Saturday, December 24, 2005

When you see a white beard...

Shout out HELP

VS.


بسم الله الواحد الذي لا إله إلا هو الفرد الصمد، منزل "قل هو الله أحد"، وتعالى عمن يجعلون له الشريكة والولد، وصل اللهم وسلم على نبيك محمد المرسل لمن شكر وجحد، وعلى آله وصحبه كل ما سقيتنا الغيث والبرد

أما بعد،


فقد تمكن النصارى المشركون، بكل ما يعدون ويحبكون، من نفر ليس باليسير، من أمة الدين العذب النمير، وجعلوهم يتخذوا المشركين أربابا من دون العالي المجيد، وصاروا يشاركونهم في كل مناسبة وعيد، يتناسون ما أعده الله من الوعيد، وهاهو اليوم يوم المشركين المشهور، لا أراهم الله البهجة والسرور، يرددون فيه كلمات الشرك والفجور، أعاذنا الله وإياكم منهم ومِن مَن في فلكهم يدور.

إن ما يحزن القلب والخاطر، ما عليه المسلمون من حال كحال كافر، فما إن رأوا مشركا عنيدا، حتى تمنوا له عيدا مجيدا، كبرت كلمة تخرج من الأفواه، تغضب صاحب العزة والجاه، رب الأرباب، خالق العباد والأسباب، فقوموا يا خير أمة أخرجت للناس، بكل أرض ومن كل الأجناس، فأحرقوا أشجارهم، وهدموا ديارهم، ولا تجعلوا لهم في الفرح ناقوسا، واحملوا السيوف والفؤوسا، لتبقى الأرض للمؤمنين الوارثين، للأرض وما عليها من زيتون وتين، ولا تنسوا حرب من نادوا بدولة من الفرات لطور سينين، جعلهم اللهُ والنصارى أذلة خاسئين.

والحمدلله رب العالمين، وتعالى عن شرك المشركين، هذا ما لزم بيانه، وحق بيانه.


Don't ask… it just happens that I feel showered by words like what I wrote above, when I read frivolous fatwas like the one that prohibits saying "Merry Christmas" let alone sharing the joy.



MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Friday, December 23, 2005

احتفال متأخر بقانون المطبوعات الجديد

قال نزار قباني

الحاكم يضرب بالطبلة
وجميع وزارات الاعلام تدق على ذات الطبلة
وجميع وكالات الانباء تضخم ايقاع الطبلة
والصحف الكبرى و الصغرى
تعمل ايضا راقصة في ملهى تملكه الدولة
لا يوجد شيئ في الموسيقى ابشع من صوت الدولة

وقال

الدولة تحسن تأليف الكلمات
وتجيد النصب
وتجيد الجر
وتجيد استعراض العضلات
لايوجد شعر في الدنيا... اردى من شعر الدولة

Thursday, December 22, 2005

22-12 in History

1885: Ito Hirobumi, a samurai, became the first Prime Minister of Japan.

1989: Brandenburg Gate re-opens

1990: Lech Wałęsa sworn in as President of Poland

2000: Madonna weds her Guy

2005: On the Winter Solstice, Kuwait still far from winter.

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

تنظيم "جهادي" يطالب بعودة بومريوم


تناقلت مدونات الكويت نبأ الانقطاع المفاجئ لمدونة "بو مريوم"، وساور القلق الأخوة المدونين لهذه الفاجعة التي وصل صداها للعديد من الجهات الرسمية والشعبية، كان أحدها تنظيم "المدونون المجاهدون في أرض الكويت"، التي أصدرت بيانا حصلنا على نصه المرفق أدناه:



بسم الله الذي لا يحمد على مكروه سواه، والصلاة والسلام على نبيه الذي من خلقه اصطفاه، وعلى آله وصحبه أما بعد،


فقد بلغنا نحن المدونون المجاهدون في أرض الكويت نبأ انقطاع المجاهد الأشم أبو مريوم، الذي حمل راية الجهاد على سياسات الفساد وعقليات التخلف، فما كان من قوى الصليبيين والصهاينة (شلت أيديهم) إلا أن يهجموا على مدونته قاصدين هدمها.


الأخوة المدونون،

قد نبغ الأخ أبو مريوم في علم التحلطم، وكان لنا به خير معلم، أما وقد خفي عنا خبره، وأخذ أرض الكويت سحره، نناشدكم الله الذي كسا سماء الكويت بالضباب والغيوم، أن تبحثوا بلا كلل عن أبي مريوم، في الطرقات والأزقة، وفي كل بيت وشقة.


هذا ونعلن أنه إذا فشلت الجهود، في إعادة حبيبنا المفقود، سنقوم نحن المدونون المجاهدون، بثورة في الكويت وأفغانستان والعراق والسجون، نعيد بها الحق لأهله، ونرد إلى نحر المعتدي فعله، وقفنا الله وإياكم، ونور بخبر العودة سماكم، فلكم الخير وللظالمين الردى، والسلام على من اتبع الهدى.


الرابع من ذي القعدة1426هـ



UPDATE: Bu Maryoum is BACK

Friday, November 18, 2005

Viva España 2/2

To wrap up the Spain thingy

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We stayed in a flat in Benalmadena Costa, rented from a Basque Family. They’re always in Bilbao every summer. Their flat was quite good.

The Father is a Theologian, he had his Holy Book studies in Jerusalem back in the late 1980s, his degree is framed in the master bedroom, written in English with some Hebrew & Arabic.

Needless to mention, that the living room is filled with religious paintings, icons & statues. Also, as the mother & daughter are obsessed with nature, you can find anything related to national parks & ducks everywhere. One more thing, the mother is extremely obsessed with hats, every empty space on the walls is decorated with her 20+ hats.

Renting the apartment reminded me of “I know a friend, who knows a friend”, because I know a family who knows a family, who knows a family living next door to the family we rented their apartment.

Benalmadena costa is a great place to stay, 15 minutes from Malaga and filled with day & night life. Most of the tourists there are from UK, Ireland, Germany & Morocco.

Pictures from Benalmadena.



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We had a great visit to Sevilla, the capital & largest city of Andalucia. The city is vivid, history & present embrace each other there.

Amerigo Vespucci, Christopher Columbus and Ferdinand Magellan sailed from Sevilla’s port to explore the world. It is the city of Abbadids & Almohads as well as Flamenco, Paz Vega & Real Betis. Parts of Lawrence of Arabia and The Kingdom of Heaven were filmed in Sevilla. Ibn Zaydoun the great Andalusian poet died there.

We visited Sevilla’s cathedral, the third largest cathedral in the world. It is far prettier than Notre Dame de Paris. The cathedral used to be a mosque, just like scores of churches in the southern part of Iberia. The Bell tower used to be the Minaret (Manara), it’s known as Giralda. On the of strange thing about it, is that it doesn’t have stairs, but an upward tilting ramp that narrows by the time you reach the top. Al-Muzzen (Al-Mo’athen) used to mount his horse and ascend it to call for prayer (Athan).

A little visit to Plaza de Espana was included, it was (as well as Plaza de America) built for the 1929 Ibero-American Exhibition.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have the opportunity to visit Alcazar.

By the way, Sevilla is extremely hot in summer, compared to the rest of Spain. By noon, it reached 41C in the shade.

Pictures from Sevilla.



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The last visit to mention was to Jerez de la Frontera. You can call it ‘Spain’s Bordeaux’, and it’s also famous for its Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art, one of five royal schools in Spain. Jerez is called Sherry in English (I think you know what sherry is), Brits are the major visitors there, both tourists & businessmen.

In every major street there’s a Bodega (Wine Cellar & Factory). We had a visit to “William & Humbert” (1877). There’s a horse stable near the factory housing around 10 horses, one of the horses is named “Al-Manzor”, named after Al-Mansour Muhammed ibn Abi Amer.

Pictures from Jerez.

=======================
I’d like to wish:

- Ctach-22 a happy first quarter of a century.
- Bu Maryoum & Lil Alien happy blogging anniversaries.
- JC a Happy Birthday.
- Mark good luck after completing the Miskan Project.

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Homage

If someone is dear to you, and maybe you’re more to him/her than he/she is to you, show it, live it, enjoy it and embrace every moment in your lives not to waste an opportunity to give love and to be loved.

عيد بأي حال عدت يا عيد

To look at faces, to sense places, to cherish memories and feel that it’s not just you, but everyone & everything is mourning, by silence, tears, pride or remembrance.

I never thought that sadness has a great influence on our souls, and always wondered, “how powerful is sadness?” a day came to let me face sadness, and I lost.

Indeed, it’s the greatest force I’ve ever faced in my life. And I swear I never felt that heartbreak, weakness, grief, scatter and misery before.

I never found a harder task than to assemble myself. To fetch pieces from corners of your life and found that it’s a far fetched aim. Nevertheless, I found out that It’s hard to stand still but it’s harder not to stand proud, grateful and loyal at the same time.

What saddens more is losing a mentor who had a great influence on your life. Who enlightened your thoughts and looked up to you. Who treated you like one of his sons.


(Circa 1950s)

He stepped out of this life, and left behind him a serene wife, benevolent children, a valiant brother and doting sisters, left without pain or sorrow, left with content and faith, left with strength and will, he left with a smile ….

Now I prevail.


و ان لم اجد كلمات تسطر المشاعر فلا تخلوا حروف الاولين عن ذلك رغم تفاوتها

فرحم الله جرير حين قال
ان الوداع لم تحب قليل

ورحم الله المعتمد بن عباد الذي قال
فيما مضى كنت بالأعياد مسرورا
وكان عيدك باللذات معمورا

وكنت تحسب أن العيد مسعدةٌ
فساءك العيد في أغمات مأسورا

واجاز في الفراق فقال
قبر الغريب سقاك الرائح الغادي
حقا ظفرت باشلاء ابن عباد

نعم هو الحق وافاني به قدر
من السماء فوافاني بميعاد

ولم اكن من ذاك اليوم اعلم
ان الجبال تهادى فوق اعواد

و رحم الله الجواهري حين رثى زوجته بقوله
في ذمــــة الله ما ألــقــى ومـــا أجـــــدُ
أهــــذهِ صـــخـــــرةٌ أم هـــــذه كــبــــدُ

قد يقــــتلُ الحزنُ مَنْ أحبابه بعُدوا
عـــنه فكــــيف بمَــنْ أحبابُه فُقِدوا

تجري على رســلها الدنيا ويتبعها
رأيٌ بــتــعــلــيــلِ مـجــراها ومعـتقدُ

أعــيـا الفــلاســفـــةَ الأحــرار جـهلُهم
ماذا يــخـــبي لــهــم فـي دفَّــتيه غدُ

حُـــيـــيــتِ ( أم فـــــــــراتٍِ ) إن والدةً
بــمـــثل مــا أنــجــبتْ تُكنى بما تلدُ

تــحـــيــةً لــم أجـــد مــن بَــثِّ لاعــجها
بُــداً وإن قـــام ســـــــداً بيننا اللحدُ

بالروحِ رُدي عــلــيها إنــهــــــا صِــلةٌ
بــيــن المــحــبين ماذا ينفع الجسدُ

بكـيتُ حتى بكى من ليس يعرفني
ونُــحــــتُ حــــتــى حــكاني طائرٌ غردُ

كـــمــــا تـــفــــجــــر عـــيناً ثرَّة حجرٌ
قــــاسٍ تــفــجـــر دمــعــاً قلبي الصلدُ

مـــدي إليَّ يــــداً تُــــمــــــدَدْ إليكِ يدٌ
لا بــد في العيش أو في الموت نتحد

ناجــــيتُ قـــــبرك أستوحي غياهبه
عــــن حـــــال ضـــيـفٍ عليه معجلاً يفد

ولفــني شـــبـــحٌ مـــا كــــان أشبَهه
بـــجَـــعــدِ شعركِ حول الوجه ينعقدُ

مُنىٍ وأتــعــسْ بها أن لا يكونَ على
تـــــــوديعها وهي في تابوتها رصدُ

لعــلـــني قــــــارئ فـــي حُــرِّ صفحتها
أي العــــواطــــفِ والأهــــواء تحــتشد

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Wednesday, October 26, 2005

Pollution 2

For a larger version (B&W) click on the picture.


After reading Zaydoun’s post about the cloud of black smoke (Link), I decided to take a photo of it.
Thanks Zaydoun

You can see how this cloud extends over Kuwait City’s skyline, I noticed this cloud for the first time back in 2003. At that time KOC decided to operate one oil field only in Al-Rawdhtain Oil Fields north of Kuwait (Because of the War in Iraq), and then the smoke got thicker and more visible. I think by now all the fields are operational, but why the cloud still hangs over Kuwait City, that is if my assessment was right.

The picture above was converted to black & white for a better view, if want to take a look at a larger version (cloloured), you can find it here.

-----------
Off subject
Interesting examination of wikipedia in the Guardian (Link)
Cheers Mate

Sunday, October 16, 2005

BTS

"Bloggers Tagging Syndrome"

Tagged by Catch-22,

Seven things I plan to do:
1-Buy a new laptop
2-Arrange my study (#3)
3-Learn a new language
4-Visiting friend(s) (abroad)
5-A new Agenda
6-Buying Moleskines
7-Read (like before)

Seven things I can do:
1-Not making [phone] calls for 5 days & more
2-bear whiners
3-Stay awake for 40 hours
4-Make Candles
5-elaborating & summarizing
6-Impersonate
7- Acquire languages

Seven things I can't do:
1-Have a siesta (cause I’ll sleep till the next day)
2-Drive with a manual gear
3-not using my computer
4-Eat Tuna
5-Hunting/Fishing
6-believe in a complete ideology
7-Devolop films

Seven things I say most often:
1-Look at the bright side
2-so what?
3-Yallah 9uba7 khair
4-3abaly
5-lalalala (no no no)
6-afa (different usages)
7-why not?

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Is it happening in Kuwait?



While performing my “Kuwait News” readings ritual, I found an alarming story. It says that Trina Flowers (an American national) was hired by a “technical institute” in Kuwait, and then faced problems regarding an unpleasant incident with Kuwaiti students from the royal family.

I can’t judge the story by some little readings, but it brings up a dangerous issue, which shocks me, and it is:
Is this happening in Kuwait??!!

Then, I found comments by Trina Flowers in a Kuwaiti blog, she said:

“I have written a book about my case and I would bet that the Kuwaitis who have been a part of this won't find it entertaining either (such as a high court judge that forged court documents and then produced this false evidence to a couple of sheiks who knew what he had done). His name and the evidence is in my book along with the transcripts of the recorded conversations.”

I really don’t find it entertaining, my main concern in not the people with power or connections. What I do care about is our Judicial system, if court documents were “forged”, I think we (as a country) is in a great dilemma. Not because she’s American, but because she’s a human – period

I wish there’s some kind of misunderstanding. If not, who erred must be charged, regardless of who he is.

Links:
Relevant Press Release
Trina Flowers Comments

Monday, September 26, 2005

Viva España 1/2

First of all, I feel obliged to like to thank Mark for the advices he bestowed when I was up to buy my new Digital Camera. Thanks again, with a D-SLR like the Nikon D50, my trip was well documented.

Moreover, my heart goes to May Shidyak and her family. Terrorism will never silent honest voices around the world.

And back to Spain, I had a great time & company this summer. I’d like to thank Paco, Rosana, Florencio, Minoo, Pliar, Fernando, Mamen, Agatha, Christina, Mourad, Massi, Na’ema, Miriam, Pepe, Nadia, Hasan, El-Jefe, Anna & M for all the help they offered. (I hope some of you read blogs ;)

This year I tried as much as I can, to avoid ‘Homeis’ (i.e. Kuwaitis), not that I don’t like them, but to get a real sense of a vacation abroad, I can dwell with them for 11 months and that’s quiet ample. Maybe that’s what I’m doing now.

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For this post, let’s start with Cordoba. One of the greatest cities in Europe, if not the world (and I’m not exaggerating). History swirls the air, every corner has a story and every brick include talks for itself. It was (with Baghdad) two of the most populated cities in the world around 10 centuries ago.

The jewel of the City is La Mezquita-Catedral, wich was a mosque (Al-Masjid Al-Jami3), after the Spanish Reconquest a cathedral was inserted in the middle, so now it’s two temples in one. Inside “La Mezquita” (the way people of Cordoba like to call it) you can travel in time just by turning your head from right to left. With La Juderia (Jewish Quarter) as well, you can explore three different religions, in one place.

Of course, I didn’t miss the opportunity to capture the sense of Cordoba with my camera, or try to. (Photos from Cordoba).

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In Malaga, we attended the annual fair (Feria De Malaga). A week in august that marks the Reconquest of the city. We had fun as everybody did. People were singing, dancing, playing or drinking almost all the time. (Photos from Malaga).

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One day, we decided to go to Cadiz (aka “The Little Silver Cup), so obvious it’s the city of the football team, which is doing well (nowadays) in the Spanish Liga, as far as I know.

Due to the snaky, narrow, windy and high mountain road to Cadiz, the mission was NOT accomplished. My friend who was driving is phobic to heights (I don’t know what do they this condition).

Instead, we made short visits to Tarifa & Algeciras (Europe’s Gates to Africa).
While Tarifa was filled with surfers because the Mediterranean and the Atlantic bump into each other there and the waves & winds are Ideal for surfing. Algeciras was filled with immigrants (from morocco) and with ‘Hasheesh’. As Fernando puts it, in Algeciras instead of saying ‘Hola’ you’ll be greeted with ‘Queres Hasheesh’!
(Photos from the road trip).

To be continued …

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Back to Normality

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I hope everyone had and having a good time, and like to thank my dear fellow bloggers who wished me a good vacation.

It’s my first vacation since I started blogging last march, and I felt an empty space while being abroad without checking and reading blogs regularly. Anyway, here I am back to normality.

I’ll try to focus my upcoming blog entries (posts) on my vacation, by moblogging for a period of time. Only a limited number of photos will be posted, while the rest will be available at my flickr photostream.

Monday, August 15, 2005

Monday, August 08, 2005

Thursday, August 04, 2005

iDip Makeover

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I don’t know if anyone noticed that the blog’s background is not 100% black anymore, it has been changed to “dark grey-ish” black, and since that change I had the intention of a mokeover for my blog.

The Makeover is almost done:

1- I added a phrase to the blog’s description, and it reads: “where a kuwaiti bloke thinks loudly”, scroll up to read.


2- I added a flickr badge.

3- I changed my profile’s picture.
It used to be a Photoshop illustration of my eye. Now it’s a new “a la Picasso” avatar.

The old one
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The new one
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(Link: to create yours).


4- I used to collect or copy links I’m interested in from the internet to the blog, now I created a new blog: “iDip’s Scrapbook”. I moved the bulk of copied material to my scrapbook, to keep things organized & 'cleaner'.

5- I created a third blog called “The MoleBlog” and it’s dedicated to MoleBlogging, MoleBloggers & related stuff.

Your suggestions and recommendations are always appreciated.

Tuesday, August 02, 2005

Life goes on ...

Yesterday, with King Fahd passing away, sadness draped every Kuwaiti whom will never forget what the Late King of Saudi Arabia advocated to our country & to the security of our up-roared region. And today we observe 15 years of the barbaric invasion that raped our beloved homeland overtly and relentlessly.

Treacheries are hard to be forgiven, but could be forgotten to take our chance and look into the future. A betrayal by a neighbour is hard to digest, even harder to overcome, but with people like Kuwaitis we’re better off.

Despite all the criticism we have about what’s currently going in Kuwait, we can’t generalize and see such criticism as an indication of a worse era. We criticise because we dare in a free country, because we love it & care.

Every one has his/her own kind of this awful memory. I experienced the occupation immaturely, and year after year, I understand more and more, feel firmer to sadness, indifferent to tragedies, and in the same time more caring about others.

I remember being abroad when all the mess started, foreign channels frequently broadcasted news stories of the Iraqi deployment. After we flew back to Kuwait, my family continued talking over and over about Iraqi troops near our borders, and I was wondering “why all this?” “Iraqi troops are next door since God knows when!” and what I meant with “God knows when” was that Iraq is in a war with Iran – being unaware of the end of their nonsensical war.

In the second day, the sorrow doubled in the family, a relative was missed. We found out (after days of searching and calling every creature on earth) that he was in a prison somewhere in Kuwait before taking him with scores of kuwaitis & expatriates to Iraq’s dungeons. In the following two months, our neighbours’ son & two distant relatives faced the same fate. Our relative came back after about 9 months in prison, but unfortunately, the other three are still missing.

After 15 years, I still remember what happened in various spots in Kuwait. Some people take you back to memories you did almost forgot, while others leave you in a doubtful position, where you ask yourself “was this country occupied?”.

Finally, I hope every dweller in our “land of plenty”, will take sincerely advantage of the change that morphed Kuwait, without harming others & him/herself, rather than being frustrated in a selfish way by insignificant affairs.
==========

Memory flashes:

بيتي وبيقول بيته

راجعة أرض الكويت كان تسمع صوتنا

FREE KUWAIT

راجعين يا أغلى بلد

Tuesday, July 26, 2005

Reminiscence


I found this story on Al-Rai Al-Aam (الرأي العام) and I’m wondering, is there any Kuwaiti Blogger(s) affiliated with this group? Link

Monday, July 25, 2005

Lexicography


If there is a new synonym to be included in the new prints of English Thesauruses, then it will be “Kuwait”, and it is for:
- Oil or Petroleum, the crude product that is distilled and refined to produce a wide variety of industrial oils and oil-based products.
I think Mirriam-Webster should be updated.


More on "Being a Kuwait":
- "It's a sort of Kuwait of East Asia" (1996) Link
- Azerbaijan - A New Kuwait (1997)
- "Kuwait is Oil" (1999) Link
- Equatorial Guinea: Africa's Kuwait? (December 2001)
- “Norway is rich because it is Europe's Kuwait” (June 2004) Link
- "China's Kuwait" hopes for petchem desert bloom (Today)

Sunday, July 24, 2005

Obliged

Dear “Anno Domini”,

It was pleasant to hear your voice once again from overseas, you don’t know how much delight & support it gave me. Despite taking care of this blog (that I repeatedly ask you to visit since the beginning), still you will not be forgotten in it. It had a remark to you in its very start, and will eventually pay ‘homage’ to you.

I wish you the zenith of success, and feeling obliged to thank you over and over again for all what you gave me, and for edifying me. Being in a good company is priceless, people like you are rarely to be found, but do exist somewhere we don’t know ;) .

If human beings are being away physically, no barrier could part their mental grasps, yes you’re grasped :>.

I’m the one who must feel indebted to you, for the guidance you provide, for the knowledge you bestow & for the noble person in you.

(Looking forward to wish you a Merry Christmas in person.)

Finally, I’d like to ‘lay down’ a gift & some mottos we lived and are living by:


- “Look at the bright side”
- “What comes around, goes around”
- “Don’t -----, unless you’re asked”
- “Never give up”
- “Keep rocking”
- “Toss it”
and “Here goes NOTHING”

Thursday, July 21, 2005

If Dora trusts Mac, why don't you?

"Dora", is the world's first fully autonomous vehicle driven by Mac OS X.

- Read more




via: Apple Hot News (RSS)

Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Kinga, the KUWAITI PLOSKA or the POLISHكويتية?

Aziza Al-Mfarrij wrote for the Al-Watan:


يا فرحتك يا بو كينغا

لولا الجرأة والإقدام لاكتفى رجال الكويت بصيد السمك وزراعة الرويد والطماطم ولأحجموا عن التجارة مع دول اعالي البحار، ولولا الجرأة والاقدام لما حصلت حكايتنا تلك.
يرغب الكثير من رجالنا في الفتك بكل شقراء ناعمة الثنايا، والغرق في حب العيون الناعسات، رجالنا غنوا على انفسهم وهم يدبكون «احنا سباع وندج القاع» حتى كادت الارض تتشقق وتتفتت تحت ضربات اقدامهم، رجالنا الاقوياء، دكوا قيعانا كثيرة في مختلف ارجاء الدنيا، ولولا شدة البرد لدكوا قيعان بلاد الاسكيمو.
رجالنا لا يهابون نوعية القاع، ولا النتائج الناجمة عن «دكهم» هذا. احد اولئك «الاسباع» مثلا دك قاعا بولندية، ونتج عن هذا الفعل فتاة جميلة جدا، بيضاء البشرة، شقراء الشعر، ملونة العيون، تقول للقمر قُمْ وانا اقعد مكانك، اسم تلك الفتاة كينغا وبالتالي يصبح اسم والدها الكويتي ابو كينغا، فلقة القمر نصف الكويتية تلك فيها عيب نراه، هنا في الكويت والجزيرة العربية، كبيرا. نصف الكويتية، نصف البولندية تلك تعشق التعري على الملأ، وتكره شيئا اسمه ستر، هذا ما قيل عنها عقب اشتراكها في برنامج البيغ برذر الانجليزي. تلك الفتاة لا تحب الملابس. هذا، وهي تعيش في بلاد باردة وهواؤها طري، ماذا ستفعل كينغا لو كانت تعيش في بلد والدها ابو كينغا وفي عز ايام الصيف؟!!
طبعا نحن لا يجب ان نلوم كينغا فالحب يطلع على بذره، وطب الجرة عَتًمْها تطلع البنت لامها. الملام هو والدها الكويتي، المسلم، الذي لم يسر على هدى رسوله الكريم وهو من قال «تخيروا لنطفكم فإن العرق دساس». من عيوب الشخص العربي عموما، والكويتي خصوصا، الاعتقاد بأن دباديبه فتّاكه وان الاوروبية حين تقع في تلك الدباديب السمراء فستكون وقعة ابدية تنكسر معها عظامها، ويذهب الى الابد عقلها، ولا فكاك لها بعد ذلك، يعتقد انه بسبب سمار بشرته سوف تحترمه تلك الاوروبية، وسوف تقبل وتحترم بيئته وتقاليده، وإلا ما قبلت ان تعيش معه، يعيش ذلك السبع، المغوار وهم ان تلك الاوروبية «الحسناء احيانا، الخفس اكثر الاحيان» لن تجد فارسا اسمر اخر مثله، ولا يدري المسكين ان حد تلك الاوروبية معه يأتي حين تمل منه، او حين تجد من هو اكثر قدرة منه على الصرف عليها فتتركه، غير آسفة عليه، وغير آبهة به، احد هؤلاء وبعد ان تركته زوجته الاوروبية، كي تتزوج كويتيا اخر من المغفلين، وجد بنت حلال كويتية قبلت به وبعياله، تزوجته، وراعت الله فيه وبأبنائه علاوة على انها انجبت له ابناء آخرين، ربت وكبَّرت الاطفال ولم تنس يوما زوجها في خضم تلك المعمعة. كان يوم الخميس مخصصا لذلك السبع لتدليعه، وتدليله «طاح حظه» فلا اطفال، ولا التزامات، بل عروس متجددة تبحث عن رضا عريسها. ولكن لان الوفاء عملة اصبحت نادرة، طلق هذا السبع تلك المرأة الكويتية الملتزمة الوفية وطردها مع عيالها، وكل ذلك لانه هذه المرة يريد ان يدك قاعا آسيوية التقطها من احد الصالونات. جاء السبع بتلك الزوجة الثالثة واسكنها احد ادوار المنزل بينما خصص دورا اخر لوالدته، ودورا ثالثا لابنائه من الاجنبية. ثمرة الزواج هذه المرة ستكون آسيوية، وان كانت الثمرة البولندية، الكويتية تتعرى على الملأ، فهل ستقوم الثمرة الاسيوية، الكويتية بعبادة بوذا

Sunday, July 17, 2005

The New Nanny Diaries Are Online (NYT)



July 17, 2005

By HELAINE OLEN

OUR former nanny, a 26-year-old former teacher with excellent references, liked to touch her breasts while reading The New Yorker and often woke her lovers in the night by biting them. She took sleeping pills, joked about offbeat erotic fantasies involving Tucker Carlson and determined she'd had more female sexual partners than her boyfriend.

How do I know these things? I read her blog.

- Read the whole story

- Read the Nanny's reply

Thursday, July 14, 2005

With such MPs who needs enemies?

Behold fellow citizens, the distinguished lawmaker Faisal Al-Mislim is going to decide who’s Kuwaiti and who’s not:


- More about our prominent MPs

Wednesday, July 13, 2005

I'm not Afraid

The image “http://photos22.flickr.com/25722204_675206e99c.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

Show your solidarity by telling the terrorists:

“ I’M NOT AFRAID ”

I placed my message on a photo I took while visiting London last year, in a bus that if I was in on 7/7 I could be dead.
That’s my way of expressing sympathy.


Links:
- On the Web, Fearlessness Meets Frivolousness (NYT)
- We’re not Afraid!

The Revolt of Israel's Center (Friedman)

Moved to my scrapbook

flickr & 7/7

On the Web, Photos Strain to Connect 7/7 and 9/11 (NYT)

Monday, July 11, 2005

Don't imitate, INNOVATE

While browsing daily newspapers today, I found this ad:


Does it look familiar?



I think it does!

الجاسم مجددا




Mind your own business



While reading Al-Rai Al-Aam (الرأي العام) this morning, I found this:

==========

Quote

المتطرف النمسوي هايدر يطالب بانسحاب الأميركيين من السعودية والكويت

اتهم جورج هايدر، زعيم الحزب النمسوي اليميني المتطرف المشارك في الحكومة، الرئيس جورج بوش ورئيس الوزراء البريطاني توني بلير بانهما «المسؤولان عن الارهاب»، وقال من ناحية ثانية، انه يتوجب على الولايات المتحدة ان «تنسحب من السعودية ومن الكويت حيث لا شغل لها هناك», واضاف ان «القوات الاميركية في الشرق الاوسط ليست مهتمة الا بالنفط»,
وذكر هايدر اول من امس ان «المسؤولين عن الارهاب» هم «الذين عملوا من اجل الحرب (ضد العراق) في الولايات المتحدة وبريطانيا», واضاف ان بوش وبلير شنا الحرب على اساس «كذبة استغلها المتطرفون وتسببت بالاعتداءات الارهابية في مدريد ولندن», واعتبر ان «بوش وبلير قد اهانا شرف العرب».
وطالب هيدر بـ «مبادرة سلام من قبل الاتحاد الاوروبي من اجل العراق وافغانستان والعالم العربي» من اجل التصدي للارهاب, واوضح انه «يجب ان يحصل اولا انسحاب سريع للقوات من العراق».
وقام هيدر في الماضي بزيارات عدة لليبيا وايران والعراق، حيث التقى صدام حسين عندما كان رئيسا للعراق, ويضم الائتلاف الحكومي في النمسا، الحزب المحافظ وحزب هايدر.

End of Quote

==========

More on Jörg Haider:

Jörg Haider (Wikipedia)

Saddam receives Haider (13-02-2002)

Austria's political player shares stage with Saddam (13-03-2002) Buzzle.com

Lost in translation: an interview with Saddam's translator

Sunday, July 10, 2005

Chronic Slavery

A combination of: Lust, Need, Brutality, Captivity and Gluttony.

Links:-

A living hell (Ynet)

War waged on ‘modern slavery’ (Ynet)

Trafficked to the west* (BBC)

*podcast available.

The Enigma of Damascus (NYT)


In-depth report on Syria (NYT Magazine)
Read it

A Nobel for Lulwa Al-Qetamy (Updated)

Originally posted on 02-07-2005


I'm writing my latest post with a similar title to my first post (or 'first blog' as I called it).

Maybe it's a good omen.

The only webpage I found with a small picture of Lulwa Al-Qetamy: Link


Interesting Article
ناجي سعود الزيد: هي أكثر نبلا

Thomas Friedman: A Nobel for Sistani

Update Interview with Lulwa Al-Qetamy - pdf

(updated) نهاية وزارة الاعلام


Anas Al-Rshaid said in Washington DC:
"My idea for improving journalism in Kuwait is the elimination of the ministry of information" Link

and wrote an Article for The Washington Times on 1st of July 2005. Link

Update عبدالرحمن الراشد: آخر وزير اعلام
Update2 وزير الإعلام الكويتي للحرة: لا نحتاج وزارة إعلام وحلمي إلغاؤها

Saturday, July 09, 2005

A Muslim Solution (Friedman)

Moved to my scrapbook

Settle

In a reoccurring behaviour people seem to pursue their egocentric crave of perfection. To be everywhere, to know everything, to be everyone not to know themselves or dig profoundly into their yearnings and settle down and acknowledge their limitations. Even though I do believe completely in individuals’ capability to sponge and regenerate ideas in a creative manner.
Something I read unleashed an old thought of mine.

What’s the shade of our lives?
Some seem to favour the extremist option where they either do or don’t, others live in the grey area, where things are ambiguous and every decision is exposed to relativity with other factors to score a stand minus and/or plus something. The rest are more into the pale option, which entails having a slight fraction of everything, to come up to a tedious close.

Perfection in its utmost form is an unattainable aim that mortals will never reach. Deep into us there’s a value commonly disregarded. It is satisfaction, the value that we misapprehend always as a constraint to success.

No more to be written, no more to be said.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Falafel Fuel (Ynet)

From your falafel to your car (Ynet)

Is it rude? (NYT)


Is answering your cellphone at work considered rude? or ignoring it?
I mean when you are working or in a meeting

Check out this guy. NYT Link

الكويت نموذج لحقوق الانسان



Quote from BBC:

"Both the Emirates and Qatar are planning to replace child jockeys with mechanical ones in the near future."

What about Kuwait???

BBC Link

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

An Arabic Podcast, sort of

Since Apple launched iTunes 4.9, I’ve been looking for a Kuwaiti podcast or an Arabic one.

Finally, I found one!
The image “http://360east.com/blogfileupload/humeid.gif” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.
It belongs to Ahmad Humeid (of Amman, Jordan), his podcast “MixUp Arabia” is available at iTunes Music Store & titled “a podcast from a confused Arab world”.

Until now, the podcast’s theme is the Arab world, internet, blogs, TV, press, music and politics. Unfortunately, the podcast is not in Arabic.

Before concluding, I feel obliged to express my admiration for our fellow-blogger Ahmad Humeid’s effort to set & launch the first Arabic podcast. (As far as I know)

==========
Ahmad Humeid’s Blog: 360east
His podcast

Monday, July 04, 2005

نوايا الجاسم

The image “http://www.aljasem.org/logo.gif” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

يطالعنا محمد عبدالقادر الجاسم بين الحين والآخر بمقالات لم تخرج حتى الآن عن دائرة الاسرة الحاكمة وترتيب بيت الحكم وغير ذلك من المواضيع التي تحوم من قريب او بعيد حول رئيس مجلس الوزراء في الكويت

يتحدث في مقاله الاخير عن النوايا ولكني اتسائل
اذا كانت نية الجاسم حسنة هل يعتقد ان ذلك يكفيه؟
وهل اذا قدم خطة لانتقال الحكم يتوقع ان اهل الحل و العقد في الكويت سيتبعونها؟
خاصة وان الفضل والثناء سيعود للجاسم ... هذا ان تم اتباعها
لعلي لم افهم ما يريد الجاسم ايصاله ولكني ادعو له كما دعى لنفسه
الله يعطيك على قد نيتك
==========
اقتباس من مقابلة الشيخ صباح يوم امس اعتبره تمهيدا يساعد في قراءة المقال

اقتباس

المذيع .
لما تقرا صحيفة يا طويل العمر وتشوف انتقاداً لسموك كرجل دولة انتقادا كرئيس وزراء ما هو شعورك ؟


الشيخ صباح .
بالعكس الانتقاد قد يكون ينتقدني عن حسن نية والله احترمه واقول ممكن ان اكون غلطاناً لكن من ينتقد لسوء النية هذا يؤلمني لكن في نفس الوقت نقول خليه .. حتى ينتهي.
المذيع .
حصل يا طويل العمر أن أحد كتب وجهة نظر ينتقد الحكومة اللي انت رئيسها .
الشيخ صباح .
اولا ما يهمني انتقاد الحكومة كل اللي يهمني وكل ما اطلب الان في هذا اللقاء بأن يا اخوان يا اصحاب الصحف عليكم بالحكومة اكتبوا ما تشاؤون .. لكن ابعدوا عن ان تمسوا الاخرين الدول الثانية لان احنا بلد دائما نحاول صداقة الاخرين . ليش اعادي الاخرين فلذلك اتمنى منهم دائما يحاولوا أن لا يمسوا الدول الاخرى اذا ارادوا ان ينتقدونا انتقدوا ما تشاءون قولوا ما تشاءون ممكن يكون فيه فائدة لنا.


انتهى الاقتباس
المصدر: جريدة الوطن
==========

اقرأ مقال الجاسم

مقالات محمد الجاسم الاخرى

Blog & Contribute (NYT)

Moved to my scrapbook

Blog & Buy (NYT)

Moved to my scrapbook

Bin Baz doesn't think so

I mean, "didn't think so"

After reading a post in a ‘sort-of-1-800-FATWA-blog’, I enjoyed the diversity of our blogosphere.

Bo Jaij thinks it's silly,
Ayya said it’s brainwashing,

and,
Atheri has an interesting post. Don’t miss it!

Where do I stand? here

The Mediterranean Beauty

This post is motivated by waterlilie’s post “Barbie World


The image “http://www.jackieguillory.com/images/blog_images/plastic_surgery.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

First of all, NationMaster is a very interesting & useful website, I use it a lot for my research.

After reading the post that inspired this one, I looked for plastic surgery procedures.
I found that three mediterranean countries –Cyprus, Lebanon & Greece– are the top 3 in procedures per capita (Link).

The stats are not updated (2002), but why it’s so high? does it mean that they’re endlessly questing perfection? or is it cheap & easy to do there? No clue!

Regretfully, there are no plastic surgery stats for Kuwait.

Sunday, July 03, 2005

'KUNA Hunting' Part 1


click on the picture for a larger version


iDip is back from a 'KUNA Hunting' trip

When I saw this picture some questions popped up in my mind:
1-Why half of the picture is useless?
2-What's wrong with the lens?
3-Can't they remove the date? I can help
4-Why the middle chair is empty?
5- Are they having a break?
6-Why the Acting Prime Minister (First Deputy PM) is not 'charing' the meeting?

Read more @ KUNA

Follow the Leapin' Leprechaun (Friedman)

Moved to my scrapbook

The End of the Rainbow (Friedman)

Moved to my scrapbook

Saturday, July 02, 2005

مصر مش كده

أتوقع بأن عددا ليس باليسير من المدونين (Bloggers) في الكويت قد شاهد الإعلان السياحي الأخير لمصر ضمن حملة شعارها "مصر ... البيت بيتك".

الآن في عالم المدونات المصري انطلقت حملة مضادة تحت شعار "مصر مش كده" يقودها المدونون المصريون الذين رفضوا الصورة التي عرضت بها بلادهم على شاشات التلفاز.

The image “http://img298.echo.cx/img298/8214/notegy4hz.jpg” cannot be displayed, because it contains errors.

للمزيد:

مدونة "مصر مش كده!"

مدونة "مع نفسي"

قل لا لإعلان البكيني


اقتراح:

حملة "الكويت مو جذي"

بقيادة: بو مريوم

الاعتراض على: الصورة التي يمثلها أعضاء مجلس الأمة الموقر للكويت في الخارج

حملة "المملكة مهيب كذه"

بقيادة: W.

الاعتراض على: منع المرأة السعودية من قيادة السيارة

حملة"لبنان منو هيك"

بقيادة: نترك لكم الترشيح

الاعتراض على: اختيار السنيورة رئيسا لمجلس الوزراء

مع الاعتذار إن وقعنا في شرك (فخ) التدخل في الشؤون الداخلية للدول والشعوب