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Islamic Solution to Kuwait Unemployment: Women Stay Home

From today’s Kuwait Times:

Islamic system way to resolve unemployment

KUWAIT; Dr. Ahmad Aziz al Muzaini, the Secretary of the Shura and Salam group, said that following Islamic doctrine concerning work would be one solution to the problem of unemployment and the excessive numbers of expatriate workers.

Calling on women to take care of their own homes and families, rather than employing domestic staff, Dr. Al Muzaini said that by doing so millions of Kuwaiti Dinars transferred outside the country annually would be saved and invested in the local economy. If domestic workers proved to be essential, he said, local and other Arab people could do these jobs, rather than bringing in expatriates from thousands of miles away.

Dr. Al-Muzaini said that his group has also recommended a temporary suspension of the import of cars to Kuwait, saying that each household in the country currently owns several cars which is causing numerous accidents and traffic congestion.

He also recommended that more women be employed as taxi drivers catering to all-female clientele, which would be in female passengers interests and insure their safety.

There’s more. You can read it yourself in the Kuwait Times.

(Sigh) Where to start?

Did you know there is a law on the books in Kuwait that to have a driver’s license, a woman must have a college degree and/or be employed full time? When I asked our sponsor/fixer, he told me that “of course, madam, that doesn’t apply to you.”

But if Dr. Ahmad Aziz al Muzaini wants us to stay home, do you think he also prefers that the men hold responsible jobs rather than women? How do you think he feels about female Ministers? Does he think women should be restricted from driving as a solution to traffic congestion?

I have female Muslim friends who say that there is nothing un-Islamic about women going out to work, that on the contrary, women were encouraged to have their own businesses and were encouraged to seek education and knowledge in true Islam.

Why is it when things start going south, the ultra-religious start throwing restrictions on women?

February 12, 2009 Posted by | Cultural, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Financial Issues, Generational, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Rants, Spiritual, Women's Issues | 20 Comments

Language Shift in Recession

Within the last two days, I have seen two stories on signs to watch for the end of the recession. We all knew the mortgage bankers had made those bad loans. The situation was never as dire as it was made out to be. What happened was a cascading roll of consequences for bad loans, and a crisis of confidence amount consumers, coupled with a huge tightening up of credit.

Most of this is based on perception. It seems to me we are seeing the beginning of the next perceptual shift, just in time for spring, always a time of new beginnings and new hope.

You can read it for yourself: it is one of the featured stories today on AOL News “Companies that will Pull Us out of Recession

Will things go back to the way they were before? Not exactly. These financial events shake things up, people lose jobs, people find new jobs – sometimes – it can even be for the better. It’s always interesting watching for the the signals that change is about to take place. Smarter people than me know how to take advantage of the signals and take advantage of them. I’m happy just to ride the wave and watch for signals. I have an idea that language shifts forecast shifts in perception. Am I making any sense at all here?

These British comedians are hilarious, and all the more so because it if pretty much true!

February 10, 2009 Posted by | Communication, Financial Issues, Language, Living Conditions, Random Musings, Social Issues | 4 Comments

Life Lessons from a 90 Year Old

Thank you, Momcat!

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.

It is the most-requested column I’ve ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90, in August, so here goes:

1. Life isn’t fair, but it’s still good
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It’s more healing than crying alone.
8. It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first p aycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won’t screw up the present.
12. It’s OK to let your children see you cry
13. Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn’t be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don’t worry; God never blinks.
16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
17. Get rid of anything that isn’t useful, beautiful or joyful.
18. Whatever doesn’t kill you really does make you stronger.
19. It’s never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don’t take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don’t save it for a special occasion. Today is special.
22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don’t wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: ‘In five years, will this matter?
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn’t do.
35. Don’t audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
36. Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood.
38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.
41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
42. The best is yet to come.
43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
44. Yield.
45. Life isn’t tied with a bow, but it’s still a gift.

“It seems before Truth sets you free, it puts you through the wringer…”

February 10, 2009 Posted by | Aging, Beauty, Blogging, Character, Community, Family Issues, Financial Issues, Friends & Friendship, Relationships | 8 Comments

GoogleEarth Map of Speed Cameras in Kuwait

From this morning’s mail, a most valuable tool for money-saving:

00speedcameras

AdventureMan tells me in Doha, Qatar, there are now speed cameras everywhere, and the fines are HUGE. Like $2000 for speeding, and they have the picture to prove it. He also tells me the law is applied against everyone, from the highest to the lowest, so that there is a lot less speeding and weaving than we see in Kuwait. I wonder how it is going to work here?

I read in yesterday’s paper, in Jahra, a driver deliberately hit one of the cameras with his car! I wonder if the camera was able to capture the incident before its demise? (It said the culprit was arrested, I think.)

We were out in the Wild West last night (Fehaheel) and a police car was trying to get to a huge traffic snarl. He blurped and burbled, he shouted in his loudspeaker, and nobody let him in. There was no respect for the traffic police, no fear. People just looked after their own interests. Fortunately, it was all at a very low speed, as traffic was jammed tight. There WAS room to let the police car in, but nobody did. I wonder how it would have worked if he had a camera? Or started giving tickets?

Doesn’t Kuwait need a call-in, or e-mail in place where you can take photos of traffic things happening and report violators, like those guys who think they own the emergency lanes when traffic is backed up, or who think the handicapped spots are for them (one told me “but when there is no one parking there, anyone can use it!”) to use – it would be so nice to be able to take a photo and send it in to the authorities and to believe that something would be done about it.

February 1, 2009 Posted by | Adventure, Community, Crime, Customer Service, ExPat Life, Experiment, Financial Issues, Health Issues, Interconnected, Kuwait, Law and Order, Living Conditions, Photos, Random Musings, Social Issues | , | 7 Comments

Together We Can

This one gave me shivers – the good kind. Together we can – take the pledge:

Take The Pledge

January 31, 2009 Posted by | Community, Customer Service, Experiment, Financial Issues, Friends & Friendship, Uncategorized | 4 Comments

Intlxpatr Has an NBK Account?

Also in my Intlxpatr mail this morning, LLLOOOLLL!

When I clicked on the “Update Now” type so that I could print their web address and encourage YOU to submit false data, their website did not even work.

Losers.

Beware. These scammers are out there. Some aren’t as stupid as these guys. Some can fool ya.

Dear valued Watani Online Bank member:

Due to concerns, for the safety and integrity of your Watani Online Bank
account we have issued this warning message.

It has come to our attention that your Watani account information needs to be
updated as part of our continuing
commitment to protect your account and to
reduce the instance of fraud on our website.
If you could please take 5-10 minutes
out of your online experience and update your personal records you will not run into
any future problems with the online service.

Once you have updated your account records your Watani account
service will not be interrupted
and will continue as normal.

To update your Online Banking records click on the following link:
Update Info

Thank You.

© Member FDIC Copyright 2008 Watani Financial Corporation1-800-Watani .

January 22, 2009 Posted by | Crime, Entertainment, ExPat Life, Financial Issues, Kuwait, Living Conditions, Social Issues | | 4 Comments

Empty Nests Make for Happy Marriage

LLOOLL. To everyone’s great surprise, the results found the empty-nest marriages are HAPPIER than families with children. I think the message is HANG IN THERE! The study found that marital happiness plunged with the first child, and went further south with each addition. Children take time and attention, the more, the more chaotic. The study doesn’t say don’t have children, it just says there is a great satisfaction to having children who successfuly transition to adulthood.

This compilation of studies is reported in today’s New York Times. Clicking on the blue type will take you to the entire article.

The study is important because it tracks the first generation of women to juggle traditional family responsibilities with jobs in the work force. In the empty-nest study, researchers compared the women’s marital happiness in their 40s, when many still had children at home; in their early 50s, when some had older children who had left home; and in their 60s, when virtually all had empty nests. At every point, the empty nesters scored higher on marital happiness than women with children still at home. The finding mirrors that of a report presented last year at the American Psychological Association, tracking a dozen parents who were interviewed at the time of a child’s high school graduation and 10 years later. That small study also showed that a majority of parents scored higher on marital satisfaction after children had left home.

While the Berkeley researchers had hypothesized that the improvement in marital happiness came from couples’ spending more time together, the women in the same study reported spending just as much time with their partners whether the children were living at home or had moved out. But they said the quality of that time was better.

“There are fewer interruptions and less stress when kids are out of the house,” said Dr. Gorchoff, at Berkeley. “It wasn’t that they spent more time with each other after the children moved out. It’s the quality of time they spent with each other that improved.”

She notes that the lesson from the empty nest may be that parents need to work to carve out more stress-free time together. In the sample studied, it was only relationship satisfaction that improved when children left home. Over all, parents were just as happy with children at home as in the empty nest. (What happens when adult children move back home, their job prospects having evaporated in a brutal economy, has not been extensively studied.)

“Kids aren’t ruining parents’ lives,” Dr. Gorchoff said. “It’s just that they’re making it more difficult to have enjoyable interactions together.”

January 21, 2009 Posted by | Adventure, Aging, Family Issues, Financial Issues, Health Issues, Living Conditions, Marriage, Mating Behavior, News, Relationships, Social Issues, Women's Issues | 7 Comments

NBK Scam Letter

This is a total hoot. Like I really have an account under the name “Intlxpatr”. My friends, if you get this letter, do not click on the blue type and go to the website which will LOOK a lot like NBK, but will not be NBK. DO NOT give them any information, none! If you have the slightest doubt, go to your bank directly, but do not give these identity thieves any information!

From: info@update.com

Dear valued Watani Online Bank member:

Due to the number of incorrect login attempts, your Watani Online Bank Account has been locked for your security.
This has been done to secure your accounts and to protect your private information.
In case the login attempts were not done by you..
At Watani Online Bank we care about your security .
So, for your protection we are proactively notifying you of this activity.

If you did not trigger this lockout, follow this link to Log on to your Watani Online Account:
Click here to unlock your online account

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

We apologize for any inconvenience.

Thank you for using Watani Online Bank !

January 13, 2009 Posted by | Blogging, Bureaucracy, Crime, ExPat Life, Financial Issues, Kuwait, Lies | | 10 Comments

Lucky People Tend to Notice More

From today’s AOL News

The key to good luck may be a heightened sensitivity to your surroundings.

Richard Wiseman, a professor at the University of Hertfordshire, spent a decade studying people who had self-identified as either lucky or unlucky. He posits that lucky people, through their superior observational skills, consistently encounter seemingly chance opportunities.

In one experiment, Wiseman asked his subjects to count the photos in a newspaper. In the middle of the paper he placed a message that read “Tell the experimenter you have seen this and win 50 dollars.” The lucky people tended to notice this, but the unlucky — with their narrower focus — often missed it.

January 6, 2009 Posted by | Character, Entertainment, Financial Issues, Mating Behavior, Relationships, Social Issues, Statistics | 2 Comments

New Year Takes the Jackpot!

Oh my lucky stars! I don’t even remember writing the referenced e-mail! I never buy lottery tickets, or enter those contests. What a way to start the New Year, hmmm?

Right now I am so busy with all the details in my life that I don’t have the time to claim my prize. What a pity. 😉

Your Email Won The Prize
The Spanish Hotball Lotto
REFERENCE #:87/825/TRH
BATCH #: MEG-749-873-439

Sir/Madam,
Being officially assigned to select winners across the globe, the
management is pleased to inform you of the result of the Hot Lotto Spanish
Lottery Winners International E-mail programs held on the 22nd December,2008
and result was released on the 31th December,2008. Your E-mail address
attached to ticket number 653-908-321-675 with serial main number
528-127-196 drew lucky star numbers 25-78-54-36-49 which consequently won
in the 2nd category, you have therefore been approved for a lump sum pay
out of EUR1.500.000.00 Euros, with REFERENCE No.:87/825/TRH and BATCH #:
MEG-749-873-439.

Due to mix up of some numbers and names, we ask that you keep your winning
information confidential until your claims have been processed and your
money remitted to you. This is part of our security protocol to avoid
double claiming and unwarranted abuse of this program by some
participants. All participants were selected through a computer ballot
system drawn from over 100,000 company and 50,000,000 individual email
addresses and names from all over the world.

This lottery was promoted and sponsored by Software companies in order to
enhance and promote the use of Internet Explorer Users and Microsoft-wares around theglobe.
To file for your claim, please contact our foreign service manager:
Mr Alex Hugo
email:alexhu.hugo60@gmail.com
Tel:34 657 548 514
Foreign Service Manager
Congratulations for
being part of our
promotional program.
Sincerely,
Carmen Rodriguez
International Online Co-ordinator

January 4, 2009 Posted by | Crime, ExPat Life, Financial Issues, Lies | Leave a comment