Start your Day with a Smile
My good friend in Kuwait sent me this wonderful film in a market in Spain. Watch all the way to the end, and see the sign. I love creative advertising!
100 Lashes Each for Illicit Relationships in Qatar
COURT ROUNDUP
100 lashes for illicit relations
By Nour Abuzant in today’s Gulf Times
Two Asians – a man and a woman – have been sentenced to 100 lashes each and subsequent deportation for maintaining illicit relations.
The father of the woman told the interrogators that he saw his 21-year-old daughter leaving the house in the morning of April 15, 2009 and boarding the car of her 26-year old lover.
The father also said he opposed their marriage and that he had planned his daughter’s marriage with another compatriot man.
The Doha court of first instance heard that the father found three mobile phones, belonging to her lover, in his daughter’s possession.
The accused Pakistani nationals confessed in the court that they were in love. The court said that the 100-lash penalty came in line with the Sharia rules, as both the accused were Muslims and unmarried.
That’s some angry father – turning in his own daughter to be jailed, humiliated in court and then subjected to the additional humiliation and pain of 100 lashes. Cannot imagine what that will do to her marriage prospects “with another compatriot man.”
Some people ask why I run these articles about expats. The truth, as I see it, is that any one of us who is not Qatari falls under these laws. We are ALL expats. The laws can be applied to any one of us at any time.
3 Months for Killing, One Year for Stealing
These articles are in today’s Gulf Times, under Court Roundup.
Jail term, fine for death crash
A local motorist has been sentenced to three-month’s imprisonment for reckless driving that led to the death of a 56-year-Pakistani pedestrian.
The Doha court of first instance imposed on the 26-year-old motorist a fine of QR20,000.
The fatal accident took place in the Old Airport area on September 27, 2008. According to the traffic report, “the accident occurred because the motorist was speeding.”
A traffic official told the court that the motorist was driving at 80kmph on a busy street.
Family members of the deceased can claim blood money in a civil court.
Man sentenced for stealing
A Sri Lankan driver has been sentenced to a year-imprisonment for stealing items including two gas cylinders and a vacuum cleaner from the labour camp of a private company. Four of the co-accused were sentenced in absentia to five years in jail.
The theft took place on July 21, 2008 in New Rayan area, the charge-sheet said.
Two Egyptians, who witnessed the incident, testified that they saw five men loading the items, estimated to cost QR4,000, on to a pickup from a store inside the camp.
The Egyptians said they captured three of the workers while the others drove away in the pick-up.
The police arrested all the accused and four of them were deported on an administrative order before the commencement of the trial.
Heart of Doha Creates Beauty out of Destruction
‘Heart of Doha’ construction work to begin
Web posted at: 1/11/2010 1:47:59
Source ::: The Peninsula / By Huda NV
DOHA: Dohaland, a subsidiary of Qatar Foundation, is all set to begin the construction work of its signature project “Heart of Doha”. Under the patronage of
H H Sheikha Mozah bint Nasser Al Missned, Chairman of the Qatar Foundation, the foundation stone will be laid at a special event on Wednesday at a specially build venue at the Corniche.
“Heart of Doha has all together brought in a new language of architecture by understanding the essence of the place which led to rediscovering its poetry,” said Jawaher Al Khuzaei, Assistant Manager, Public Affairs.
“We have finished the preparation stage of the first phase of the project which is expected to be completed by February 2012. Embodied in traditional Qatari architecture are the timeless aspects of beautiful proportions, robustness, simplicity, ornament, along with tried-and-tested local responses to the hot climate and intense daylight. Local traditions have been studied and analysed to distil the essence of Qatari architectural character rooted in the past, appropriate for the present and looking to the future.”
The first stage – Phase 1A has Diwan Emiri Quarter which includes Emiri Diwan annexe, Emiri Guard head quarters and the National Archives. It also has a heritage quarter which includes the Eid prayer ground and four heritage houses – a Company House, Jalmoot House and Houses of Mohammed bin Jasim and Abdullah bin Jassim. Dohaland is working with Qatar Museum Authority to make the best use of the houses.
The first phase infrastructure includes central cooling plant, utilities and waste provision, basement service roads and parking. In the second stage, which will is expected to begin this year and conclude in 2013 a multimedia centre for arts, central hotel and serviced apartments, luxury shopping street, exclusive town house, a primary school, the Ferjan Square mosque and see the first satge of rebirth of Al Kahraba street. The later stages will include a connection to souq wakif, a retail mall, more hotels, offices apartment, shops, a tram system and an underground Metro station hub apart from to Nakeel Square.
“We have also done archiving of photographs of the area prior to demolition. The area will be for mixed use and will have house more than 25,000 people.”
The project with an estimated cost of QR 20 bn, and an area of 35 hectares is expected to be completed in 2016 in five phases. Heart of Doha will become a hub of activity as a place to live, work, shop, visit and spend time with family and friends once completed
THE PENINSULA
Update: Dohaland has been renamed Musherib.
Different Languages, Different Tribes, One God
This is the meditation from yesterday, from Forward Day by Day. I really like it. We all talk about tribalism, as if we were not ourselves from tribes, even self-made tribes. It can be a tribe based on family, or based on nationality, or, in the USA, sometimes on nation-of-origin. It can be a tribe that calls itself Alpha Beta Zeta, or Rotary. Any kind of grouping that distinguishes between “us” and “them” is a kind of tribalism, in my opinion. And it costs us so much, in terms of energy and focus and resources, when, as i see it, we are all one family under God.
Psalm 118. I called to the LORD in my distress; the LORD answered by setting me free.
In the depths of the long civil wars here, the people cried to the Lord in their distress and were set free. The results have been amazing: the crossing of tribal lines to form one people whose most precious commonality is their belief in Jesus. Sitting in church on Sundays, that lesson comes true. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, or recite the creeds, or sing our favorite hymns, we do so in our own languages, so that a cacophony of voices rises to the heavens. It is not unusual to hear 12 or 13 languages spoken simultaneously, all praying the same thing at the same time.
We are set free when we forget to which human tribe we belong and focus on being members of God’s tribe of beloved children. This is how peace will be achieved, not just in this land, but in all of creation: by ignoring our differences and focusing on the freedom we have in God and from God.
Some days, listening to all the languages and praying in my own, I am moved to tears by the beauty of the holy noise we are making. We are set free in those moments, and our distress falls away.
PRAY for the Diocese of Aguata (Province of the Niger, Nigeria)
German Lingerie Ad: Liaison Dangereuse
A German company finds a fresh new take on selling lingerie; found this on AOL Finance News 🙂 Very clever.
Sexiness for everyone from Glow Berlin on Vimeo.
The New Garden Annapoorna Restaurant in Najma / On Najma
After dividing Najma into quadrants, and driving every street, I finally found the New Garden Veg Restaurant, which is on Najma, but Najma coming from C-Ring is not so straightforward. You go through the roundabout, and be sure you are in the left turn lane.
Just after you make the left turn (there is a large mosque on your left with multiple domes) turn right again, and – you are still / also on Najma!
The new Garden Annaporna Vegetarian Restaurant is about 200 meters down, and on your right.
The good is as good as it ever was on Sharia Kharabaa, and the Najma restaurant is all clean and sparkly – and already full of customers. They are serving breakfast in the morning from 6:30 a.m. to 11 a.m.
If you want to call for a reservation, here is the number: 5274429.
For Every Husband whose Wife has ever asked . . .
“Does this dress make my butt look big?”
The answer, the ONLY answer, is always “No, honey, you look wonderful, as always.”
see more Lolcats and funny pictures
The Party House
We stumbled into the upstairs lounge, all four of us, sleep muzzy and disheveled, but then again, it was 3 in the morning.
“What is that?” asked Mr. Ambassador, who is no longer Ambassador anymore, but still gets to be called that. He was asking about a wailing, like that of an injured cat, only accompanied by music.
I blushed to the roots of my hair. Fortunately, it was dark. No one could see the depth of my humiliation
“It’s the party house.”
This was punctuated by shrieks of laughter from the new influx of ‘hostesses’ invited to entertain the male guests when they ceased their karaoke singing. Doors slamming, karaoke machine at it’s highest setting, the party is in full swing.
AdventureMan broke the ensuing horror-filled silence.
“We are SO sorry. It hardly ever happens. Most of the time they aren’t even there. You just happen to be here on the ONE night.”
With the beautiful weather, we have our windows open. We make up the beds in the rooms on the other side of the house, close all the windows, and turn on the air conditioning to muffle the alcohol-fueled revelry.
“Can’t you do anything? Can’t you complain?” my good friend, the ambassador’s wife, whispered to me.
“It’s their compound. We tried complaining. Nothing happens. I can’t tell you how embarrassed I am that this would happen while you are here, as our guests,” I replied.
She laughed – diplomatically – and brushed my embarrassment aside. She’s a good friend.
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