Follow Up on Honor Killing Prevented
This is from today’s Arab Times, and is a follow up to Saved By a Scream.
Bail in honour killing
Kuwait : Citing lack of evidence the Public Prosecution has released on KD 200 bail each the two people who had been detained for interrogation for allegedly attempting to kill their daughter in Saudi Arabia, reports Al-Watan Arabic daily.
The daily added the daughter will be referred to the Psychiatric Hospital.
Earlier it was reported the Saudi immigration officers manning the Al-Riqei border had foiled an attempt by an unidentified GCC family to kill their daughter to save their honor.
According to a security source the parents with their daughter and another sibling traveled to Salmi post and to prevent the ‘victim’ from screaming for help the family’s relative who allegedly works at the post hurried through the process of stamping the passports to help the family cross into Saudi Arabia as the family waited in their car.
When the girl reached the Saudi border post she screamed for help and told the immigration officers that her father planned to kill her.
The family was temporarily detained at the post until the Saudi authorities contacted the authorities in Kuwait. After the family was returned to Kuwait under guard, the relative who helped them at the Salmi post was arrested and detained for interrogation.
The girl was reportedly involved in an affair with an unidentified youth inside an apartment in Salmiya and became pregnant.
Maybe the psychiatric hospital is the only place where she can be safely held against attack from her family?
Wacky Weather
Today, as I am checking the blog, I see that the Weather Underground sticker I have shows the weather in Kuwait as being 39°F / 4°C . . . .
I am guessing it is around 107°F . . . but sometimes these statistics go a little whacky.
Good News in Kuwait
BIG WOOOOOO HOOOOOO Kuwait!
This is from yesterday’s Kuwait Times, and I don’ t know why I didn’t blog it except maybe I ran out of time:
Crooked Cops Beware
KUWAIT: After publishing several violations committed by police officers, the ministry of Interior has started a campaign to catch corrupt police officers and clean up the name of Kuwaiti law enforcement. The ministry pointed out that it plans to form inspection teams which will supervise patrols and police officers daily.
The police officers on the inspection teams will be undercover, wearing civilian clothes, and will also comprise of male and female members.
The Interior Ministry will also be adopting stricter penalties against police officers who violate the laws. The ministry further noted that complaint reports filed by citizens against policemen and high ranking officials will all be looked into immediately. It also plans to develop the military colleges and police academy’s teaching curriculum and will also give more women an opportunity to be a part of the police force.
In every country in the world, the police force and military forces often attract people who want power, but some few don’t handle it responsibly. It takes a very courageous and determined Ministry of Interior to start a clean-up campaign. I am so impressed. BIG wooo hoooo to the Ministry of Kuwait, and I propose dancing in the streets of Kuwait.
Oh! Wait! Women can dance on the Corniche, and men in front of the Liberation tower. No mixed dancing in Kuwait in public, please. 😉
Light Blowing Dust
Usually when the weather report says “light blowing dust” or “light haze” we are totally socked in, with a visibility of like 100 – 200 meters. Today, I can see almost all the way to the horizon, there is a stiff breeze out of the north creating some white-cap action, the temperature is only 95°F / 35°C and I can imagine people walking happily on the beach, collecting seashells.
Traffic Update
From today’s Arab Times:
Over 200 citations issued: During a crackdown on traffic law violators on the King Fahd Expressway police patrols have issued 202 citations to reckless motorists. The citations also include motorists caught talking on cell phones without using the ‘hands free’ set and not wearing seat belts, reports Arrouiah daily quoting security sources. The same sources said two motorists have been referred to the Traffic Court and their vehicles have been impounded. They were caught speeding.
Comment . . . only two motorists speeding? 😉
Hot Weather Foods
I’ve been making an effort to eat breakfast, and I have finally found something I can like. I have tried to find the post where someone recommends Activia in the comment section, but I can’t find it. Whoever you are, it got filed away in the recesses of my memory – I was looking for non-fat yoghurt to make smoothies with, and my friend handed me a six-pack of Activia and said “Use this.”
I trust my friend, she is all into nature, and being interconnected and fresh fresh food, so when she says “use this,” that’s enough for me. Plus, I remembered someone else telling me about how good Activia was, along with a cheese, maybe called Kiri. I had asked what I could use as a local cheese substitute for Philly Cream Cheese. Kiri isn’t really a subsititute, but it sure is good! 🙂
So here is what I am eating for breakfast:
It tastes SO good! I use one container of Activia (maybe 8 oz.), throw in some frozen raspberries, throw in some frozen blueberries, put in some honey and some cinnamon and blend. YUMMMMM. I am also eating walnuts and almonds, as you can see, because they are good for me, but also because the almonds and walnuts that we buy here seem fresher, they taste more walnutty and more almond-y than the ones we buy in the USA, I don’t know why.
The other thing I make that tastes SO good in this hot weather is tomato salsa. There are a million kinds of salsa, but I use this as a condiment with so many things, I even use it on sandwiches!
I take about:
five fresh Kuwaiti tomatoes, and chop them finely,
one onion, chopped finely,
1/2 bunch cilantro – cut coarsely with scissors,
a sprinkle of sea salt
a big grating of peppercorns (it makes a difference; always use freshly ground pepper)
(the secret ingredient) a sprinkle of lime juice.
Oh, it tastes so good! It tastes so fresh! You can even eat it on crackers.
Committee To Make You Live the Way I Think You Should
From yesterday’s Kuwait Times Editorials is a must read by columnist Shamael Al-Sharikh, one of their most insightful political commenters.
In her column, Dichotomy, she discusses SANPFKS (Committee to Study all Negative Phenomena Foreign to Kuwaiti Society). I have only excerpted the following, to intrigue you enough to click on the blue type above and read the whole article. It is a worthy read, from beginning to end.
Well, unlike these MPs who did not react to the creation of the SANPFKS (the name starts to grow on you, doesn’t it!), I am quite invested in the success of this committee, and as a patriotic Kuwaiti citizen, I will do my utmost to cooperate with the SANPFKS to ensure its success and imminent continuation. There are many things that are foreign to Kuwaiti society and that need to be eradicated from it so we can go back to our roots. Below is a list of issues that the SANPFKS can study, report on, and subsequently eradicate:
1. Bearded men: A post-1991 phenomenon that is clearly the result of influence from other Arab countries. The result is that most Kuwaiti men have become severely unattractive, unapproachable, and mind-numbingly narrow-minded. This phenomenon should be studied extensively and recommendations should be given on how to go back to real Kuwait, where men only wore mustaches.
2. The niqab: same as above. The result is that many Kuwaiti women suffer from the incorrigible heat under layers of black cloth, when in the past, all Kuwaiti women wore an open single layer abbaya, faces uncovered. This phenomenon should be studied extensively, especially in light of the fact that women are not required to cover their face in Mecca during Hajj, making it ridiculous that they cover their face in Kuwait.
This article, from start to finish SANPFKS (Committee to Study all Negative Phenomena Foreign to Kuwaiti Society)
It is followed today by an answering column from Fouad Al-Obaid called “You Must Be Kidding!” where he captures the absurd situation of a country rushing headlong into chaos while the newly-elected ministers discuss mixing of men and women at a hospital party and Star Search instead of using their energies to focus on policies to get Kuwait’s infrastructure moving once again and economic policies to encourage development.
These two columnists make the Kuwait Times worth reading.
White Hot
I’ve overslept the sunrise for the last two mornings (thanks be to God) as I re-adjust to local time. I thank God to have the time and space for it; my sleep/wake schedule has been chaotic.
I was in the Co-op at nine the other morning – usually NO ONE is there but me and the stockers, but this day, everyone was there, and they were pushing me out of the way. As I stood in line, women (women!) would bring their very full baskets and stand sort of angled to get in front of me. Finally, I made friends with the woman in front of me and stuck to her like glue, and got through the check out line. It’s the very first time, ever, I have encountered this in the Co-op, usually everyone is so polite. I can’t imagine what was going on, except that it was very crowded – maybe women trying to get their shopping done before the big heat hit later in the morning.
Ah! I do have a clue! I think it has to do with the current exam schedule. I don’t know how it relates, but as I left, people were picking up their children from school, something that usually happens hours later.
All in all, however, the crowding, the pushing, combined with the jet lag – I felt actually fluttery. I felt mildly disoriented, mildly short of breath, and I really really felt sleepy. As soon as I got home, got all the veggies washed and everything put away, I laid down with the paper – and three hours later I had to force myself out of a drool-sleep, make myself get up and drink some coffee and get started again.
When AdventureMan called, late in the afternoon, I had the computer on. He was complaining about the heat. I checked Weather Underground for Kuwait and it was 117°F / 44°C. It actually hit 118° from 4:00 pm to 5 pm. It is white hot, and I can’t imagine anyone having to work outside in such searing heat – but they do. Street cleaners, construction workers, truckers – they all work in the heat. Officially, work stops at 50°C / 122°F.
Here is what our day in Kuwait looks like this morning:
Kuwait Driving Laws Enforced in Hawali
AdventureMan and I have a running disagreement. I say more people are pulling over to make calls, or using headsets. He says he sees people using mobile phones all the time. (He would not agree to a spot survey of the cars around us, but we also noticed fewer children in the front seats, very cool.)
I think traffic is improving in Kuwait. I see more people using seatbelts, fewer people weaving around while trying to talk on cell phones, and more people using turn signals. I see less endangering behaviors.
Am I being too optimistic here?
From the Arab Times:
250 citations issued: Hawalli police launched an intensive campaign and issued 250 citations to motorists for not wearing seatbelts and another 50 for using mobile phones while driving, reports Arrouiah daily.
Female Ministers Must Wear Hijab?
This is from yesterday’s Arab Times. I have two questions – first, I have no objection to hijab, and I thought it was every individual’s choice to wear or not to wear. Is it the law to wear hijab?
second, I’ve been told that in Kuwait, women did not wear hijab – it is neither cultural nor traditional. Where is this insistence on hijab coming from?
Don’t allow female ministers in Parliament without ‘hijab’: MP
KUWAIT CITY : The government and Parliament should strictly adhere to the Islamic teachings in granting women their political rights, says MP Mohammad Hayef Al-Mutairi to Al-Watan Arabic daily.
Urging both authorities to enforce the Elections Law based on the Islamic teachings, Al-Mutairi said the government should ensure the two female ministers – Education and Higher Education Nuriya Al-Subaih and State Minister for Housing Affairs and Administrative Development Mudhi Al-Humoud – will abide by the Islamic teachings in carrying out their duties in their respective ministries.
According to Article 17/2005 of the law and as stated in the Holy Quran, Al-Mutairi stressed women should always wear ‘hijab’ (veil). He also asked the government to be objective in implementing the law, which should be enforced among its members first to serve as an example to the people. Al-Mutairi added the executive and legislative authorities should not allow Al-Subaih and Al-Humoud to enter the Parliament without ‘hijab.’
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