Excuse My Language!

I have to admit that this particular post is actually a reaction to something I read which deeply disappointed me. Usually I wouldn't give a stupid thought a moment of thought, but not this time. I will not post the exact quote that made my blood boil, rather I will try to convey it in my way. The reason is that I do not want to offend anyone, and especially the person who wrote his thought, but I do reserve the right to contest it in my way.


This person has obviously noticed the amount of people who are following closely the current events in the Middle East and are trying to voice their opinions or their views. Somewhere around this thought, this person may have felt that the amount of people reacting to the recent events is not a healthy feature and that people should maybe at least follow the events without reacting and posting their thoughts on the matter on social media sites. Now i really hope that you get the picture of what this person said, as it was said in no more than fifteen words only, but that I consider what was said by this particular person as being dangerous to say the least. I tried very hard to make excuses on behalf of this person, although I have to admit that I did not make my feelings known to him/her. Its not cowardice on my behalf, but rather to strengthen my argument I have to give enough space for people to freely express themselves before demanding it for myself.

I tell this person, please do think about what you have written, because you are actually hinting that people should not think about politics and just leave it to "those who are more capable". This exact idea is what separates freedom of speech from gagging the masses. Plus, it is extremely healthy for people to think, from their point of view, about all aspects of their life. Politics is not a monopoly for certain amount of people, because it effects us all. Voting is a political activity, so I hope your not against people voting for whoever they think is suitable. So i fail to see how or what is "dangerous" about people voicing their views about the recent events, or any future events. I also fail to see why this person unfairly labeled those who make clear where they stand as being "make-believe-political-scientists". Should we ban twitter, facebook, internet and maybe even satellite TV and start broadcasting propaganda material so that this person feels safe and comfortable? Maybe even go to the extent of hounding those with opinions just because they have not studied political science?

Buddy, I hope I haven't treated you unfairly. But what was said should not go unnoticed, although truth be said, no one commented on what was said by this person, which should be enough evidence on its own. Just try and imagine how a democratic society could even exist without freedom of expression!

In this day and age our lives is as much intwined with politics as it is with economics, so please let people make political mistakes and let them learn from them, because this is how a society can evolve.


"Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so." Voltaire

The People's Tsunami

On the 26th of December 2004 the Indian Ocean rose up and made clear that nature is still much more powerful (and even smarter) than what humans can muster in its face. It claimed the lives of many directly or indirectly. Today we see another tsunami rising up and crashing down but this time its a human tsunami crashing on decrepit regimes through some of the Arab countries, and just as a tsunami those countries rose up and crashed down on thier dictators suddenly and whitout warning.

Just try and go back through time and imagine how great Egypt was in times past, so was north Africa, and all the Arab countries that are now so backward. The common factor in thoes backward countries is that they are ruled by "out-of-fashion" totalitarian regimes. Tunis, the land of the Carthagenians, those that ruled one third of the mediteranian and stood up to the Roman republic. Egypt, the land of Pharoes who tamed the Nile and on later centuries became one of the most prominant pillars in the Islamic state. Yemen, the land of Sheba, and another major pillar of the Islamic state. Yet we grew up seeing those countries under the yoke of those that would indroduce poverty, illiteracy and repression. Their greatness is now only in the history books, and only as a footnote. Those regimes existed and came to power as a reaction to colonialisim, but after freeing their nations from the European colonial powers, those regimes became local colonial regimes themselves. So to the people of those nations it was only a change of faces. Replacing one extortionists with another. Some might even argue that the Eropean colonialists were more humane than their own rulers, how sad is that! Now we are witnessing the rise of the ordinary man, not the rise of the military, or an idiology or even a religious idea. That is the beauty of it. Its a rise of a nation and not just a sector or class of a nation. All is needed now of those people is to keep the momentum and push for real reform towards a democratic government (a real one this time). Let them come together and unite behind a constitution that they all agree upon, that will be the first step towards rising up as a nation and setting thier trains on the track of greatness once again. By God, those nations do have the potential to be great, and I believe with all my heart that they can reach such great hights that they would compete with all the great nations of the world once again.

My heart goes out to the families of those that gave their lives in those blessed days in the persuit of freedom.... Freedom, what a word, what an idea. It is the only idea that cannot die, no matter how repressive a government may be. Ever since the dawn of history and humans have always seeked freedom. Even animals die out if freedom is taken away from them. So it was really not a surprise as to the rise of those people, it was only a matter of when. This brings to me a great quote by Albert Camus in which he said "freedom is nothing but a chance to be better".

On a final note, I read a wonderful tweet by an Egyptian that reads "to the dictators: you are not invincible, to the people: you are not powerless, to the west: you are not needed anymore."

I hope to live to see the day when we see these countries great once again.

The Rise of the Underlings

...........Men at some time are masters of their fates;
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,
But in ourselves, that we are underlings.
Julius Caesar Act 1, scene 2, 135–141

Some of us have been blessed to have studied Shakespeare at a young age, but sadly most have not, which would be a very interesting future post about education. For the moment though, I quote this particular line after having two conversations with some of the brightest young men in Bahrain. These two Bahrainis have stirred the muse inside to write these lines in support of these characters.

Now you must be curious as to what actually went through these conversations with these characters; it is not of value actually. What impressed me was the fact that these characters have shown me that God had answered my prayer in my previous posts and showed me two great examples of Responsible, Innovative, Broad Thinking and Ambitious citizens. Now two is not nearly enough to reform a society, but I am sure that more are out there. I have to admit though, they were raw uncut diamonds, but that shouldn't be much of a problem with the right guidance. One admirable quality was that not once did they refer in any shape or sense to race, color, or creed when referring to Bahrain. That would have been enough for me to admire. Now coming back to the quote from Shakespeare I will only add my voice to the idea that Change in any society happens within, but that we must not forget that you need responsible citizens to initiate this change. And as sure as hell, we cannot hope for the honorable (old) members of parliament to have the wisdom needed to reform society, because they are busy debating on the most important and patriotically issue of what color their new BMW cars should be.

We have all saw, read and heard the news coming out of Tunis this past week, and what a great example those brave Tunisians were. But even brave as they are they still needed that spark, that push, that catalyst to rally behind and use as the wind in their sails. It is arguable and controversial to how it started, with a young man setting fire to himself in protest, and I do not dare smear the reputation of a man sacrificing his life for his fellow citizens. But we do not need matches and gas to initiate change in Bahraini society, what we need is encouragement and enough space for young citizens like the mentioned above to express themselves without fear of reprisal from their peers. These individuals will one day lead the way to a better future in Bahrain if given the chance, and this chance is not demanded exclusively from the government but mostly from society itself. We cannot expect to look to the person sitting beside us to rise up first, instead you and I should stand up and voice our concerns to our beloved society, because it is, in my opinion, the only way which shows our patriotism and love for our country. Remember that out of all the conspirators against Julius Caesar, Brutus was the only one who participated in this act out of love to Rome (although he went on to regret his actions before he committed suicide).

I hang my hope on these Catalysts, these Underlings to rise and be recognized. (we all need you)

Heard It Through The Grapevine

Ok so it's a really old song, but this phrase has become a familiar one to all English speakers. In Bahrain's case it's a really big, entwined vine. The recent "rumor" about the cutting the camping season short reached every corner of Bahrain, with a little help of recent technological advancement called BlackBerry. I don't remember having so many people asking the same question at the same time.

Anybody who has any basic grasp of the Arabic language would immediately figure out that it was written by, well, someone who obviously doesn't have a grasp on the Arabic language. The issue I'm getting at is not the recent rumors, regardless how silly they are, it's actually the disgusting hobby that is gossiping. I'm not targeting a certain gender (all you women who just raised their eyebrows can relax). It's so annoying to even be talking about something so silly, but it has become an out of control issue that seriously needs to be tackled on all levels. I fear I'm going to be boring you again with an issue that concerns Bahraini society, but someone needs to be talking about it eventually.

I remember back in school gossip was a just a fact of life, it was, to a certain extent, teenage narrow mindedness with a tang of innocent mischief. But as all things in life it has taken a more serious note as we grow older. Now it seems that it has mutated and become an uncontrollable monster when people actually spread rumors about the false death of other people. I can only imagine the faces of the parents of those "rumored dead" when receiving that their sons/daughters have passed away. The only wish is that I hope this kind of rumors reaches those that have spread them about their loved ones one day, and let's see them taking the joke lightly. Another kind which is lighter but in my opinion spreads even faster is the annual rumors of salary increases, or the government magically erases all debt on citizens. This kind is by far my favorite, I mean people have become so desperate for handouts that they will stick to the TV, go through every inch of the newspapers just to confirm it, all the while they keep having dreams and calculations on when to have another loan. Silly.

The examples are so numerous but the idea is simple, people who spread rumors or take part in it need a bang on the head (90% of Bahrainis would have lumps on their heads). They need to be informed that rumor spreading actually can affect people's lives, and I don't think a beneficial effect. Rumors can even shake the economy if gone unchecked. So please if you should receive news from people, just take a few moments and check for yourself. Technology helped news to reach all corners of the world in moments, and it's just inexcusable to blindly spread rumors. And if it's about someone's death, then just delete it, regardless of any truth in it, and remember that you wouldn't want to receive news about your loved ones through some silly broadcast.

I've talked too much, but I think I still need to talk about this issue, maybe in future posts. But for now I'm done with my rant.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The grim reaper rides on 4 wheels

Hi everyone, this past weekend was a tragic one. We first got the young guy who passed away on Zallaq highway, a boy of 22 and somewhat a neighbor. Then we were hit with the news of the two young couple who passed away riding a 4 wheel bike in the desert. During the camping season my work gets shifted more towards the desert area of Bahrain so these horrible incidents are well within "our" jurisdiction as Southern Governorate.

I'm not much of an advice "giver", and I sure wont go through all the trouble of writing just to advice someone i don't know. But the terrible scenes I have witnessed this past weekend are something you just cannot forget all your life. I'm talking about horror movie stuff. Body bags and the like. But the thing that gets to me the most was how casual some people were, I mean, when people don't even blink upon hearing this kind of news and then have the nerves to start pointing fingers at the easiest targets, the sitting ducks, the "honorable government". I say to those individuals first go and pay your respects to the families of the deceased and help ease their pain in any way possible, then demand through your representatives in parliament and the municipal councils an official national investigation into these accidents and what steps should be taken to prevent further loss of loved ones.

Maybe it's becoming a cultural norm to just take a "non-action" stance and fire blame into all directions, but I still believe that there are individuals that I consider to be more culturally and intellectually evolved. I call upon those voices to start to be the ones loudest in Bahraini society. A perfect example is when hundreds upon hundreds gathered on the 4 wheel bike accident just to watch, as if someone played a movie for free. This reached such a ridiculous level that the traffic police actually called on the assistance of the riot police to disperse this rabble so that they can just reach the site of the accident and help those injured. How sad to have a society reach this low.

I demand CHANGE, as in the Obama campaign, but definitely not in government, i demand that society takes a good long look at itself. The only thing I'm afraid of is that when it does take a look at itself, society fails to notice anything wrong.

Could be the start of something

I would like to start my blogging life with a welcome, hello and hi to all those that would read this (no matter how few you are). I would very much like it if i could talk about myself, sadly I'm horribly bad at these kind of introductions, so you will eventually start to know me from my coming blogs.


One thing to keep in mind though is that I'm a huge Liverpool supporter (I never use the word FAN), and these days I'm not a happy puppy obviously with regards to what is going on in and around my beloved club. I had to go through the freaking nineties, the stagnation of the later days of Gerard Houllier, the bad American ownership (actually RAPE would be a suitable word), and now good old Roy Hodgson..... So yes, don't even go there.

Anyways that's enough for a first post, I could be laughing at this post in a day or two on it being too stupid.

over and out (no, too cliche)
GET LOST