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Basra bans alcohol 7, December 2009

Posted by davidbroberts in Iraq.
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Iraq, for so long a relatively liberal, cosmopolitan and highly educated society from ancient times to the pre-Saddam era, has been succumbing to the ravages of dictatorship and bungled occupation for decades now. This latest nail in the coffin of an inclusive and advanced Iraq pales into comparison to the great many sins committed against it in recent times but is, nevertheless, still – I feel – noteworthy.

Hat tip: Angry Arab

Jesus sightings 2009 7, December 2009

Posted by davidbroberts in Random.
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Thanks to The Times’ Comment Central for compiling this years best Jesus sightings.

US Military has more suicides than battle fatalities in 2009 7, December 2009

Posted by davidbroberts in American ME Relations.
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More U.S. military personnel have taken their own lives so far in 2009 than have been killed in either the Afghanistan or Iraq wars this year, according to a Congressional Quarterly compilation of the latest statistics from the armed services.

As of Tuesday, at least 334 members of the military services have committed suicide in 2009, compared with 297 killed in Afghanistan and 144 who died in Iraq, the figures show.

For sure it’s a blunt statistic but it is nevertheless fascinating. Read the rest of the article here.

Hat tip: the Arabist

Viciously racist cartoon in Qatari daily paper 7, December 2009

Posted by davidbroberts in Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, The Gulf.
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Some weeks ago Qatari  Gulf Times published a vicious, stereotyped cartoon referring to maids killing babies.

Domestic worker issues are prevalent in many of the Gulf States. When I refer to ‘issues’ I am referring to widespread violence, mistreatment, contract infringements and more frequent than you may expect examples of rape perpetrated on workers brought over often from South East Asia. Indeed, so arduous and essentially awful is their treatment at the hands of their Gulfy employers (i.e. a minority of ordinary Gulf families) that there are daily reports of worker suicides by, for example, drinking bleach, to be found across Gulf daily newspapers. The key here is to think of just how awful their life must be for them to find the option of drinking bleach as preferable.

The US State Department maintains an annual people trafficking tier system ranking countries across the world. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran are in the US’ third and worst tier of offenders. Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates are one tier up on the Tier 2 watch list. There is, therefore, unequivocally a sizable problem region-wide.

Many of the excuses that are trotted out in mock/quasi defense of the flagrant abuse of domestic workers stem from essentially apocryphal stories about maids and babysitters attacking or killing children in their care.

This cartoon, therefore, is viciously making fun of this situation. Satire is an useful tool to be aimed at the pompous and powerful. These people have neither of these things: they don’t even have their own passports. It is wrong and utterly risible and reprehensible of this cartoonist (mo7md@raya.com) to design and for the Gulf Times to print this cartoon. It is not even as if the cartoon is that smart or witty: read the caption.

“Your mum shouted at me today just becauseI [sic] broke a plate. An I am going to strike back. Count on me you brat, you won’t sleep at home tonight! You will stay at Al Sadd Children’s’ Emergency. Open your mouth now. This dish I havemade [sic] will make you dizzy for hours.”

This is clunky, poorly written, poorly punctuated and lifeless English, written by someone with a shaky grasp of the language, trying, I assume, to be cutting and mean to a wholly disenfranchised and downtrodden segment of society. What a guy.

Satire: biting, mean, vindictive and harsh satire, I have no problem with. Yet, – it bears mentioning once again – the key is who it is aimed at. For the Gulf Times to sanction this piece promoting however slightly the myth that persists and is to some degree responsible for violence faced by domestic workers problems in the region, vilifying the utterly defenceless workers that raise most nationals’ children in the Gulf is, essentially, a disgusting and bullying decision. Shame on them.

Saudi scholars slam Swiss minaret decision 6, December 2009

Posted by davidbroberts in Saudi Arabia.
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Indeed, as I’ve said, it’s not a smart or even that nice, educated or rational a decision, but still, Saudi scholars slamming someone else (ANYone else) for a lack of tolerance? Please.

Go here to see a very rude but rather funny encapsulation of this little situation.

The Dubai kicking continues 4, December 2009

Posted by davidbroberts in The Emirates.
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The Guardian continues the Western media’s schadenfreude-imbued coverage of Dubai’s debacle today with a nice piece on the absurd construction plans that Dubai had in its make-believe pipeline. As so many people have said: ‘even though ‘I’ don’t know that much about economics, ‘I’ still knew that this level of delusional planning and aspiration would, at some stage, fall flat on its face’. Personally, I count myself among the now smug, after-the-fact-experts claiming that Dubai’s failure was but a matter of time. The only person, I think, that can really claim to have seen it coming is my supervisor in Durham, Dr. Christopher Davidson in his recent book on Dubai. Mabrouk, as they say.

A Small Gallery of Folly

A constantly shifting tower block. Nice idea, would be beautiful, but, come on, let’s be serious. Dubai ridiculous rating (DRR): 9/10

An underwater hotel. Please. DRR: 10/10

A ghastly Trump-built tower. Ugly. DRR: 3/10

A 1km tall tower. Compensating for something are we? DRR: 8/10

Education City’s graduation arena 3, December 2009

Posted by davidbroberts in Qatar.
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This is, theoretically, the place where all Education City graduates will gather for their graduation ceremony. I’m sure that this is taken fairly directly from some film or other…the 5th element?

Thanks to this blog for the picture.

The history of the price of oil 3, December 2009

Posted by davidbroberts in Random.
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Graph taken from WTRG Economics.

Rory Stewart on advice 3, December 2009

Posted by davidbroberts in Random.
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Rory Stewart, the British academic, walker, sage and genius on being asked to give advice to, amongst others, Hilary Clinton.

“It’s like they’re coming in and saying to you, ‘I’m going to drive my car off a cliff. Should I or should I not wear a seatbelt?’ And you say, ‘I don’t think you should drive your car off the cliff.’ And they say, ‘No, no, that bit’s already been decided – the question is whether to wear a seatbelt.’ And you say, ‘Well, you might as well wear a seatbelt.’ And then they say, ‘We’ve consulted with policy expert Rory Stewart and he says …’”

Uday Hussein: worse than a psychopath 3, December 2009

Posted by davidbroberts in Iraq.
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This link leads to an excerpt of an interview with a former army body double of Uday Hussein, one of Saddam Hussein’s sons. Latif Yahia, the solider in question, describes Uday as far worse than a psychopath, for example, turning a beautiful woman into little more than a ‘barely breathing hunk of meat’.

I am sure and believe 100% that Uday Hussein was a vicious and sadistic killer. However, I am not overly sure how much I believe  this man’s testimony. Firstly, it is obviously in his best  financial interest to make the stories as gory and over the top as possible. The worse the stories, the more sensationalist media (and the BBC…) will be interested in interviewing him and, perhaps, the better his book sales. Secondly, he claims that he escaped Iraq with the help from the CIA. This is either a part of the first reason, the CIA being quite a buzz-word for editors, or it could be suggested that he must make his stories interesting and gruesome for them too: he needs to prove worthy after they expended so much energy and money getting him out. Thirdly, Yahia just comes across, to me at least, as not totally believable. This isn’t based on too much, just a gut reaction when watching the clip. Feel free to comment if you feel I’m being unfair…