Just a thought

Every September, Saudi Arabia marks its national day celebrations in commemoration of the foundation of the modern kingdom that is Saudi Arabia. Only the past couple of years things have taken a slightly different turn.

Historically speaking, festive seasons that mark certain dates are forbidden in the country whether they be of an "immoral" nature or otherwise. Valentines day, mothers day, fathers day, even birthdays are seen as "bidaa" -in this case a word widely used to describe a negative connotation of imitating non-Muslims in their customs and traditions. Christmas and New years day (be it Gregorian or Hijri) would naturally fall under that classification also.

The past couple of years however, Saudis have began loosening up on their strict interpretation of how the day should be celebrated, were seeing more and more people "go green" just as the neighboring United Arab Emirates "go white". People go out to the street, flags and colors are on many corners, and a very strong sense of solidarity is felt in the air, perhaps this is what we need the most right now.

In a time when middle easterners, and in specific Saudi's, are becoming less and less confident in their economy through plummeting stock markets and rising commodity prices. In the same time becoming more and more targeted by the global world as a center of terrorism and backwardness due to our society’s issues. We live in a world where we are criticized, even mocked and ridiculed by mainstream media in the western world. These times are not easy ones, and these are just some factors that can bring ones moral down and give a depressing sense of failure to be quite honest.

The times like i said "are-a-changin", and a thousand mile journey starts with one step, and we are definitely in the right direction. We need to be proud of who we are, we must learn to love ourselves in order for us to be capable of dealing with the issues that we face both internally and externally. Celebrating a national day and greeting your fellow countryman for example no matter where your from is a nice way of bringing back those good wholesome thoughts to a persons heart. It is that faith that brings us up when we are down, and that makes us stronger when we are weak.

Saudi Arabia is in the midst of an economic boom, foreign investments are coming into the country, Saudization is being promoted, and almost everyone in the region wants a piece of the pie. Now is the time to really focus, now is the time to concentrate on higher education, to nourish our children to grow strong in this world. We are not only responsible for our generation, but for the generations after us, and that’s a big responsibility, one that i for one, as many of you, am proud and ready to take.

God Bless Saudi Arabia and god bless you, no matter where you’re from.

OutFOXED

An interesting short documentary on Fox News and their wicked, wicked ways.
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7798.htm

Virginia Tech

One year on and the colossal damage of the Virgina Tech massacre lingers on with the left, the right, politicians, parents, students, watchdog groups and lobbyists.
my attitude towards firearms has always been the same, i think they shouldent exist, lands have been concured before guns existed, quarrels were settled (or fueled) without guns, points were made without guns, no one ever needs a damn gun.
Currently the media is beginning to stir things up again as the general public remember last years unfortunate set of events, presidential candidates are speaking out on guns carefully , and hero-like anti gun groups are coming up and out and in your face to make their point again. (and ya, i know about the law that was passed earlier this year stipulating strict verification of mental stability for gun shoppers, good step).

As much as i would like to speak about this whole issue in depth, i will not, not now. Now is a time to look back at all the "condemning" were all so good at and thereon look to the future for some hope. now is a time of clarity-if possible. media ramblings and voices of public opinion will fill mainstream media, saturate it, and beat it to death, its coming, so until then here are some foreign reactions from last year..


http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSL1752333820070417

The truth will set you free?

Hello! its been some time since my last post and i did promise to deliver a more than accurate (as best as i can) critique of my school, the American university of Sharjah. that's not going to happen anymore, at least not for now. my reasoning is this: as i wrote and wrote and wrote, i slowly felt the line between objectivity and cruelty blurring beyond reason. yes this is my blog and i do intend to post anything and everything that i please (whilst respecting traditions and customs and so many other nice facets of society). in this case however, i may have risked losing a clear sighted take on things. when i started that post i had just finished my student life, and by all means i do not look at things today as i may have then. that said, i wish to spend a little more time "out of school" just so i can detach myself more and more from the student that i once was, when i feel iv accomplished that, ill be able to write a decent post that would reflect a students take on the school, along with a graduate/employee's take, rather than an angry student ranting on and on about policies (ranting is good, don't get me wrong).

Speaking of honesty, i stumbled upon a short video clip (thanks youtube) of Fox's new reality game show, The moment of truth. the show pins the contestant in front of a live studio audience-along with his/her loved ones (family members, significant other, dog, etc.) and is asked a series of questions that he/she must answer truthfully, a lie detector is in place, and the rest is history.
all this would be "OK" if the questions were ones of class, pious fun, and why not, embarrassingly cute moments. but you already know where I'm going with this one, their not those kind of questions. Rather, the questions are meant to demean, disgrace, and mortify everyone involved (except us the viewers, on our couches hungry for the most outragous thing we can watch).
Now, there are a couple of other clips of less detrimental questions like asking a lady if shes ever had a fantasy about her friend, which is actually funny. its 2008 though, and lines everywhere are blurred, where do you draw the line? when is enough enough? Sure the host and contestant have some sort of idea of what their getting themselves into, but comon, how far are you willing to go to make a buck?
Watch the video here, its been viewed over 130,000 times on youtube.
a question comes to mind, with all the Arab imitation of talk and game shows ("the biggest loser" which was made into an Arabic show that did not differ in anyway whatsoever is a clear example of blunt imitation), can we expect our fame seeking Arab producers to jump on the bandwagon and make their own "moment of truth"?

Then again, imitation is the finest form of flattery.

Till next time, good night and good luck.

John Lennon on the big screen

This December marks the 26th anniversary of John Lennon's untimely death, but just three months ahead of that is the anticipated release date of the movie "The U.S. Versus John Lennon" set for release sometime in early September 2006. This is awesome, indisputably the most famous beatle, anything to read hear watch or know about him is a treat for many people, myself included.
the movie will expose the pressures that the singer faced (I'm assuming here) in the 70's from the US government during his campaign for peace and the eruptions he made along with Yoko Ono in the peace movement. Watch any historical show depicting his life on discovery or pick up a book on the same matter and you'll read some pretty interesting theories and conspiracies pertaining to the rule of the U.S. Government in tapping his phone lines, placing bugs (little mics) in his residence, really just trying to nail him by any means possible. He was a public figure, a strong one at that, and people listen to the likes of John Lennon.
Lions Gate Films are making the movie, recommended to me by a very credible friend of mine, LGF have exceptional flicks under their belt, Fahrenheit 9/11, requiem for a dream, the Saw series (debatable whether that series is really that good), Pi, and Irreversible Just to name a few that I'm familiar with, all noteworthy.
i hope the movie is a pleaser.

more readings:

The night he died

movie site, really well done features good articles and cool stuff to look at


P.S.: I'm a tad bit behind on my AUS post, its coming its just taking me longer to write , so many nice things to say :)

have a good one.

Highschool VS. University

Summer of 06, and things could not possibly be any duller. There's a discreet aroma going around that sniffs nothing more than a challenge. Life is a challenge. Aside from watching CSI re-runs or attempting to go out for a cruel jog in the unforgiving weather of Saudi Arabia, my summer-and much of my last semester seized to be a 22 year olds 5 months of senior year intoxicating fun, and morphed into a chaotic search for a job. And no, it is NOT easy. I sometimes take things for granted, like how easy I had it in highschool, back then it was inconceivable to even think that I would have to make an important decision, I honestly cant remember making one. Pass 9th grade then move on to the 10th grade, finish that? No problem go up to the 11th. And then came the big $hit, college, where am I goin? Again in less than a month it was settled and I was on my way.
but now, things are a little different. College was interesting, not because it was a great place to be (I'll get to that later), but because it was life accompanied by it's soul mate Mr. Challenge, but as opposed to highschool, there was no one around to help me out, well in all honesty not as much as I would have liked it. it was the beginning of making decisions, real ones. What major, why is it better for me to major in that? No I wasn't exceptionally clever in sciences. bla bla bla, in the beginning there is a sense of weakness, when you don't know what you want in life, you know you wana do something right and do it well, but you just don't know what it is. Frustrating as it is you see many of your peers strolling along calmly with there majors and such. and you feel left behind. yup, theres no 10th grade waiting for ya here Mr. 9th grader. Just a whole lotta confusion.
the idea is this: no one knows what, who, where or when they want to be , not in a universal way, not in complete confidence. We change our views and minds so many times as we grow up that its impossible to surely know what will become of us. This is fine, it's not finding out what you want to do or accomplish in your life that defines you, rather its the process of how you go about it that does. That in itself is the key, that is growing up. this is old news to some of you, but hell i wanted it to be my first entry, subsequent entries will follow and the next one will be my critique of the American University of Sharjah, not for the faint of heart i'm afraid. brutality begins!
anyway, that was enough for now, more rants to come soon.
later

Link

here is the link for the KFC article