Kuwait Tweeters to Face Trial
Kuwait makes AOL News: Huffington Post today, as two guys are arrested over Tweets offensive to royals:
Kuwait To Try Nasser Abul And Lawrence al-Rashidi Over Twitter Posts
KUWAIT (Reuters) – Kuwait will put on trial two citizens for criticizing Gulf Arab ruling families on social media site Twitter, a security official said on Monday.
Nasser Abul, a Kuwaiti Shi’ite Muslim, was arrested for posting criticisms of the Sunni Muslim ruling families in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia, and Lawrence al-Rashidi posted defamatory comments of Kuwait’s emir, he said.
He said both would remain in detention for two more weeks before a hearing is scheduled, where they will likely face charges of harming the Gulf Arab state’s interests and defaming the country’s ruler after being arrested earlier in June.
Democracy activists have used social media such as Facebook and Twitter to debate, organize and share information in Bahrain, where the kingdom’s Sunni rulers crushed a protest movement in March led mostly by the country’s Shi’ite majority.
Bahrain called in troops from Sunni-led neighbors such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to enforce its crackdown. OPEC member Kuwait, which has a Shi’ite minority, sent naval forces.
Bahrain questioned a rights activist in April for publishing an image which appeared to show signs of torture on a man who died in detention during the unrest. It is not clear if the case will be brought to court.
Gulf Arab states, run by closely-allied ruling families, are trying to prevent protest movements that brought down Egyptian and Tunisian leaders earlier this year from taking off in their patch.
(Reporting by Eman Goma; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Doha Debates and Where Are You From?
The Baked Salmon Dijon for last night’s dinner took a little longer to cook because Joe Patti’s cuts the salmon steaks so thick (we cook two, split one and freeze the other for another night), so while I was waiting, I flipped around and found WSRE’s Doha Debate coverage.
Who knew?
I didn’t know I could still watch the debates in Pensacola! This one was about whether or not Egypt should postpone elections in the interest of forming a more representative democracy. The vote was 84% in favor; the two young supporters carried the house. 🙂 This was the March debate and you can hear the entire 48 minutes by clicking here.
The winning female debater used a slogan I had not heard, but I love, because it is graphic and memorable – “we do not want a fast-food democracy that brings only indigestion.” The younger debaters want to scrap the entire constitution and re-write it, claiming the current structure needs to be thoroughly revised in order for democracy to have a chance of success.
I love it that these issues have a forum for debate in Doha.
Following the debate was a cringe-worthy video about asking people where they are from. His point was that when he is asked where he is from, and he answers ‘The Bronx,’ people say “No, where are you REALLY from?’ and the implication is racist. He says it is the same as saying that his color is darker, therefore he is not like us, so he must not be from around here.
I’ve asked that question. Never meant it to be insulting, but I will stop now. Or I will only ask those with a slight accent, maybe. Wherever we have lived, we have been asked that question – but then, in Kuwait and Qatar, most of the work force is not Qattari or Kuwaiti. Even in Germany, however, where we might look a lot like them, we are asked where we are from. It used to be a courteous way of showing interest, or initiating a conversation.
One time in Doha, a local man asked me about my breeding, LOL. I told him I was a product of the American melting pot, and from the earliest settlers to the latest, my family includes just about a little of everything. We were at the veterinarian’s office, and I knew the purity of his dog’s blood lines mattered, and probably his own, but I also felt a little insulted, and I haven’t forgotten it. Doesn’t science teach us that diversity in blood lines is a good thing?
We are in the middle of a heat spell in Pensacola, early this year, and because we haven’t gotten anywhere near the normal rainfall, there are also wildfires. The firefighters are struggling to put out the fires, and also fighting heat exhaustion. AdventureMan is out watering all our new plantings, and our tomatoes, every morning, God bless him, because when the temperatures go high, I just want to stay inside.
A Year’s Supply of Kleenex from Kuwait and Mrm.
When we returned from our roadtrip to the Doha reunion and wedding in Pittsburgh, I found this waiting for me:
Yes. Yes. Yes, you see it correctly. A year’s supply of oud-scented Kleenex from Kuwait. I am guessing these are the ones sent by my friend Mrm . . . and oh, what a laugh it gave me. Mrm, it’s the little things that count, and it is your big-hearted generosity that matters, sending me FIFTEEN boxes of oud-scented Kleenex. I just can’t stop laughing, it is so extravagant and so sweet, and just exactly what I wanted. Mrm, I think this is your doing, and thank you.
I only met up with three bloggers, and Mrm and her friend were two of the three. It was an equally funny beginning, meeting up at the Starbucks in Fehaheel and each of us thinking we had been stood up because we were at different Starbucks. Soon after, they came to my eyrie in Fintas, and what great times we had from then. 🙂 I would have missed a whole layer of life in Kuwait had I not met up with Mrm, but – as those who know Mrm know – she has a way of getting what she wants, and making everyone around her glad at the same time. I had so much fun with you and Chirp, and I learned so much from you.
Thank you, Mrm. For everything. 🙂 I will think of you more than a thousand times as I use this Kleenex. Thank you. 🙂
Your Words Make all the Difference
Thank you, Kimberly, for sending me this great message:
Scamese
This was in my newest New Yorker magazine, originally given me by Little Diamond, now I can’t live without my subscription. 🙂 There is the kind of news you get on television, like what they have pictures of, maybe not the most important stuff but visual. Then there is National Public Radio news, and the New York Times, and The New Yorker. The New Yorker also has some of the greatest, funniest covers ever, and great cartoons. This one, as you might imagine, is near and dear to my heart:
Disable Your GPS Settings for Camera on Your Smart Phone
Thanks to my very savvy Kuwait friend for forwarding this timely reminder to be careful about what you post. What stalkers can learn from a photo on a social-networking site is frightening.
More News From Better Books and Cafe in Kuwait
I wish Better Books and Cafe had been in Kuwait while I was there. And are people having luck with Magic Jack in Kuwait? We had one, and it stopped working. We thought it had been blocked or something.
Better Books and Cafe (Kuwait’s only used bookstore and cafe) has several announcements and a new contest for you.
Better Books and Cafe is on FACEBOOK
‘Magic Jacks’ are for sale – they facilitate inexpensive telephone calls between Kuwait and the USA and Canada
A database of our Classics, Cliffs Notes, Autobiographies and Fiction books is now available. Customers can now browse our database and reserve books via email. Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning authors have been highlighted. Better Books has many more books than are not on the database yet. More will be added every month. Prices of books with multiple entries may differ as per publication;
A new toilet has been constructed just upstairs for Better Books – no m
Better Books and Cafe (Kuwait’s only used bookstore and cafe) has several announcements and a new contest for you.
Better Books and Cafe is on FACEBOOK – click here to ‘Like’ us;
‘Magic Jacks’ are for sale – they facilitate inexpensive telephone calls between Kuwait and the USA and Canada
A database of our Classics, Cliffs Notes, Autobiographies and Fiction books is now available (see attached, press ctrl+F if you’re looking for a particular book or author). Customers can now browse our database and reserve books via email. Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning authors have been highlighted. Better Books has many more books than are not on the database yet. More will be added every month. Prices of books with multiple entries may differ as per publication;
A new toilet has been constructed just upstairs for Better Books – no more walking past the mechanic two buildings over.
The store has two additional bookcases, an extra beanbag chair and one more plush carpet.
Most genres are now segregated and labeled making books easier to find – we even have a separate shelf for books made into movies!
Upcoming Events at Better Books and Cafe:
Art of Living will start a course 24-28 April. Contact us for more information;
Due to the success of the Nithyananda Yoga Center courses held this month, there will be yoga twice a week and a 3 day ‘silence meditation’ course at their premises. Contact 25635450, 99838117 or 99315825 for more information
A second Gavel Club has been formed so your teenager is welcome to attend a Gavel Club meeting every Friday night free of charge. A nominal charge is requested if/when they join. Gavel Clubs are Toastmasters-sponsored groups for teenagers and allow active members who put in effort to gain confidence and expertise in the art of public speaking and develop their leadership skills. For more information, call/email Anil Lobo 99283020 / anilrlobo@yahoo.com. or Xavier Muthu 9985 0173Xavier.Muthu@trade.gov
Expat Mums is a new online community called recently set up for expatriate mothers of all nationalities here in Kuwait. They have regular events such as playgroups, stroller walks, mums’ lunches/dinners/coffees, and soon to be Story Times and Music Times at Better Books Bookstore. There are also specific sections for Classifieds & Reviews of local businesses in our secure online website. The group is open to all regardless of faith/origin/belief. To join this community, please visit http://www.expatmumskwi.com
And lastly “MOVIE NIGHTS” will return to Better Books and Cafe in May. Please vote for the movie you would like to see:
May 14 6-8pm Georgia O’Keeffe or Blood Wedding
May 21 6-8 pm Himalaya or Pope Joan
May 28 6-8 pm The Hound of the Baskervilles (1939) or Frankenstein (1994)
BETTER BOOKS AND CAFE CONTEST
Match the correct novel to its first line to win a PRIZE.
1. _____ If I am out of my mind, it’s all right with me, thought Moses Herzog.
2. _____ It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn’t know what I was doing in New York.
3. _____ 124 was spiteful.
4. _____ It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.
5. _____ Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano BuendÃa was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice.
6. _____ Call me Ishmael.
7. _____ It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.
8. _____ In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since.
A. Beloved
B. The Great Gatsby
C. 1984
D. Moby-Dick
E. One Hundred Years of Solitude
F. Herzog
G. The Bell Jar
H. Pride and Prejudice
Prizes must be collected at Better Books before 16 May 2011.
All mentioned books are available at Better Books – reserve them today.
Feel free to forward this email to your friends.
Good Night, Kuwait
I’ve just had such a great day, and it started off so inauspiciously – no sleep. I was able to grab a little nap this morning, and another hour this afternoon, and in between – time with husband and friends, lots of catching up . . . it’s been a great day.
And, from my rooftop, I even have a view of the sunset, LOL. That is not a real palm tree; that is one of those huge-communication-towers-disguised-as-a-palm-tree.
(Lord have mercy, I have forgotten how SLOW the internet is in Kuwait. Folks, there is a whole world out there where uploads and downloads take mere milliseconds, and some of those countries are a very short airplane ride away. What is it with the slow internet in Kuwait? There isn’t even a broken cable off the coast of Egypt – that I know of – that would make it so slow. The slowness seems to me to be everpresent. Sometimes it is slow, other times it is slower. Aargh.)
Al Jazeera (English) Covers Egypt
If you are in the USA, the best coverage I have been able to find has been on Al Jazeera live. They have English language coverage. Unlike Egypt, which has closed down all access to the internet, you can stream Al Jazeera live by clicking on the blue type below.
Their coverage is – from what I can tell – fair and balanced.
It’s in the mid 70’s Fahrenheit, in Cairo in the daytime, getting down to the 50’s – 60’s at night – perfect weather for a protest. Looks like Paris in the late 60’s.
Recent Comments
Cathy on No Grown-Ups in Charge intlxpatr on Waiting for Snow intlxpatr on Waiting for Snow Abou Tabblouleh on t… on Waiting for Snow Abou Tabbouleh on in… on Waiting for Snow Wikipedia Donate Button
Amazina
Early Voting in Florida
Here There and Everywhere 