و تلوموني ليش احبه؟

درر

Packing Can be Fun

Although packing can be very stressful physically and emotionally; but if done slowly and properly, it can be a lot of fun.

Packing each collected memoir takes you into different worlds; each back to a specific time somewhere in the back of your head, each with its own taste of sentimental feelings and pleasures. At times the whole image just rolls in front of your mind’s eye like a movie. I even surprised myself, on how many things I have gathered through the years; Pictures, T-shirts, medallions, letters, books that were promised to be read times back and ended up dusty on the shelves. Poetry from people around written to me (or at least that’s what they claimed :p), trophies, mugs. Although I have only lived in this place for the last five years!!

And at times it can get very emotional when a cutie like my Katkooti begs me to pack her up with the stuff 😦

Packing does not mean that you have to physically stress yourself, you can have plenty of fun time, when you take a break; have a KitKat :p, close friends gather around you and keep your company, and sometimes share a meal or two in between packing. And what could be more fun than taking a whole day off and going fishing with friends if not for the joy of catching a fish?

Yes I cough that Sbai6i 😀

And on my way back home

يا حلوهم يا حلوهم …شوفو شوفو يا حلوهم
Kuwait is paradise if it wasn’t for the beardos (Sigh).

On a related note:
Yesterday, I was talking to my dad about some of my old collectables. He excused himself and went to his room and got these two documents (shown hereafter), and a book of fortune telling written in Farsi language, of which the author (forgot his name, I gave it to a friend to make a copy) passed away 500 years ago. And unlike fortune telling of Hafiz which is done in rhyming verses, this book uses numbers, most probably astrological numbers. It’s not that I believe in such stuff, but practicing it is a lot of fun, especially when the girls and me gather. But first I have to read the book.

A draft cheque issued in 14 March, 1943 from the first banking institute in Kuwait. Notice the cheque used belongs to the Imperial Bank of Iran, where the name is scratched and LLOYDS bank stamped. My dad says they were the same with different names.

A letter given to a Kuwaiti citizen by the Emir of Kuwait Ahmad Aljaber Alsabah, for traveling purposes, when there were no passports back then.

Final note: This post was inspired by intlxpatr, thanks sweetie :*

العيب فيكم و في حبايبكم اعضاء مجلس الامة

Thanks to our Emir for restoring Elhaibah* to the royal family. And for reminding the family that their unity behind the constitution is what keeps Kuwait’s love and respect to the monarchy. Never for once I doubted that Shaikh Subah was well aware of what’s going on in the country; either directly within his immediate family or indirectly through his bigger family Kuwait. And I really hope that the members of the royal family whom have been causing such disturbance in the country had learned their lesson well, I’m sure Shaikh Subah will take harsher measures if such skirmishes persisted.

And someone should tell this guy to stop barking and to assume responsibility for the space of freedom that he enjoys. No one is against criticism, in the contrary; it is needed. But there is a big difference between constructive and directive criticism and pure heresy aimed at destructing people’s reputation. Yes; even the Emir respects criticism and considers it an advice because he knows the difference; this type of criticism is not new to him nor it is to kuwaitis. Our fathers and grandfathers had practiced it for years, and it is the bases upon which both the respective rulers and citizens communicated and united to build this country. But I advice this rented pen to know his limit and avoid testing our patience by mixing the concept of freedom of speech with personal insult, which will not be taken lightly; neither from the ruler, nor from us the citizens.

Our constitution had given us a space of freedom fit for our century; the basics on which it was built will remain to be our pride. And as the Emir said to the member of the family”العيب فيكم”, I’d say that not activating the articles that assures more space of freedom in the constitution is because of us, Kuwaiti citizins and not because of a shortcoming in the constitution. In other words;” العيب فينا و في حبايبنا اعضاءمجلس الامة”. And its time to straighten up our base by activating all articles of the constitution, then by upgrading it according to our years of hand-on experience, and in the direction that allows more freedom and not less.

It is also essential that the constitutional bills that highly contradict with constitution (like university gender segregation) be dropped. Those bills that were issued in the past in an unprecedented effort to paralyze the articles of the constitution are in dire violation to article 175, which states that any change or modification on the constitution have one vector component that points upward, towards a guarantee of more freedom and not less. Yes, there are articles in the constitution that need modification, but this modification is conditional. The constitution is one total set of laws that should be dealt with as one, unbreakable unit.

It’s time to seek a secular society. Aren’t you sick and tiered of the berdos who are controlling every aspect of our lives by misusing and manipulating our constitution? It’s time to let them know that religion has its own place, and it will be highly respected so long it knows its place and its limits. And mixing religion with politics would only result in Paella**.

*Elhaiba: an Arabic expression that means respect, or an awe mostly directed towards the elderly, wise members of the family. This expression was first used by Mohammad Aljasem to indicate that Shaikh Subah is the last of the sheikhs whom posses such qualities and traits which keeps Kuwaiti people’s respect and loyalty.

** There is an old story of how the Moorish kings’ servants created rice dishes by mixing the left-overs from royal banquets in large pots to take home. It is said by some that that word paella originates from the Arab word “baqiyah” meaning left-overs.

On a separate note:
I don’t know if anyone paid attention to this article that appeared on the first page of Alwatan newspaper, published on April14, 2007 issue!!!

First of all; who is قذائف القاعده? And where are they located; physically I mean? And who is Albathaly and what is his rank exactly in relation to this terrorist cell? It is obvious that this person is knowledgeable about the discrete activities of this terrorist’s cell, he might as well be one of them, or otherwise how does he know, how many youths volunteered to join this jihadic mission? Especially if the military training is secretive as he says. Away from government’s eyes. And is this training done in Kuwait? in which location? And where is the Interior Ministry?

Getting prepared for war and all its military training is not a gangster’s job, or else why do we have laws in civilized countries? It’s government’s duty to protect its citizen during peace and war, and it is definitely its duty to train them properly to do that. And not some opportunist whose aim and goal is much more than a simple self-defense as this so called political activist is trying to portray.

Anyone has any idea what is exactly going on?

Confusion

Different thoughts, different worlds
One leg in the East the other West
One in agony and depression the other just a sought reverie
And much more confusion

Was it meant for me to be in the spiral move
Hanging on the edge
Of ecstasy and abyss!
Where is my final destiny!

How could one escape the phantom
How could one escape the country
How could one blink an eye
When family fights family

How could one leave this behind
Seeking a piece of mind
When the mind has long been lost
Under layers of ailing sand!

Yet in between boxes I packed
I see a rising land
A genuine assurance
My love is in safe hands

The War of Ethics had Started

من جانبه، استغرب عضو الحركة الدستورية النائب خضير العنزي اعفاء وزيرة التربية ووزيرة التعليم العالي نورية الصبيح لمدير منطقة الجهراء التعليمية الدكتور عبدالعزيز المحيلبي من رئاسة لجنة التعاقدات الخارجية في الاردن وتعيين مديرة لاحدى الادارات بمنطقة مبارك الكبير صديقة للوزيرة الصبيح لرئاسة هذه اللجنة.
واعتبر العنزي ان «الوزيرة الصبيح بدأت معركة جديدة لنسف قرارات الوزراء السابقين وتغيير الوظائف لمصلحتها ضاربة بعرض الحائط النظم واللوائح التي يقوم بها المدراء العامون والقياديون».
ووجه العنزي في هذا الخصوص عددا من الاسئلة للوزيرة الصبيح

Alwatan ,April 11, 2007

Why Ten Commandments?

With George Carlin

No Comment

Yesterday I had a great day that I thought nothing can make me feel bad. A personal matter that kept me hanging for a month, and I wasn’t sure when will it clear off or even what was I suppose to do. This issue cleared yesterday in almost an hour and boosted my mood up to cloud seven, until I read this news in AlQabas. It was then when I realized that you couldn’t stay happy in this country for long; there’s always something that bangs you on the head and awakens you to the miserable reality.

This article was supposed to be a review of the documentary “When The People Spoke”, of which I posted about last week (click here). It started off very nicely and ended abruptly in a tone that reminded me of those articles that were written by the filthy Fuad Elhashim and the social climber Nabeel Alfadel; the two who wrote in the disrespectable newspaper Alwatan during the orange movement of May 2006. The article reeked of the same lie invented by Alwatan at that time, but the shock was that it came from AlQabas newspaper. And for those who did not witness those days; AlQabas was the only newspaper among the five, which was relatively decent enough to portray the reality of the orange movement.

Those who lived those days remember how Alwatan brought imposters, dressed them in blue to be distinguished from the orange , and gathered them in the same plaza (sa7at Alirada), in which the orange movement commenced their activities. And on top of that they made them mock the orange activities to a point that was really silly since the acting seemed so obvious and could not fool anyone. All this was done in an effort to take their pictures, multiply the number of participants by using PowerPoint tricks (another shameless forgery), just to belittle the effort exerted by the majority of the public, by showing that it was nothing but another opposing voice in a battle of different opinion between different parties. And the funny thing is that AlQabas itself posted about such forgery. And now, one of its writers is questioning the validity of this documentary and considering it a directed and opinionated work and suggesting that it should have included the other party’s point of view!!!!

The other party’s point of view? Who is the other party? and whom are we fooling? Did we repeat the lie to the point that we started believing it ourselves? Willa shini elqisa bilthab6? And if there was “the other party”, then why didn’t AlQabas write about them then? Or are they betting on the short memories of their readers?

Being in a third world country sure teaches you how history is forged depending on who has the upper hand. And if this is the case; then all our history is nothing but a bunch of lies.

And the irony of the whole thing is that this article was published in the Art section of the newspaper. I don’t know if the writer Ahmad Alnaser meant the art of forgery that he was performing in the footsteps of the Alwatan, or he meant the art of movie production. Although I’m pretty sure that in his mind, he is considering the former to be the case.

No wonder creativity is so scarce in this part of the world, and when a wild plant shoots out there’s always others who compete to pluck it. The Ministry first banned the documentary, and now newspapers are spreading lies. Now how do we expect to ever develop? And why is the country spending such a fortune on our kids who are sent abroad to study and mix with more civilized nations, those nations that depend on a generation of creative people to survive and prosper, if our kids are destined to be forever hammered with one disappointment after another?

No to Internet Censorship

Last week I posted about Internet Censorship and how Internet provider companies in Kuwait are misusing their power and increasing their pressures on the freedom of speech by systematically blocking forums and blogs (click here). And if you remember my review of the “When the People Spoke” documentary produced by blogger Bunaz (click here), this documentary did not get the approval to be officially released to the public by the Ministry of Communication, although it portrays history in the making of vital events in the country during May 2006, an effort which deserves proper nourishing and encouragement from the officials instead of disappointment. All this was because the key players in the movie were bloggers.

And about few days back, Alwatan newspaper, which is considered the only paper that portrays government policy, had published an article demanding more control over the Net and accusing bloggers to be politicians working under anonymous names to promote certain individuals or parties, whom they are supposedly working for!!!!! And the writer’s proof was the different blog designs, which he though must have cost a fortune (how stupid). The ignorant writer did not even know that this service is provided for free and that most bloggers are using ready-made designs. The officials in that newspaper did not even check the authenticity of such information before publishing that article. But this is not my issue here since this Newspaper has lost its credibility ever since the orange movement in May 2006 with loads of lies it purposely invented, the fact that led a lot of Kuwaitis to eventually stop their subscription with them. But nevertheless; bringing this subject to public attention is not for naught.

But the straw that broke the camel’s back was when KTV axed a program titled “Diwaniya” just when the episode about blogging, in which some Kuwaiti and Bahraini bloggers participated, was supposed to be aired. The thing that made it clear to all bloggers that they are under close surveillance and that there is a campaign which is systematically growing to ban the freedom of speech, precisely when it comes to bloggers which they find hard to control

And because of these late developments Kuwaiti bloggers decided to speak up and a blog was initiated by some bloggers and dedicated to fight on behalf of all bloggers (yes they are doing this for us). This blog was named 36, as per the article 36 of the constitution that states:

Article 36 [Freedom of Opinion and Expression]
Freedom of opinion and of scientific research is guaranteed. Every person has the right to express and propagate his opinion verbally, in writing, or otherwise, in accordance with the conditions and procedures specified by law.

(click here to visit the blog), and a petition was included to get as much signatures as possible in their pursuit to get public support. And in the same process, there will be a symposium tonight regarding this issue, organized by the bloggers at eight PM in the National Liberal Unity (I hope this is the right translation). So the least you can do if you are a blogger, or even if you care for the freedom of speech as a principle, is to move your ^$$es and be there.

And I know you do care, so see you there 🙂

An Update
In his first announcement, the new Minister of Information declared that he would issue a decree to make sure that the media abides to the Islamic dogmas and the inherited heritage. (Source: Kuwait News)
Ya3ni bil3arabi elfasee7; elmo6awa3 jahaz elkhaizarana. How more lucky can we be?

To all Freedom Fighters – Men and Women

الحريه الشخصيه مكفوله-الدستور ماده٣٠

لنتواجد غدا في مجلس الامه لحضور القسم الدستوري لنوريه الصبيح و د. معصومه المبارك دعما لمسيرة المراه

تواجدكم مهم غدا الاثنين ٢ ابريل الساعة ٨:٣٠ امام المجلس

 

 

Personal liberty is enshrined as a natural, rather than an acquired, right – Article 30 of the Constitution
Please participate in supporting women rights by attending the oath session of both Ms. Noriya Alsibeah and Dr. Masooma Almubarak
Your attendance is highly important on Monday, 2nd of April, at 8:30 AM in front of the parliament building.