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Expat wanderer

From Kuwait MOI

One reader was asking about where to go online to pay his Kuwait traffic violations. While looking it up (Google “Kuwait Government Traffic Violations Website”) I found this essay on Equality Before the Law in Kuwait:

Lt. Gen. Al-Rejaib: His Highness the Amir stresses on applying the law on everyone

The Interior Undersecretary Lt. Gen. Ahmad Abdullatif Al-Rejaib affirmed on embedding the principle of reward and punish with applying it, where is no place in the Interior Ministry for slackers or neglegants or lacker individuals.

He stressed importance on respecting the authority of the security man after it had been affected for some reasons, affirming on the need of restoring mutual respect between the security man and citizens as well as residents.

Lt. Gen. Al-Rejaib cleared out thoughout his meeting which was featured with honesty and transparency on Wednesday morning 3/2/2010 attended by the Interior Assistant Undersecretary for General Security Affairs, Maj. Gen. KHalil Al-Shamali, leaders and officers of the General Security sector, that the supreme directives of His Highness the Amir, the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, is to apply law on everyone and no one is above it no matter how high this person is.

Lt. Gen. Al-Rejaib urged the leaders and officers of the General Security sector to follow up on all the works that are assigned to them as well as the tasks entrusted on them with honesty and transparency so justice prevails among everyone and for homeland residents to live in comfort, secure and safety. He demanded to honor the hardworker as soon as he accomplished any such achievements so it would be a motivation and an incentive for others to do work accurately.

At the beginning of the meeting in where it was took place at First Lt. Gen. Yousef Al-Khurafi Hall, Lt. Gen. Al-Rejaib welcomed his brothers and sons leaders and officers of the General Security sector, and conveyed to them the greetings of H.E. the Interior Minister Staff Lt. Gen. (ret.) Sheikh Jaber Al-Khaled Al-Sabah and his good wishes for them for success and to exert to give more efforts.

This meeting comes for the sake of discussing many of the issues concerning about security direcotorates and police stations, emphysizing the importance of police station as it is the first point for citizen and resident to turn to and the first security venue known by the Kuwaiti society, he added.

He affirmed that police station was a safeguard for every citizen and resident and a source of fear for any such violators or outlaws; pointed out that the Ministry of Interior has restored the authority of police stations two years ago.
There are bright sides represented by outstanding distinguished efforts done by area leaders, police stations chiefs as well as their officers but in the other hand, there are few who don’t perform their duty in full, and this is not allowed for any case, he added.

Lt. Gen. Al-Rejaib warned on the sluggard individuals who will receive a proper punishment, whereas the sincere and hard work individuals will receive the most appreciable rewards. He stressed importance to reject any such favoritism or mediation or a compliment, and such matters should be dealt with strictness and be terminated.

The Lt. Gen. called on good work organization in police stations, mentioning that the Ministry of Interior is putting all possible support and resources from officers, constables and police patrols, and to such reasons police stations officers should be present in their posting duties.

The leaders of the General Security sector, on top of them Maj. Gen. Khalil Al-Shamali have to be in presence in their places day and night; therefore, it is not exceptable at all that high leaders are in presence at their posts and no police stations officers existed at their assigned locations, he pointed out.

He stressed out that evaluating leaders and officers work stemmed from their performing their duties on combating crime and running after outlaws and out system, and there are not such other way around.

Lt. Gen. Al-Rejaib requested leaders and officers of the General Security sector to work as always do and promised for the sake of Kuwait and its people who deserved to be given all such exerted efforts.

He called on police stations chiefs and their officers to identify the area nature where they work at in terms of its demographic structure, its foremost economical activities and its existent educational and banking facilities, affirming that such information are essential to be awared about by the police station officers.

The security work is an honorable task and an obligatory on us to hold responsibilities, working as a one team and any such achievements accomplished are due to fruitful cooperation and continuous coordination, and self-denial is a trait we should characterized by for the sake of homeland security, he noted out.

The Interior Undersecretary Lt. Gen. Ahmad Abdullatif Al-Rejaib concluded by expressing his hope that the leaders and officers of the General Security sector to be as always as they promised us of being discipline, committed with high duty performance; pointed out that this meeting is a beginning of a series of upcoming meetings with different security sectors.

In Pensacola, people ask me if I wasn’t scared living in Kuwait and Qatar. Safe? I feel safer in Qatar and Kuwait than in Pensacola! And that is what I tell them!

February 20, 2010 Posted by | Bureaucracy, Charity, Counter-terrorism, Crime, Cross Cultural, Customer Service, ExPat Life, Kuwait, Law and Order, Leadership, Living Conditions, Middle East, Social Issues | 2 Comments

Doha: 10 “eateries” closed for Health Violations

This is from today’s Peninsula. Don’t you wish they would publish the names of the eateries? As a person who frequents ‘eateries’, as a person the health inspectors are protecting, I would very much like to know names of violaters. I would also like to see the standards by which they are judged, and the scores of ALL the restaurants/eateries they examine. In many countries, that is considered in the public interest.

Wouldn’t it be nice to know whose score was so low that they barely passed??

Eateries shut for violating health rules
Web posted at: 2/20/2010 5:46:46
Source ::: .THE PENINSULA
DOHA: At least 10 eateries across the city were closed down temporarily by Doha Municipality last month as punishment for violating health and safety rules.

Civic inspectors conducted routine checks on more than 2,800 eateries, among them restaurants, cafes and juice stalls in the city last month, to check their compliance with health and safety guidelines.

As many as 160 violations of various types were detected and 10 eateries found to be involved in serious violations, were ordered to be closed down.

Municipal inspectors discovered large foodstuff stocks with retail outlets that had outlived their expiry dates. Some 343 types of food items which were found to be unfit for consumption were recovered and destroyed.

They included more than 2,800 boxes of fresh eggs. Each box contains 30 eggs, so the stale eggs that were seized from various outlets and destroyed by the civic body totaled 84,000.

At least 53 samples of food items that were suspected to be unfit for consumption were taken by the municipal inspectors and sent over to the laboratory to run quality tests. It was found that six of them were unfit for consumption and did not meet Qatari standards and specifications.

The public cleaning department of Doha Municipality, on the other hand, referred 115 violations to law-enforcement agencies for action while issued 100 warnings to violators last month.

Some 423 entities found to be violating public cleaning regulations were fined on the spot.

As for beauty salons, raids were conducted last month on 63 of them and 21 violations were detected. At least five of them with serious violations were referred to the police for legal action.

The municipality also acted on a number of public complaints regarding stale foodstuff on sale, public hygiene and building permits, among other things, and referred several violators for action.

Some of these complaints had appeared in newspapers while others the municipality received telephonically, while still others in writing.

February 20, 2010 Posted by | Bureaucracy, Communication, Community, Eating Out, Health Issues, Hygiene, Interconnected, Law and Order, Living Conditions, Qatar, Random Musings, Statistics, Technical Issue | 5 Comments

Scientist Proves it: “We are all boring”

LLOOLL, this scientist studied a large variety of human behavior and discovered that what we do, we are likely to do over and over. Where we go, we are likely to go multiple times.

BOSTON (Feb. 18) — Physicist Albert-László Barabási can guess where you will be tomorrow at 3 p.m. And where you’ll be Saturday night at 8. In fact, given enough data, he can predict your location at any time, with an average 93 percent accuracy. But don’t worry. He’s not watching you. In fact, his work shouldn’t be cause for alarm so much as existential distress.

In a new paper published in the Feb. 19 issue of Science, the Northeastern University physicist and his colleagues describe how they used data from 50,000 anonymous cell phone users to study human mobility, or where we are and when. Their work reveals that our movements follow a pattern, whether we are homebodies or frequent fliers.

Chaoming Song

These diagrams represent the movements of two mobile phone users. The one on the left shows that the person moved between 22 different cell towers during a three-month period, and placed 52 percent of his calls from one area; the other subject hit 76 spots, and was much less rooted.

“The surprise was that we couldn’t find unpredictable people,” Barabási says. “We are all boring.”

You can read the entire article here, on AOL News.

February 20, 2010 Posted by | Communication, Experiment, Living Conditions, Statistics, Technical Issue | Leave a comment

Kisses From Katie

There are so many blogs out there, it’s hard to keep up even with very good ones, blogs which really stand out, blogs which are extraordinary.

My nephew, Earthling’s wife wrote to me about a blog, Kisses from Katie, and urged me to take a look.

This blog is so unusual, so unforgettable for any person who tries to follow God’s purpose for his or her life. This woman walked away from EVERYTHING to serve God’s will, and ended up with 12 children and a grandmother, in Africa.

It’s not like she is a saint. She struggles. She hurts. She works hard with children who are dying, abandoned women, the poorest of the poor. She faces the challenge of raising 12 daughters and all their needs, and special needs. She celebrates their triumphs. She walks her life in utter faith.

I challenge you to read her blog. I challenge you to try to tell me you are not moved. This woman is an inspiration.

Katie works for a group called Amazina and you can learn more about them and their work with orphans and God’s love by clicking on the blue type above.

Thank you, Silver!

February 20, 2010 Posted by | Africa, Beauty, Biography, Blogging, Character, Charity, Community, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Food, Interconnected, Living Conditions, Spiritual, Work Related Issues | 1 Comment

Who Will be my Friends?

This will be my 31st move.

When I moved back to Doha, as I sighed and packed boxes, I took a few minutes to sit down and count them up. 31 moves. A lifetime of changing houses . . .

Until I get to the new location, I am caught up in the crushing details of moving – decisions on what to take, what to leave and to whom, closing accounts, opening accounts, blah blah blah. It can be overwhelming. I always think about that old joke about “how do you eat an elephant?” and the answer is “one bite at a time.” It’s the same with moving. Don’t look at the big picture, just keep moving, one detail at a time, and it all works out.

But when I get there, I wonder who will be my friends? It can be a lonely 6 months to a year while waiting for the right friends to come along. I make friends easily, but the ones who are going to stick, those tried and true friends – it takes a while to figure out who those are going to be.

We are lucky this time, we have family waiting for us. Our son is already educating us on how to pronounce local streets and areas (No, Mom, not “Sehr-vahn’-teys” as the Spanish would say it, but “Sir-van’tees”, not “Tex’-are” but “Te-har”, LOL) and what attitudes and perceptions we might best keep to ourselves if we want to get along.

We want to get along. Ironically, moving back to our own country is more daunting than moving to another expat community. The expat communities are relatively open and fluid, people coming and going all the time, willing to accept new members and welcome them in. This move is going to be to a very different life and a very different community from that in which we have lived the last thirty something years . . . God always sends me good friends. I just wonder who those friends will be?

February 19, 2010 Posted by | Adventure, Aging, Communication, Community, Cross Cultural, ExPat Life, Florida, Humor, Interconnected, Living Conditions, Random Musings | 8 Comments

Anxiety and Me

Anxiety and me – we go a long way back.

I am greatly familiar with anxiety . . . it is almost genetic. Maybe I was born of a family of worriers, people who looked for all the worst possibilities, and then ruined a perfectly good day by focusing on things that might – or might not – ever happen.

Today’s reading from Forward Day by Day was just what I needed now, with a tiny newborn grandson who is coughing, and a house inspection which shows some things that need to be done, and a moving process about to take place, and an earth-shaking retirement . . . if you are the praying kind, I would ask for your prayers for peace of mind, strength in service and courage in the face of adversities and challenges.

FRIDAY, February 19
Philippians 4:1-9. Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanks-giving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing…if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Anxiety is a kind of fear–not of God, but of the unknown future. It is unreality. We draw the unreal future into the present and proceed to stab ourselves with it.

How passionately Jesus strove to overcome our delusion of crossing bridges before we come to them! Imagine an able and loving father whose children ran about in panic lest next year they might not have food to eat or clothes to wear.

Anxiety is a symptom. The disease is mis¬trust of our heavenly Father. The cure is to look around and see what he has done for us already and to thank him for it. How many lovely things, how much to praise him for! If anything is needed, ask: and then leave it to God. If he doesn’t give it, so much the better. It wasn’t needed. What God always will give–if we trust him–is his peace, the best gift. (1946)

PRAY for the Diocese of Bath and Wells (Canterbury, England)

Ps 95 & 31 * 35; Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32; John 17:9-19

February 19, 2010 Posted by | Adventure, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Financial Issues, Generational, Health Issues, Humor, Living Conditions, Moving, Spiritual | 3 Comments

Overheard at the Pediatrician’s Office

“Oh!” said the delighted receptionist, “Five children! You must be here for annual exams!”

No!” said the equally chirpy Mom (God knows how she maintained her sense of humor) “They are ALL sick!”

> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > >

“Your mother is driving me crazy!” I heard a woman saying, I guessed she was on her phone to her husband, talking about her mother-in-law.

I was wrong. She was the grandmother, and she was talking to her the sick toddler she had with her. Mom had called and asked her to pick him up from daycare and take him to the doctor.

February 19, 2010 Posted by | Family Issues, Florida, Health Issues, Living Conditions, Relationships, Women's Issues, Work Related Issues | Leave a comment

Feast of Flowers

Things get a little chaotic in a house with a newborn, so this morning I was giving the many baskets of flowers a critical eye, so that we could get rid of some which were fading.

There was one; I figured I could rescue it by taking out a couple wilted blooms, so I put it on the kitchen counter, but then I was needed to hold the baby.

Next thing I looked, all three cats were having a flower feast. By the time I grabbed the camera, the shyest one had jumped down:

Memo to self: Keep flowers in high, unreachable place.

February 18, 2010 Posted by | Arts & Handicrafts, Beauty, Family Issues, Living Conditions, Pets, Relationships | 6 Comments

One Brown Glove

Have I told you how cold it is in Pensacola?

People here are in fur coats, and gloves!

Today we drove up the Bayou and saw what we thought might be a run-over animal on the road, but it turned out to be one brown glove.

We were laughing at how easy it is to lose gloves – to end up with one of several different pairs. My Mom used to make us wear mittens that had a string attatching them; you ran it through the coat and out both arms so you wouldn’t be losing so many mittens. In Alaska, you really need those mittens.

I still have a pair of Nordic mittens my Mom knit me. No. No. They are not attached by strings; they are grown up mittens, LLLOOOOLLLL!

February 18, 2010 Posted by | Alaska, Arts & Handicrafts, Beauty, Cultural, ExPat Life, Family Issues, Florida, Humor, Living Conditions | | Leave a comment

Honey Baked Apples

“If you really want to make something I like . . . I really really like those baked apples.”

My daughter in law and I hate the term daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. We wish there were nicer words for the relationship we enjoy so much. I really do want her to be happy, and I want to make life with a new baby easier, so I am glad there is something I can do that will make life sweeter.

I made this recipe up from things we keep on hand in the house. I don’t think it matters what kind of apples you use; it is the honey, nuts and cinnamon that make this SOOOOOO good:

Heat oven to 350°F/180°C

apples – cut in half, scoop out seeds with a spoon, cut off stem or end pieces
chopped pecans, or walnuts – fill each apple cavity
honey – pour honey into each apple cavity over pecans, and drizzle a little over the rest of the apple
cinnamon – sprinkle lightly with cinnamon
cloves – sprinkle with a tiny bit of ground cloves

Spray a baking dish with olive oil (you do have a Misto, don’t you?) Place apples in, cut side up, fill with pecans, drizzle with honey, sprinkle with cinnamon and clove. Pop into oven and bake at 350°/180° for one hour – one hour and a quarter. Remove from oven and let cool slightly before eating.

This is a very healthy fruit dessert, but you can add a little vanilla ice cream and it will still taste good, LOL, it will also add calories. 🙂

This is what they look like when they are ready to go into the oven:

February 17, 2010 Posted by | Florida, Food, Health Issues, Living Conditions, Recipes, Relationships | | 1 Comment