائيل راضية عنه.. هل يمكن بعد ذلك للسيدة سكوبى أن تتساءل لماذا يكره المصريون السياسة الأمريكية ويتهمونها بالنفاق وازدواجية المعايير..؟.

أخيرا.. إن جريمة بناء الجدار لتجويع الفلسطينيين ليست بمعزل عن قضية الإصلاح الديمقراطى فى مصر فقد وافق النظام على بناء الجدار لأنه يحتاج إلى الدعم الأمريكى لمشروع توريث الحكم من الرئيس مبارك إلى ولده جمال.. وهنا نرى نموذجا خطيرا لعواقب الحكم الاستبدادى.. إن مصلحة النظام فى مصر صارت بالفعل مناقضة لمصلحة الشعب المصرى.. لو كان نظام مبارك ديمقراطيا لما جرؤ أبدا على الاشتراك فى حصار الفلسطينيين وتجويعهم. إن الأنظمة الديمقراطية، وحدها، هى التى تتوحد مصالحها مع مصلحة الشعب والوطن.

..الديمقراطية هى الحل..

Arthur Rubinstein - The Aristocrat

2009-12-31T00:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers,

To follow up on the great theme of classical piano music, I am delighted to bring to you a few snippets of information about the great Pianist Arthur Rubinstein (1887 - 1982). Rubinstein was an American of Jewish-Polish descent. Following in the great tradition of piano music, most good composers came from western Europe, while the best pianists came from eastern Europe. Those with Jewish blood are in fact even more talented than others.

Anyway, this post is all about the piano clip at the end. It's so good that the publishers did not want people to share it, so they disabled embedment. However, I kindly ask you to click on the URL link to listen and see this masterpiece.

THE MASTERPIECE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpk_3-RJdN0

It has been told that Arthur Rubinstein was an aristocrat, and he has a velvet touch on the piano. Now, if you're reading this and have no clue about the piano, or you never actually played the piano you might roll your eyes and think this is rubbish, but listen to him and then judge. Rubinstein played many wrong notes, but he didn't care and it didn't matter. How he played the right notes was amazing. He was very gifted technically, but he wasn't as perfect as Pollini for example. Still, he was one of the most eloquent of poets of the ivories.

Here are what a few resources have to say about Rubinstein:

He was a well-known pianist-artist all his life, but not until the middle 1930’s did he become an international headliner. Despite Rubinstein’ s claim that he never settled down until his return to the United States in 1937, the records that he made in the middle 1920’s tell a different story. Such discs as the ones of Liszt’s Tenth Rhapsody, or the Albeniz Navarra, demonstrate a phenomenal virtuosity, gorgeous colorations and the most beautiful of singing lines. To tell the truth, he probably never played better.

What really happened was that, in his young maturity, he suddenly found himself in the right place. The two reigning heroes of the keyboard, Josef Hofmann and Sergei Rachmaninoff, were nearing the end of their careers. The new crop of younger pianists were, by and large, percussionists and not very interesting. (There were exceptions, of course. Benno Moiseiwitsch and Vladimir Horowitz were major pianists by any standards). The public was looking for a new Romantic hero, and Rubinstein met all specifications.

He was Polish, hence romantic and exotic. He had incredible charisma. In the United States he had been preceded by a series of superb recordings - the Tchaikovsky B flat minor Concerto, the Chopin Scherzos and other works by Chopin - that had created a great deal of interest. Suddenly Rubinstein found himself in great demand, and after World War II he became one of the most popular pianists before the public. The other was Vladimir Horowitz; but the moody, unpredictable Horowitz had a habit of taking long sabbaticals, the longest of which (from 1953 to 1965) kept him away from the public for twelve years. Rubinstein never was away.

More at: http://www.arims.org.il/artist.htm

I have to say that Rubinstein is not my favorite of favorite pianists. That title is reserved for someone that I'll reveal later. However, Rubinstein is definitely one of the most entertaining and pleasurable pianists to enjoy music from under their digits.

Again.. please don't forget to listen to this:

THE MASTERPIECE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpk_3-RJdN0

Chopin Waltz - Dinu Lipatti

2009-12-28T00:00:00.000-08:00

This is the piece that made me fall in love with Chopin's music. It's also the first piece I decided to learn out of Chopin's 200+ piano works.

Dinu Lipatti is a rare breed amongst pianists. He's really a master at the piano.

Judge for yourselves.

Listen.

No Way Through

2009-12-25T22:02:00.001-08:00

Appreciate.

Impossible Chopin

2009-12-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

This piece is Chopin's notoriously difficult Etude Op 10 n 5 also termed "black keys" since it's all played on the black keys of the piano. Chopin's etudes (or studies) are one of the hardest out there in the piano world. I can play a few of his studies (e.g. Op 10 n 3 and n 12) but haven't managed to play "black keys" yet!!

Anyway this 11 year old makes it look so easy, trust me, it ain't!!

Enjoy!

Arrested Development

2009-12-18T06:23:00.000-08:00

(image source: http://mundosonhos.wordpress.com/)

You might have heard about the UK warrant to arrest the former Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni (ציפורה מלכה לבני). This is interesting, so how does it work?

1- The legal concept is based on "universal jurisdiction" which states that some alleged crimes are so grave that they can be tried anywhere, regardless of where the offences were committed.
2- Current UK law supports this.
3- If Ms Livni travels to the UK, she could face arrest.
4- This is based on Ms Livni's involvement during Israel's war on Gaza.

The reactions from around the world are very interesting:

1- The BBC basically tries to argue that the UK laws are a joke and Palestinians are trying to sabotage "respectful" Israeli politicians.
2- No mention in two of the BBC's news reports about the Palestinian point of view, as if it was the Palestinians that waged war on Israel in the first place over Gaza and not vice versa. This type of journalism is clearly one-sided. Not even a name is mentioned. However all the big names are mentioned on the other side such as Netinyahu, Miliband and Ian Lewis.
3- Where was the UK (Israel's "strategic partner") when Gazans were being bombed by Israel's superior military (ironically called the Israeli Defence Force)?
4- Israel is playing the bully as usual, as if they were forced into this war. Reminds me so much of the Nazis really. "I'm only taking orders".
5- The UK bends over backwards to please Israel.

Here are some of what the BBC had to say:

1- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8413234.stm
Israel fury at UK attempt to arrest Tzipi Livni.
Ms Livni said the court had been "abused" by the Palestinian plaintiffs who requested the warrant.
"What needs to be put on trial here is the abuse of the British legal system," she told the BBC.

(BuJ: hmmm, so in Israel people can be put on trial for winning a legal battle in another country?)

2- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8415161.stm
UK ponders law change after Tzipi Livni arrest warrant
The government is "urgently" looking into reforming the law after a UK court issued an arrest warrant for former Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni. Foreign Secretary David Miliband said Israel was a "close friend" of the UK's and stressed he was keen to "avoid this sort of situation arising again". UK Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis: "This can never ever happen again"

(BuJ: Seriously, the UK has been caught with its trousers down. Surely, the law needs to be reformed if these kinds of charges can be brought up against a respectable world leader. However, if the ONLY person successfully tried under this law is an Israeli, then surely one has to look at what the Israeli did before pointing the finger at the law. If the warrant was against the Foreign Minister of Iceland, the world will probably assume it's a typo of some sort!)

Perhaps the law will be changed in the UK. And perhaps Israel will stop killing innocent people. Soon.

Peace,
BuJ

Final quote: "Israeli government experts on international law have advised cabinet ministers with a security background and senior IDF officers not to visit Britain, Spain, Belgium or Norway because in these countries they risk being arrested on charges of alleged war crimes through “universal jurisdiction” laws." (Source: wiki)

Surely Spain, Belgium and Norway (in addition to the naughty UK) should look into reforming their laws against abuse by "terrorists".

Just a word about the economic decline of Britain

2009-12-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

As you probably gathered, I am a big fan of the Abu Dhabi-based newspaper, The National.

Here is another brilliant article by them, written by Frank Kane.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091208/BUSINESS/712089946/1058&template=columnists

* Last Updated: December 08. 2009 7:08PM UAE / December 8. 2009 3:08PM GMT

I know The Economist is not everyone’s idea of a fun read, but from time to time it really does have the right stuff. “Standing still, but still standing,” was a brilliant headline in that publication the week the Dubai World story broke.

Last weekend it did it again for me by introducing me to the Arabic concept of “shamata”, which I had never encountered in my time here in the Middle East. It translates roughly the same as schadenfreude, the German word for “taking joy at another’s pain”. Why does English not have a simple one-word term for this exquisite sensation, rightly identified by Germans and Arabs as worthy of its own individual place in the dictionary?

In that vein, here is my own little burst of “shamata”. The UK chancellor of the exchequer, Alistair Darling, will today unveil his pre-budget review to the House of Commons. It is universally expected to be the most gloomy, pessimistic and downright spiteful bit of economic policymaking to come out of Britain in many a year.

The economic background is truly awful. The UK, with its overwhelming dependence on the twin pillars of property and financial services, was the worst affected of any of the big industrial nations by the credit crisis. It is still mired in recession while the US, France and Germany have pulled out.

The precise statistical evidence of Britain’s decline is well known and I do not propose to rehash the dry numerical evidence here. Soaring government, corporate and personal debt, falling property prices, rising unemployment, declining currency, shrinking exports … I could go on, but will not.

Instead, it will take just three “freakonomic” facts to illustrate the extent of the UK financial morass.

One: The Bank of England (BoE) has noticed a sharp rise in demand for £50 (Dh301) notes. Since the Lehman Brothers collapse last year, and throughout this year, the British public has been clamouring for the big pink-brown bills with a picture of Sir John Houblon, the first BoE governor, on the reverse side of the image of Her Majesty.

Conclusion: Britons have lost faith in the reliability of their banking system, once the envy of the world, and are hoarding the £50s, stuffing them in the safe or mattress to keep them from being blown by their bankers in some ill-judged investment in trashy US mortgages.

Two: Britain may lose its place among the 10 largest economies in the world by 2015. The Centre for Economics and Business Research says there is a distinct chance that in just six years Britain, fourth in 2005, will have been overtaken by China, France, Italy, Brazil, Russia and India.

Conclusion: The credit crisis will prove to be the decisive stage in a process of economic decline that has been inexorable since the end of the Second World War. The UK will be the main casualty of the shift of economic power towards Asia.

Three: HSBC, the big global bank that began life in Hong Kong and Shanghai and is returning to its Chinese roots, estimates that 85 per cent of UK property loans made over the past five years are in breach of their lending agreements.

Conclusion: The British property sector, the national totem of financial and psychological security since time immemorial, is, for the foreseeable future, bust. It cannot be the dynamo of economic recovery in the country.

I doubt that Mr Darling will raise any of these “facts” in his speech. Instead, he will announce a ferocious increase in income taxes to an eye-watering 50 per cent of earnings. He will include some equally draconian measures against bonuses for financial services executives in what has become known in the British press as “banker bashing”.

He has to raise more money to pay for the huge bailout packages to the banks he took over last year to avert a total collapse of the UK financial system. He also has to bash bankers because it is about the only popular thing he can come up with in a pre-election period. By all sensible prognoses his boss, the prime minister Gordon Brown, has only six months left at 10 Downing Street.

I had dinner in Dubai this week with an old media pal from the UK, a household name in press and TV and as staunchly British as they come. Over a glass he said gloomily: “I’m going to have to get out if they put tax up to 50p. I pay enough already and then on top of that I have to pay 17.5 per cent in sales tax whenever I buy something.

“It’s intolerable. Now, just when do you think the recovery will kick in here?”

Call it schadenfreude, call it shamata. Even revenge. Whichever, it feels great.

fkane@thenational.ae

Masafi is Water

2009-12-12T00:00:00.000-08:00

If you lived in the UAE for any period of time, you're probably aware that the word "Masafi" is synonymous with "water". So it's with great shame that I read this article:

ABU DHABI // A massive batch of Masafi water was deemed unfit for human consumption according to the Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority, which issued an order late last month demanding that the bottles be recalled from the shelves of retail stores through the Emirates. The ADFC confirmed yesterday that a half-million water bottles produced on October 12, 2009 with an expiration date of October 11, 2010 were contaminated, containing “impurities visible to the naked eye,” according to its press release. Sources at Masafi confirmed that 500,000 bottles had been ordered for recall. The company would not specify what the contamination was.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091211/NATIONAL/912109976/1010

Regardless, I drank Masafi last night, and will drink some more today. I support them 100%.

Here's a brief introduction about the village of Masafi (stands for "Pure Water" in Arabic):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masafi

Sa77a!

Copenhagen 2009

2009-12-10T22:43:00.000-08:00

Anyone feeling excited about the UN Copenhagen summit about sustainability and climate change?

I am.

http://en.cop15.dk/

Unfortunately, I think the UAE can make a lot more positive noises in the world press about this huge event.

We have the capability to do much more.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091210/NATIONAL/712099862

The above statement was excellent. We need to build on it.

Still, it's great that a US President is in attendance.

Closed Zone - Gaza

2009-12-07T00:00:00.000-08:00

A fantastic short clip by Gisha - Legal Center for Freedom of Movement calls on the State of Israel to fully open Gaza's crossings and to allow the real victims of the closure - 1.5 million human beings - the freedom of movement necessary to realize their dreams and aspirations.

http://www.closedzone.com/

This is actually an Israeli body, run mainly by Jews.

How to deliver a baby?

2009-12-05T00:00:00.000-08:00

So, poor people prefer to deliver their babies naturally (i.e. a vaginal birth) and rich people prefer to deliver using Cesarean section?

Sounds absurd, but isn't that a common symptom in our modern times?

Apparently natural birth is too much of a stress and is too messy for rich women to bother with.

What do you think? IYM especially?

To read more, click here on the full article:

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091130/FOREIGN/711299852/1187/enewsletter

Image credit: http://jeremysierra.com/DSC01487%20(Medium).JPG

Hay on Wye Book Festival

2009-12-03T00:00:00.000-08:00

"A" marks the spot!

I loved this article in the National about the Hay on Wye book festival in the UK. It seems to focus on Arab writers which is a great thing. Arabs have a great history with the written word, however, today we seem to have failed and failed miserably compared to our glorious past.

The full article:

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091130/ART/711299980/1186/enewsletter

Excerpts from the article:

Hay, now in its 22nd year, is a literary institution. In May, more than 100,000 people braved the rain to head to the sleepy book town on the Welsh border. The festival has hosted ex-presidents, rock stars and Booker prize winners and has extended its global reach in recent years to include offshoots in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, Segovia and Alhambra in Spain and Nairobi, Kenya. Beirut39 follows Bogotá39, which launched in the Colombian city in 2007 and identified many of the most promising rising Latin American talents, including Daniel Alarcón, Junot Díaz, Wendy Guerra, Andrés Newman and Juan Gabriel Vásquez.

UAE National Day 2009

2009-12-01T22:04:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday to our dear and lovely United Arab Emirates, which was born on 2 December 1971. This makes our dear country a mere 38 years old. Barely considered middle-aged by human terms, so imagine if judged by national terms alongside other nations.

Given that this is my first National Day on UAE soil in a decade, I really savoured the sweet flavour of this day here in the UAE. This is a day we forget our roots and allegiances. We're not Abu Dhabi or Dubai, we're not Sharjah or Ajman, we're UNITED Arab Emirates! Our differences make the alloy of the UAE stronger, and paves the way to an even brighter future inshalla (God willing)!

Given my geographic distance from the UAE all these years, the UAE has always remained close to my heart. So I dedicate this post to all Emaratis and UAEians and anyone that loves the UAE but are unable to share this lovely day with the rest of the UAE population. I dedicate this post to all the lovely UAE supporters wherever they are, in the UK or USA, in Canada or in Australia, in Japan or in Russia, in Brunei or in Pakistan, in Kenya or in Italy. This is for you.

I was happy and proud to attend the procession organised at Emaar Boulevard yesterday under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai. The story is best told through the pictures that follow. Enjoy!

1- A lovely display of the UAE flag alongside the world's tallest building, the Burj Dubai at 818 meters high.

2- A chirpy street dancer on bouncy stilts with the UAE flag painted on his face.

3- A group of dancers sporting the UAE flag on stilts. They were very bouncy!

4- No parade is complete without a Camel! So the organisers got together a group of camels. They entertained us all not only with their good looks, but also with their loud camel noises, and above all their camel poopy smell.. hahaha it was really smelly but everyone loved it. Of course, what better a contrast than having the Burj as the backdrop. Camels roamed the lands where the Burj is now standing not more than 20 years ago! I remember it!

5- Even the skies of the UAE carried the colour of the flag.

6- Dubai Police offered us a lovely display of their cars and motorcycles. The black bikes are Suzukis and the white ones are Yamahas, the cars of course as German BMW's. Shame they didn't use European bikes, as they are much more fun and characteristic. Imagine Dubai Police on BMW's or Ducatis. Yummy!

7- This is a closeup on the women in black on black bikes. They are from a special branch of the Police whose job is just to protect foreign dignitaries on UAE soil. I'm so proud of them to take a job like that. It might just be me, but I found those ladies to be very attractive too! The one in the foreground (you can see just her helmet) was so petit she could barely touch the ground with her specially-designed boots. However I know what she lacks in stature she compensates for in skill and determination. Like I said, these boys and girls made me very proud!

I wonder if they need any part-time help!

8- This group of balloons was very entertaining. Organised by the RTA, it's supposed to look like a station and a metro train. Each balloon needed about 20 guys to hold it down (I assume it was filled with lighter than air Helium gas). The ironic thing is that this RTA endeavour actually caused a traffic jam, hehe.

9- No Parade is complete without mentioning of Dubai's Father, the late Sheikh Rashed Al Maktoum who happens to be the biological father of our current Dubai Ruler, Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, bless them both! Sheikh Rashed is the co-architect of the Union along with his "brother" Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan. Sheikh Zayed was the first UAE President and considered by many in the UAE and beyond as one of the greatest world leaders in the last century. May they all be blessed and may their souls rest in peace.

10- I think this picture explains itself. Beautiful!
Just a minor note on translation. The Arabic word under Sheikh Mohammed's picture says "My Vision" which is taken from the cover of his book by the same name.

Finally, I took this picture from a far away place during sunset.
I believe in hope.
I believe in a better future.
I believe in the UAE.

Burj Al Arab - Happy 10th Brithday!

2009-12-01T01:52:00.000-08:00

The implosion of the Chicago Beach Hotel in 1997. (credit: The National)

Burj (برج): A tower. The word is Arabic in origin.

The amazing 7-star hotel, The Burj Al Arab, celebrates 10 years this month! As usual, The National has an excellent article about it. Please have a read here:

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091201/NATIONAL/711309906/1182/enewsletter

It's really worth reading it! Good work from Leah Oatway.

The architects and engineers for this iconic building that needs no introduction were Atkins. Before Burj Al Arab, I never heard of Atkins, but after seeing their masterpiece being built (I used to drive by the building site everyday), I was very impressed with the company that is one of the world leaders in the engineering field.

Although I've only been inside the Burj Al Arab a few times, I believe that it perfectly manifests Dubai's and the UAE's ambitions to be a world class city and a world class country respectively.

The Burj Al Arab (Hotel) is 321 m high, and the new Burj Dubai (tower) is 818 m high. Even though the newer, taller Burj is much more impressive in terms of numbers, I doubt it will do to Dubai what the Burj Al Arab did and continues to do.

Having said that, I can't wait for the grand opening of Burj Dubai... have they set a date yet? I'm betting on 4 Jan 2010!

Eid Squared

2009-11-30T06:06:00.000-08:00

Greetings dear readers.

Eid greetings come multiplied... First of all Eid Mubarak on the occasion of Eid Al Adha where the faithful walk in the footsteps of the Prophet Mohamad (PBUH) who walked in the footsteps of the Father of the Prophets - Abraham (PBUH).

May your times be happy and your meals delicious (but healthy!)

We're about to approach another Eid (celebration) in two days.. anyone excited about National Day?

I'm looking forward to participating in the huge procession at Emaar Boulevard :-)

Dubai Airshow 2009

2009-11-21T10:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Reader,

I know it's been a while since my last post, but life's spare time allocator has been unkind to me of late. As thus, I have to make do with less time online as I'd like. However, there is a certain plus to this, because I have been able to buy and read more books in the meantime.

A well-read blogger is certainly a better blogger!

Anyway, I had the good fortune of being invited to Dubai's Airshow for this year, and I went a little bit overboard with my camera. Like a Japanese tourist let loose with a gazillion megapixel camera in the middle of the Vatican's miles-long museums!

Here is a story better told by more pictures and less words:

1- The beautiful and graceful new Airbus A380

Probably the largest civilian jet ever made. The first to ever have two levels of passenger seats throughout the length of the plane. Very graceful and elegant. If you were there on 19 Nov 2009, you'd notice how amazingly skilful the test-pilot was in manoeuvring this mammoth at very low airspeeds without stalling!

2-The beauty of the wingspan

Don't you just love panoramic shots? Please click on the picture below to enlarge to appreciate its beauty.

3- Armed Forces

Can't say much except I didn't really feel their presence added much to our dear UAE.
Good old tax-dollars paying for a few posers.

4-Idiots were spotted inside

The queue to get into the airshow on the last day was immense. Probably half a kilometer long. The security was tight with metal detectors and xray machines. However, there was no minimum requirements for the IQ of the persons allowed in. This is a great shame. You had idiots like those below sitting on a helicopter drone thinking that they are cool. Perhaps they need to be reunited with their mothers and their playstations. There were even bigger idiots that I couldn't get myself to photograph who decided to sit inside a jet engine. That is complete fucking nuts. You have around a metre of "metal" between the tip of a jet engine and the rotating blades, and these idiots managed to sit in that narrow strip. They could easily cause damage worth tens of thousands of dirhams and even more if they lent on the blades. I wished if I could start up the engines and take them to full throttle only to suck these idiots into the engine and dissect them in a blink of the eye. However, the engine is worth more than the idiots combined, and plus I didn't have access to that particular cockpit. Darn!

5- UAE Armed Forces

Always lovely to see a UAE flag on some military hardware. Well-done boys!

6- Italian Tricolore 10-plane acrobatic team

As you might know, the Italians have an excellent acrobatic team that is of a similar calibre to the UK's Red Arrows. Fortunately the aeroplani italiani were on display that day and they were absolutely brilliant. Italians are fiercely proud of their "tricolore" flag, or the flag with three colours: Red, White and Green. Most spectators probably thought that the colours were for the UAE flag (which is a fortunate coincidence). However, ignorance is rife, and in this case can be possibly overlooked.

The Italians however did put up an excellent display, especially when they criss-crossed and looked as if they were going to crash into each other as shown in the picture!

7- See you in 2011!

This exclusive event is held every 2 years, so see you in 730 days or so inshalla!
إن شاء الله
لو ما زلنا أحياء نرزق

So long!

BuJ