Yesterday, while I was just about to enter "the Centre" to do a bit of quick shopping, a Bahraini man, confused, looking around and kind of embarrassed approached me. He asked (in Arabic): "excuse me brother, I don't know English. Can you tell me where Dairy Queen is?" It was smack behind him. I pointed out his destination, he thanked me and ran towards it. I looked up to the sign of the American resturant, it was purely in English as it is in its home country, despite Bahraini laws to have Arabic on all signage. It is a sad time we live in, when a citizen feels like a tourist in his own country.
Careful. This is probably one of my most disgusting posts ever. Look at this:
Yes. This is a dead cat. It is decayed and rotten. The spine is showing up. This is next to my house. I live in block 624 if anyone wants to come see it. Bahrain is dirty and filthy. It is drowning in its own filth. I've written about something similar before on theRedbelt.com when a dead dog was left on a highway for weeks. A practice that is in effect still. I have spoken to several people and they all complain about the amount of filth and smells. Muharraqis complained the least, and I do see regular garbage trucks going round. The central & northern constituencies seem to be mostly affected. To everyone in charge I say this: It is merely TRASH. It is'nt a new problem. Man had to deal with the damned thing since the days of ADAM. Simply get a few quotes from waste disposal companies, approve the most feasible and move on. This would not take more than a week or two. Do you want me to do it? I would. I swear to god, I would. If there is any, ANY, reason why no one is picking up trash, please; let me hear it. I would pay good money to hear it. Should be rather entertaining, that.
2009 didn't start out too happily, did it? Israel keeps bombing the innocent civilians of Palestine. The death toll at the moment stands at 765. When we hear of the death of one person, we feel sad. Millions felt sad when Bernie Mac died. When Anna Nicole Smith died. When Foe died on the pitch. the examples are numerous. But 765? It's only a number. You don't know them. Stalin said it best: "One death is a tragedy; a million is a statistic." People are angry, this blogger included. On Friday, a rally to express this rage started out after Friday prayer.
Here is my $0.02 analysis: Israel claims that Hamas is shooting at Israel and that they hide between civilians. Thus the civilian deaths. Lets analyze this: 1- Hamas could be hiding between civilians. But after 765 civilian deaths, this is proven to be a failed tactic as Israel will bomb you anyway. Hence, if I was a civilian, I wouldn't harbor Hamas in my house. No sense the two of us dying. My civilian death will add nothing. But this is not the case, is it? As I see more civilian deaths every day; this leads me to...
2- Hamas is NOT hiding between civilians. Which would make sense as Israel claims rockets are still being fired at them. Which means they're not dead yet nor their machinery is destroyed. If this is so, then the only reason I can think of to continue the raids...
3- Israel is killing civilians on purpose to: a) inflict internal pressure on Hamas to cease. And b) Decrease the number of Palestinians anyway.
So I do think that Israel is committing mass war crimes here.
Another catalyst for killing Arabs is Money. Someone somewhere is making money off of it. Rationale: Israel is the #1 recipient of American foreign Aid. $2.4 Billion is given away to Israel per year. This will change starting 2009 to be $30 Billion per annum for the next 10 years (That is a total of $300 Billion, my friends). Purpose?
Virtually all of this money is used to buy weapons (up to 75% made in the U.S.).
So the US gives money to Israel, but forces it to spend three quarters of it on American weapons. In plain simple English, to my American friends: Someone is taking your tax dollars, giving it to Israel, and is TELLING Israel to give it back to certain arms merchants. It is a way to "launder" tax money into revenue money. You may as well just give the money to the Arms merchants yourself!
If I was an Arms merchant who can get access to these billions upon billions, I would certainly "secure" my friends in the government who would "facilitate" such laws. I would also be tempted to "increase demand" in Israel by, well, I dunno. Faking attacks? Spreading rumors? Inciting Hamas (or any other) to strike? Having Israel in need of Arms gives me the Ferrari liquidity I need.
People, the ones dying in the middle are innocent. If you have to be a skeptic then most of them are innocent and I don't buy this collateral damage crap. Do something about it. I'm not talking about mere donations. That is simply giving the man a fish. Please, do something to break this vicious cycle. I implore you.
Tameem Manaf Almuhandis My first boy. Born 7th of December. Worshiped by tens and tens of family members. Quite fussy from day one.
Many ask me what does it feel like to be a dad. Which is one of the stupid questions people ask for some reason: What do you feel when you graduate, what do you feel when you have your first job, when you get married, when you walk on the moon. For anyone who really must know I will tell you know once and for all: it is always half happiness (happy conscious mind with unaware unconsciousness) mixed with nervousness and some worry. With time the unaware part of your unconscious mind realizes that there is an actual occasion to be happy about. It takes time. Needless to say, that is how I feel right now. So you can stop asking me how I feel and you can move on to other stupid questions, like asking people if they are in the toilet or not.
@ a post office in Riffa, Bahrain: Manaf: "Good morning, I'd like to mail these letters please" Postman behind the Counter: "OK. Airmail?" M: "Yup" P: "... ... ... OK, that will be 110 fils please" M: "Ok. ... Say, that is a charity stamp right" P: "yes" M: " Do I HAVE to pay for that?" Confused P: "er... You don't want it?" M: "No, I'm just asking, if I don't buy it, will my letter still go?" P: "er.. No." M: "So I have to buy it." P: "Yes." M: "erm... Shouldn't charity be optional?" Confused P: "erm... .... ...." M: "Do you know where the money goes? What charities do you support?" Very confused P: "erm... I have no idea. I just work here. I don't know!" M: "I see." P: "... Do you still want the stamps?" M: "I guess I have to."
2. Although students populate Bradley Hall, they seldom study the structure.
3. He dropped out of school to support his family.
4. The bus company will announce the new schedule within days.
5. students can meet foreign students in many ways.
6. It is unusual to find someone who never told a lie.
7. People cause trouble when they disobey safety rules.
8. A thousand students attended a campus rally. Campus police arrested five students for disorderly conduct. Campus administrators charged others with organizing a public meeting without a permit.
9. Subjects that students consider most important have been useful to them after graduation.
10. In the near future, college freshmen must be aware that they need to contact an academic adviser concerning a major.
11. There are growth opportunities in our company in aerospace technology.
12. Some believe in capital punishment, others are against it; there are many opinions on this subject.
Six sentances on where I want to be in five years? Hmm... I had slightly different goals at different times of my life. At times I wanted to be an HR manager, at others; a marketing manager. Some times I had no idea. But one thing remained constant is my will to command operations of a department or company and effect change. Be it as a CEO, a Manager or a Consultant. I will be content if I can make change and better things. Oh, and I need more money too.
