First Female Police Class Graduates
Congratulations to the first class of female police academy graduates! I remember when women were first integrated into the US Military, my husband was assigned one of the first female lieutenants in Europe. I remember him saying, a year or two later that many of his best soldiers were women. I expect that that it will take some getting used to in Kuwait – just as it does in any country – and that the country will be the better for it in the long run.
These brave women have had the courage to break a barrier. God bless their work!
Al Watan staff
KUWAIT: The Support Authority at the Ministry of Interior held an open day on Wednesday for the parents of the first group of female cadets who joined the police academy this year. The event was held under the patronage of Undersecretary for Training and Education Brigadier Sheikh Ahmad AlـNawaf AlـSabah.
Brigadier Yusuf AlـMudhika welcomed the parents and sponsors of the event and said that Kuwait is grateful to the Kingdom of Bahrain for “making this dream a reality.” Bahrain has provided Kuwait with muchـneeded expertise in this field as it has already established a police academy for female cadets.
AlـMudhika explained that the new training for women has been designed to conform with Islamic teachings, customs and traditions and that the female cadets have proved to be as efficient and punctual as their male counterparts. He also referred to the curriculum and their daily timetable and said that their uniform has also been carefully selected to suit the cadets and that military accessories are being used to give a professional and disciplinary appearance.
He also mentioned the CCTV cameras within the academy and said that the parents had toured the cadets” dorms and shown satisfaction with their daughters” daily activities and their living quarters.
Last updated on Friday 14/11/2008
State Blocks Diwaniyas on State Land
I can understand the state not wanting to allow the people to build on public land, land reserved to preserve right of way, land reserved for parks, land to protect the ability to see around a corner. We watched all the illegal diwaniyas come down in our area, carted away on trucks, to be replaced with outdoor diwaniyas, which are lovely – but what to do when the temperatures start going up again?
Many of our friends have diwaniyyas – one – or more (!) built into their homes. An outdoor diwaniya is a luxury if you have the space for it. It looks to me like more homes are being built with a permanent diwayiya designed to match the house.
My real question is – How does this differ from the chalets? Are the chalets not also built on state property? Is there a bureau from which you get a permit? Is there any contractual understanding, like the land is deeded to you for 99 years before you put up an expensive chalet? Or do you build, knowing the government can reclaim that land at any time?
State succeeds in blocking diwaniyas bill
Al Watan staff
KUWAIT: The Parliament rejected a controversial draft law on Wednesday that called for regulating the construction of private diwaniyas on State property.
After a discussion, the proposal was overruled by a vote of 34 against and 26 in favor.
A number of MPs had presented the proposal, which was aimed at allowing the construction of private diwaniyas on State property adjacent to owners” homes provided that a license is obtained from the Ministry of Finance in exchange of an annual fee of no more than 0.250 Kuwaiti dinars per square meter.
Moreover, the Parliament also rejected a proposal to form a committee to investigate violations committed by the team tasked with removing all structures that have been illegally built on State property.
This proposal was voted down by 35 of the 61 legislators who were present at the session.
Earlier, the Parliament”s Finance and Economic Affairs Committee had rejected the draft law regulating the construction of private diwaniyas on State land, saying that it will have a negative impact regardless of the traditions related to these forms of gathering places.
It said the construction of these structures on State property will increase security, administrative and financial burdens on the State.
This issue was first discussed during Tuesday”s Parliament session, but a lack of order in the Abdullah AlـSalem Hall led to an adjournment of the session.
The Kuwaiti government had opposed the bill since the beginning, saying it bears many implementation difficulties and encourages encroachments on State property in a disorganized fashion.
Last updated on Thursday 13/11/2008
The Feast of St. Martin, and St. Martin’s Goose
I’ve always loved St. Martin’s Day because the children of the villages in Germany gather with laterns and walk the cobbled streets singing a song “Laterne! Laterne! . . . .” There is usually someone dressed in a large red cloak who rides a horse, as St. Martin.
Something else happens on St. Martin’s Day – it is the beginning of goose season! There is only about one month, in Germany, when you can eat this speciality, St. Martin’s Goose. It is baked, served with a very fatty gravy (sounds horrible, but it is delicious), red cabbage and potatoes. You can get a quarter goose, a half goose or you can go as a group and have an entire goose feast. The smell of roasting goose is yummy, and the goose itself, when well prepared, is succulent and tasty.
Here is how to roast a St. Martin’s goose:
Preparation: 1 hour
Cooking: 1/2 a hour by kg
Ingredients (for 6 persons):
– 1 goose of 6kg approximately
– 500 g of chopped pork – 1 egg – 4 shallots
– 1 small stalk of thym
– 200 g of crumb of bread (or gingerbread!)
– salt, pepper, nutmeg, parsley
– 100g of walnuts and chopped hazelnuts
Mix the various ingredients of the practical stuffing. Stuff, and let it gild on all the surface in its fat of goose, in the owen. Put then the goose in the oven and cook in its own juice (half an hour by kg). It came from This Website on European Cultures.
The stuffed goose uses surrounded with purée of chestnuts or with whole chestnuts cooked in a little broth then in the juice of the goose and accompanied with a Riesling of Moselle region.
Here is the story of St. Martin by James Kiefer from the Lectionary.
(I’ve always wondered why St. Martin tore his cloak in half, and didn’t give the whole cloak to the begger, since he probably had on warm clothing underneath.)
MARTIN OF TOURS
BISHOP AND THEOLOGIAN (11 NOV 397)
Martin was born around 330 of pagan parents. His father was a soldier, who enlisted Martin in the army at the age of fifteen. One winter day he saw an ill-clad beggar at the gate of the city of Amiens. Martin had no money to give, but he cut his cloak in half and gave half to the beggar. (Paintings of the scene, such as that by El Greco, show Martin, even without the cloak, more warmly clad than the beggar, which rather misses the point.) In a dream that night, Martin saw Christ wearing the half-cloak. He had for some time considered becoming a Christian, and this ended his wavering. He was promptly baptized. At the end of his next military campaign, he asked to be released from the army, saying: “Hitherto I have faithfully served Caesar. Let me now serve Christ.” He was accused of cowardice, and offered to stand unarmed between the contending armies. He was imprisoned, but released when peace was signed.
He became a disciple of Hilary of Poitiers, a chief opponent in the West of the Arians, who denied the full deity of Christ, and who had the favor of the emperor Constantius. Returning to his parents’ home in Illyricum (Yugoslavia, approximately), he opposed the Arians with such effectiveness that he was publicly scourged and exiled. He was subsequently driven from Milan, and eventually returned to Gaul. There he founded the first monastary in Gaul, which lasted until the French Revolution.
In 371 he was elected bishop of Tours. His was a mainly pagan diocese, but his instruction and personal manner of life prevailed. In one instance, the pagan priests agreed to fell their idol, a large fir tree, if Martin would stand directly in the path of its fall. He did so, and it missed him very narrowly. When an officer of the Imperial Guard arrived with a batch of prisoners who were to be tortured and executed the next day, Martin intervened and secured their release.
In the year 384, the heretic (Gnostic) Priscillian and six companions had been condemned to death by the emperor Maximus. The bishops who had found them guilty in the ecclesiastical court pressed for their execution. Martin contended that the secular power had no authority to punish heresy, and that the excommunication by the bishops was an adequate sentence. In this he was upheld by Ambrose, Bishop of Milan. He refused to leave Treves until the emperor promised to reprieve them. No sooner was his back turned than the bishops persuaded the emperor to break his promise; Priscillian and his followers were executed. This was the first time that heresy was punished by death.
Martin was furious, and excommunicated the bishops responsible. But afterwards, he took them back into communion in exchange for a pardon from Maximus for certain men condemned to death, and for the emperor’s promise to end the persecution of the remaining Priscillianists. He never felt easy in his mind about this concession, and thereafter avoided assmblies of bishops where he might encounter some of those concerned in this affair. He died on or about 11 November 397 (my sources differ) and his shrine at Tours became a sanctuary for those seeking justice.
The Feast of Martin, a soldier who fought bravely and faithfully in the service of an earthly sovereign, and then elisted in the service of Christ, is also the day of the Armistice which marked the end of the First World War. On it we remember those who have risked or lost their lives in what they perceived as the pursuit of justice and peace.
Veteran’s Day Sunrise
This is for you, AdventureMan, your own Veteran’s Day sunrise.
To anyone who has ever served in a nation’s armed forces. We salute you. Today and every day, we honor the service you gave to your country.
If you talk to any Kuwaiti veteran of the Gulf War and Liberation in Kuwait, you will learn that even a very short time in service can be a transformational experience. Those memories are vivid, and last the rest of your life.
Have a great day, Kuwait.
Better Watch Out! Traffic ambushes!
Think they will also be watching for mobile phone users? This is from today’s Al Watan
Al Watan staff
KUWAIT: Kuwait City Traffic Department launched a security campaign on Sunday morning against reckless drivers. Under the leadership of First Lieutenant Khalifa AlـSabah, several ambushes were set on the Second Ring Road where 37 citations were issued for drivers for violating traffic laws. A security source informed Al Watan that several ambushes would be set up in different locations in the area during the next few days to eliminate the phenomenon of irresponsible drivers who threaten other motorists and pedestrians” lives.
Drizzle!
It’s a beautiful morning, but maybe a little wet in some areas. Drive carefully, Kuwait!
The sunrise – again – was gorgeous:
“Look at that contrast!” said AdventureMan, as we finished our morning prayers. The threatening overcast made the sea and sky almost all one color, and the wake stands out brightly:
And while many are bemoaning the rain, it is so needed in dry Kuwait. Here is what the weather picture is for right now:
Have a great Monday, Kuwait!
Drive Safely in Kuwait – or Anywhere
This popped up this morning on AOL News:
Defensive Driving 101
Why defensive driving is so important.
By CRAIG HOWIE | AOL AUTOS
Data from the National Highway Transportation & Safety Administration (NHTSA)
Someone got cut off. They bleeped their horn. You bleeped back. They gesticulated, you gesticulated. And now you’re stuck with a lunatic on your back, tailgating and swerving, keeping up with you with a crazy grimace on his face and trying his best to force you off the road. Whoa there. Not everybody lives in Orange County, Calif. Or Miami, Fla. And maybe you’re the lunatic, who knows? Or perhaps you take a more considered path of action. We’ve chosen eight often overlooked defensive driving tips that hopefully will help ensure situations like this one don’t develop, and which come with the added bonus of avoiding an expensive insurance payment or minimizing the risks of injury or death in a serious crash.
Tip 1: Don’t do unto others
So the crazy-driver pursuit is unlikely to occur, but remonstrating with another driver can not only prove dangerous to your health and wellbeing — remember you may be inflaming a road-rage situation — but perhaps more crucially, it distracts a driver for a split second or longer. The entire event could adversely affect their driving for the rest of the day. Remember: Don’t take it out on others. And though I usually don’t subscribe to the fractured logic of bumper stickers — mean people, and in particular mean drivers, really do suck.
Tip 2: Stay out of the way
One of the first defensive driving tips listed by Dr Leon James, a professor at the University of Hawaii who publishes DrDriving.com, is: “Stay out of the way. Give aggressive drivers plenty of room to get around you.” If another driver is endangering you or his actions are threatening to cause a smash, the best tactic is avoidance, usually by slowing down (with one caveat: always check mirrors before hitting the brakes).
He tells AOL Autos: “One thing to remember is that there is a diversity of drivers on the road. They have different goals for being there — some are in a hurry to get somewhere, others are just looking around or don’t know where they are going exactly and have plenty of time. Others are challenged by sickness, age, drugs, anger, depression, etc. So the best defensive driving advice is to give them more latitude. Let them do what they want at all times.”
Tip 3: Yield
Dr. James also says it is never a given that other drivers will follow the rules of the road, and to never insist on your own right of way if another driver is challenging you. Mark Sedenquist, the publisher of RoadTripAmerica.com, agrees, advocating a “yield anyway” strategy. He says: “Even if the right of way is yours by law, custom, or common sense, always remember that the real object is to get home safely. So when someone barges out ahead of you when it’s not their turn, put your ego and irritation in the back seat and … yield anyway.”
Tip 4: Be aware of your surroundings
Riding Chicago’s L train system to O’Hare Airport alongside the Kennedy Expressway, as I did recently in transit to Los Angeles, gives a great opportunity to observe what drivers get up to behind the wheel: text messaging, applying lipstick, talking on cell phones and reading (!), often at speed. Sedenquist advises keeping an eye out for others’ — and also your own — bad habits. He says: “One major key to safe driving is observing and responding to the unexpected things that other drivers do. Drivers should be scanning the road constantly, both ahead and (in a rear-view mirror) behind. Another strategy is the ‘two-seconds-plus rule,’ ensuring a safe following distance between your car and that car or truck in front of you.”
Tip 5: Overcome overconfidence
Russ Radar, of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, suggests overconfidence could be at the root of the problem and also offers a practical approach to safety. “We all think we’re good drivers and it’s all the other drivers out there that are dangerous. We need to examine our own driving behavior: Slow down, obey traffic laws, and always wear safety belts. If everyone did those things, our highways would be a lot safer.”
Tip 6: Take a refresher course
I attended a brief defensive driving course as part of an assignment a few years back and was shocked by just how much my road habits had decayed in a decade or so behind the wheel, perhaps as a result of overconfidence. One-hand steering wheel spins? Please no. Even crossing hands is frowned upon here. Quick to point out and work on combating bad habits, my instructor also offered valuable lessons on everyday road stuff that I’d forgotten, some as surprisingly basic as road position or safely approaching a stop sign or street entrance. It’s valuable in other ways, too: Any money spent on the course may end up saving larger payouts on speeding tickets or traffic misdemeanors — both of which will probably necessitate the taking of defensive driving course, usually in a class or online.
Tip 7: Rest and refresh
The National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration reports that more than 56,000 crashes annually are caused by drowsy drivers. It also suggests some startling characteristics of crashes involving a drowsy driver: The crash occurs late at night or early in the morning; it is likely to be serious; a single vehicle leaves the roadway; the crash occurs on a high-speed road; the driver does not attempt to avoid a crash; the driver is alone in the vehicle. A friend of mine, who crashed a Volvo 850 into highway safety barrels at 70 mph (and thankfully walked away without a scratch) will bear witness that all of these factors occurred in her early-morning smash when she fell asleep at the wheel. The NHTSA says that, young people (ages 16 to 29), especially males, are most at risk. Shift workers whose sleep is disrupted by working at night or working long or irregular hours also face the same risks. Sedenquist, who has tallied a half million miles in his 30 years on the road across America, says “Before you push on for ‘just another fifty miles,’ keep in mind that sleepy drivers can be just as dangerous as drunk ones.” Stay alert, it can save your life.
Tip 8: Take a Zen-like approach
Dr James advises: “The secret of being a “supportive driver” — the opposite of an aggressive driver. Facilitate what they are trying to do. Do not put your sail in their wind. Be a smart driver, a peaceful driver, and be safe and calm that way.
LOL at “Maybe you’re the lunatic – who knows?” 😉
Is There Still a Ban on Mobile Phone Usage While Driving?
Does anyone remember this:
For a while, I think the ban was enforced and I think I saw fewer people on their mobile phones. Now – it’s totally back to the way it was before the “ban.” Or do you see it differently?
Rosy Rainfall in Kuwait
It’s been a long day, a productive day, and at last I can take a deep breath. My friend tells me it is cold out, but I have had the oven on much of the day, and our place is warm and cozy. I would love some fresh air, so I quietly close the door to the kitchen and step out on the balcony.
It is beyond fresh. It is fresh, and raining, and off in the distance, the sun is setting and the muezzin is calling everyone to prayer and it is purely a beautiful moment.
We didn’t have rain like this last year, or the year before. We had some rain two years ago, in December mostly, but still – not like this. This has been a wonderful, continuous, soaking rain, blessing Kuwait and preparing us for an amazing winter growing season. I would love to be able to see the flowers people tell me are blooming in the desert when it rains.
In Saudi Arabia, we spent a whole day travelling to see the tiny irises that would bloom in Tumayr. Here, there are still places you can’t go, because there are explosives left over from the Gulf War, and now and then a shepherd loses a leg by stepping in the wrong place.
No Sunrise in Kuwait
You will not find me complaining about the rain. I am imagining what a difference this steady downpour is going to make in very short time. People who think of “desert” have no idea of the life in the desert waiting to spring forth at the slightest sign of moisture. It doesn’t take much – and I believe we are going to see some amazing things soon in Kuwait.
I was up for the sunrise this morning . . . no sunrise appeared. This is about the best I could do:
I thought the heavy downpour last week had washed my windows clean, but I think some dust must have come and stuck to the wet windows. Or else the rain is not so clean . . . 😦 Please pardon my streaked windows!
Life interrupts blogging. We had an emergency that had us out on highway 40 to help out a friend in Eqaila. We was a terrible accident on 40; truck jacknifed and hit two cars. Traffic was totally gridlocked waiting for the ambulances and police to arrive. Folks, please be careful out there.
And please, mothers, fathers, protect your children. Anyone who doesn’t need to be on the roads should be at home. These kids, riding on the slick highways, barely visible, are taking a huge risk:
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