Sunrise 10 March 08
Morning is coming earlier and earlier, and we haven’t even hit the Spring Solstice yet. I fell asleep too early last night, so I was wide awake when the sun started rising this morning. It looks like another beautiful, glorious Spring day, no clouds, just that troublesome layer of haze off there in the distance.
It is 55°F / 13°C at 0730.
Jazeera to Istanbul
We have almost as much fun in Turkey as we have in Damascus, for all the same reasons. So this morning, when Jazeera announced a new route starting March 29, they got a big Wooo Hooooo from me!
NEW ROUTE! Kuwait Istanbul From March 29!
Considered the gateway to Europe, Istanbul is a quintessentially eastern city, with glittering mosques and decorative splendor. The city has a rich history to explore, with beautiful wooden Byzantine architecture, fascinating museums, and the most glorious mosques. Sample the delicious mezze and kebobs, stroll around the markets and bazaars, enjoy a cup of apple tea and absorb the lively atmosphere.
Flight schedule:
Kuwait – Istanbul Istanbul – Kuwait
Thursdays DEP: 07:55 / ARR: 11.30 DEP: 12.15 / ARR 15.45
Saturdays DEP: 18.15 / ARR: 21:50 DEP: 22.35 / ARR: 02.05
Mondays DEP: 18.15 / ARR: 21:50 DEP: 22.35 / ARR: 02.05
Early Easter
Easter is REALLY early this year. A friend sent me an e-mail explaining why:
Do you realize how early Easter is this year? As you may know
Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring
Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar
that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around
on our Roman calendar.
Based on the above, Easter can actually be one day earlier (March 22) but
that is pretty rare. Here’s the interesting info.
This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the
most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or
above!).
And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here are the
facts:
1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228
(220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you’re 95
or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!)
2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year
2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no
one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this
year!
Drugs for Women
OK, friends, just so you will know – this is HUMOR. A friend sent this in an e-mail, and after I stopped laughing, I decided to share it with you. Remember – if it is too good to be true, it probably isn’t true!
NEW DRUGS FOR WOMEN
DAMNITOL
Take 2 and the rest of the world can go to hell for up to 8 full hours.
EMPTYNESTROGEN
Suppository that eliminates melancholy and loneliness by reminding you of how awful they were as teenagers and how you couldn’t wait till they moved out!
ST. MOMMA’S WORT
Plant extract that treats mom’s depression by rendering preschoolers unconscious for up to two days.
PEPTOBIMBO
Liquid silicone drink for single women. Two full cups swallowed before an evening out increases breast size, decreases intelligence, and prevents conception.
DUMBEROL
When taken with Peptobimbo, can cause dangerously low IQ, resulting in enjoyment of country music and pickup trucks.
FLIPITOR
Increases life expectancy of commuters by controlling road rage and the urge to flip off other drivers.
MENICILLIN
Potent anti-boy-otic for older women. Increases resistance to such lethal lines as, ‘You make me want to be a better person. ‘
BUYAGRA
Injectable stimulant taken prior to shopping. Increases potency, duration, and credit limit of spending spree.
JACKASSPIRIN
Relieves headache caused by a man who can’t remember your birthday, anniversary, phone number, or to lift the toilet seat
ANTI-TALKSIDENT
A spray carried in a purse or wallet to be used on anyone too eager to share their life stories with total strangers in elevators.
NAGAMENT
When administered to a boyfriend or husband, provides the same irritation level as nagging him, without opening your mouth.
Old Mosque Near Mubarakiyya
I really wanted to include this photo just to show you how very blue the sky was yesterday. The white of this mosque’s minaret provides contrast:
Just as the Sabille is placed on the street to provide water for the thirsty, the local mosques usually have a place to wash before prayers.This washing is required and is called Wudu. Some places are very utilitarian, but the mosque above, and the nearby women’s mosque, have a beautiful place for washing:
The tile pattern is intricate:
Cell Phone or Drunk?
From AOL News:
Using Cell Phone While Driving Akin to Driving Drunk, Say Researchers
Posted Mar 7th 2008 11:24AM by Evan Shamoon
According to a new study, talking on your cell phone while driving could be as dangerous as being under the influence of alcohol. Carnegie-Mellon University researchers used brain imaging to show how mobile phone use alone reduces 37 percent of brain activity engaged in driving. The findings were published in the latest gotta-have-it issue of the journal ‘Brain Research,’ and also suggest that using a hands-free headset doesn’t make much of a difference.
Basically, the study found that drivers who spoke on their phones while driving tended to make many of the same driving mistakes as those who just got finished speaking to the bottle.
So to speak.
Comment: I always thought using a headset solved the problem – guess I was wrong. 😦 The Kuwait Ministry of Traffic is currently considering a law against using cell phones while driving in Kuwait. If enforced, it’s going to make a big difference in the lives of a lot of people in Kuwait. I wonder if it will mean fewer pedestrians killed?
Twilight 7 Mar 2008
Last night had to be one of the most beautiful nights I have seen in Kuwait. The weather was perfect. The haze lifted – have you noticed that Fridays are often the least hazy day of the week?
Is it less automobile traffic? Is it some factory not active on Fridays which pours out pollutants during the week? For some reason, if there is a really clear day in Kuwait – and that is a big “if” – it will be a Friday.
People were eating outside everywhere it was possible. The weather was warm, without being hot. It had a different feel to it; it felt like living in a more European country. Last night, when it got dark, you could even see stars in the sky – 90% of the nights in Kuwait, it is too hazy to see all but one or two of the very brightest stars with the naked eye.
Here is what it looked like at twilight:
Yes, there is still that worrisome band of thick hazy something on the horizon, but at twilight, it goes that lovely purple grey color, surrounded by bands of pink in the water and the sky as the sun is setting. A total WOW.
Muslim Bioethics
I love Wired because it gives me science news in a language I can understand:
A Beginner’s Guide to Muslim Bioethics
By Brandon Keim March 04, 2008 | 1:26:15 PMCategories: Bioethics, Biotechnology, Religion
When Sunni and Shiite scholars disagreed over the ethics of cloning animals, I wondered whether there were other bioethical conflicts in the Muslim world.
Are Muslims split over stem cell research and genetically engineered crops? Generally speaking, do they approach biotechnologies in the same way — or variety of ways — as Western cultures?
I posed the question to a handful of Muslim bioethicists. The first to respond was Brown University anthropologist Sherine Hamdy. Wrote Hamdy,
I think it would be easy and reductionist to make this into yet another ‘Shiite vs. Sunni’ issue, but there has always been a wide space of interpretation and widely debate even within the Sunni Muslim world about various biotechnologies including cloning. Most religious sources say that if a given technology, e.g. cloning is for beneficial purposes and the good outweighs the negative (if there is potential for human cures, etc.) then it is permissible, others have cautioned about the potential danger of creating a ‘super race’ of people, animals….so most of the disagreement is actually about the understanding of the technology itself and what impact it might have.
Would it be a bit too easy and reductionist, I asked, to then say that Muslims are less inclined to take an absolutist position and instead base their judgments by weighing the risks and benefits of each case?
You can read the entire article, and related articles, HERE
Google Banned From Military Bases
News from BBC
Google Banned From Military Bases
Last Updated: Friday, 7 March 2008, 05:45 GMT
There are concerns that detailed maps may threaten security
The US defence department has banned the giant internet search engine Google from filming inside and making detailed studies of US military bases.
Close-up, ground-level imagery of US military sites posed a “potential threat” to security, it said.
The move follows the discovery of images of the Fort Sam Houston army base in Texas on Google Maps.
A Google spokesman said that where the US military had expressed concerns, images had been removed.
Google has now been barred from filming and conducting detailed studies of bases, following the discovery of detailed, three-dimensional panoramas online – and in particular, views of the Texan base.
It said such detailed mapping could pose a threat.
Google spokesman Larry Yu said the decision by a Google team to enter the Texas base and undertake a detailed survey, had been “a mistake”.
He told the BBC News website that detailed study of such sensitive sites was not Google policy.
You can read the rest of the story HERE
Cauliflower Salad
With the warm weather coming back in, it’s time for nice cool salads again. Cauliflower is expensive in Kuwait – most countries where I have made this, it is reasonable, but in Kuwait, I guess it is very special. Probably because it is more of a cold weather vegetable. You can get it here, but even in the markets, it is dear.
Ladies seem to like this one a lot more than men do, or at least AdventureMan doesn’t like it, but it disappears in a heartbeat at a ladies lunch:
1 head lettuce
1 head cauliflower, broken into small pieces
1 lb bacon, fried crisp and crumbled (in Kuwait, use beef or turkey, and make sure it is crisp!)
6 green onions, sliced, especially the green parts
Blend together:
2 cups mayonnaise
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Layer lettuce, cauliflower, bacon and onion in large salad bowl. Spread dressing over the top. Seal with Saran-type wrap and refrigerate overnight. Toss just before serving.
(In the interest of waistlines, I usually use a cup of non-fat yoghurt in place of one cup of mayonnaise; it isn’t quite so rich but the difference is barely discernible.)
(In Kuwait, mix up the mayonnaise, sugar, parmesan cheese first, and give it plenty of time for the sugar to melt; sugar in Kuwait is not refined as finely as in the US, and sugar grit in the salad dressing is too distracting!)
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