The Noisy American

Al Jazeera

I quite like reading Al Jazeera News because it offers a different perspective than the American and British media (which dominates even here in the UAE).  But the political cartoons are downright bizarre.  This one has the song "whose child is this?" as background music, while most of them feature some kind of ragtime.  You be the judge. 

One less place to visit...

Rising seas, caused by global warming, have for the first time washed an inhabited island off the face of the Earth. The obliteration of Lohachara island, in India's part of the Sundarbans where the Ganges and the Brahmaputra rivers empty into the Bay of Bengal, marks the moment when one of the most apocalyptic predictions of environmentalists and climate scientists has started coming true. 

Read the full article in The Independent.

Back on!

Apparently, my blog is available in China, again.  In November, China blocked all Typepad, blogger.com and blogspot sites from appearing on the Internet.  For some reason, a couple of days ago, Typepad was unblocked.  Not sure about blogger.com and blogspot.  I haven't heard any reasons why the government has re-allowed the blogs to air, but am happy to know that my friends in China are able to come back and visit.  Ni hao zhongguo renmin, hen gaoxing jian nimen.   

Spot the Front Page News

Which of the following 'news' items do you think made the front page of the Gulf News today?   

Saddam lashes out at US for confiscating watch
Saddam is angry because his new watch was taken away by prison authorities

Sa'ad: Syria trying to oust Beirut regime
Sa'ad Hariri (son of slain ex-premier Hariri) accuses the "terrorist regime" in Syria of trying to "topple" the government in Beirut.

Teaspoons have a mind of their own...
Teaspoons disappear more than other utensils according to research by the Macfarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health in Melbourne

Arabs need NOC to marry girls from Indian state
Arabs need a no-objection letter to marry girls from Andhra Pradesh. 

If you guessed all of them, you'd be correct.  Who knew teaspoons and watches had gotten so important? 

National Day 2005

Friday was National Day in the UAE, so the town is decorated like a French tart.  The UAE is 34 years old now.  Happy Birthday UAE!

This is the first National Day since the death of Sheik Zayed who was the leader of the country for it's first 33 years and was adored by the Emiratis.  He passed away last year during Ramadan. 

In honor of the occasion, Sheik Khalifa announced that partial elections for the Federal National Council will be implemented.  This will make the UAE the last of the Gulf countries to democratize, albeit in a limited fashion.  All of the countries in the Gulf are lead by British appointed monarchies or sheikdoms and their descendants.  It is only parliamentary or committee members that are elected freely and even then, the elections are limited to certain parts of the population.  For example, in Kuwait, only about 10% of the population are allowed to vote and women are excluded completely.  Saudi Arabia held its first election in which women were allowed to vote and to run for office last month.

I'll post about the trend towards democratization in the Gulf later as it's an interesting process, but at the moment it's midnight and I only slept three hours last night, so enjoy some pictures of National Day in Al Ain and I'll see you later. 
(BTW, sorry for the quality of the pics.  It was my first time to use the camera and I didn't bother reading the manual about settings and whatnot before embarking on my photo tour.  BTW II.  These pictures were taken at about two in the morning.   Were there still people about?  You betcha.) 

Democracy

Tens of thousands of people have taken part in a march in Hong Kong to demand a fully democratic political system...  For full story.

I was lucky enough to be in Hong Kong two years ago in July 2003 for an enormous democracy march.  At the time, I was living in Zhuhai which is about an hour by boat (and an hour and a half in customs) from Hong Kong.  I'd gone to get my visa renewed, do a bit of shopping, hit the bars, just a normal weekend trip.  Then, when I arrived I found out that the march was going to be happening on Sunday afternoon, so I decided to postpone my return for a few hours and participate (of course, I wouldn't have heard about it in China before departing.)  It was an amazing experience.  It was hotter than hell and as steamy as a sauna.  A perfect day to hang out at the beach, watch a movie in an air conditioned cinema or just stay at home in front of a fan, but unbelievably there were thousands of people on the streets - young, old, fat and thin.  It was estimated that over 10% of the population showed up to march.  Because of the heat, I saw several people keel over and they were immediately helped by others nearby, showered with water and carried on. 

Hong Kongers are trying to hold on to their democracy against huge odds.  It must feel absolutely devastating to them to see what is happening and even more to anticipate what could happen in 50 years (42, and counting).  Civil liberties are slowly being eroded by the Chinese government.  Though, Beijing is held to the 'one country, two systems' agreement of the 1997 handover which grants Hong Kong autonomy until 2047, the Chinese appointed leader Tung was seen as a puppet of Beijing (as well as being an ineffectual leader.)  The march in 2003 was in response to a proposed anti-subversion bill.  At the time, Hong Kong was also suffering from high unemployment and inflation, which didn't help Tung's popularity.  The bill was 'postponed' after the march and, as of yet, hasn't be implemented. 

When I made it back to Zhuhai later in the evening, I turned on the BBC to try and catch news of the march.  During the middle of the broadcast, there was a noticeable cut from the news to an extended commercial break - so much for finding out anything about the march.  At that time, it was still possible to find most anything on the web, so I did some goggling the next day for news about the event.  Of course, it seems China has gotten more sophisticated in the last two years so the Chinese won't be reading about yesterday's march unless they are on proxies or one of the chatlines that still operate. 

I wish the people in Hong Kong all the best.  It's a vibrant and fascinating city (though I wish they hadn't moved the airport, but you can't have everything) and I'd hate to see it lose that vibrancy. 

And why is it that Taiwan doesn't want to reunite with the 'Motherland'?

Congratulations

Congratulations goes out to Kenneth Lee Boyd on being the 1,000th person executed since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977.  Kenneth nudged Robin Lovitt out of the coveted position after Lovitt was granted clemency by Mark Warner, the Virginia governor, in what many see as a political move.  Boyd wasn't happy about being the 1,000 person executed and stated that "I'd hate to be remembered as that [a statistic]. ''I don't like the idea of being picked as a number."

Congratulations, also goes out to America for making the top five list in numbers of executions carried out this year.  The USA comes in fourth behind China, Iran, Vietnam and just ahead of Saudi Arabia.  At least we're in good company.  All five countries have also been investigated or suspected of human rights abuses within the last year. 

Damn proud to be an American.  How about you? 

Fond Memories of Christmas...

At JCPenney Outlet Stores

Walmart Shoppers Video

Merry Xmas Y'all!

Sexy

Mall Excitement

Michael Jackson was spotted in the Women's restroom in Ibn Battuta Mall in Dubai wearing a shayla (the traditional veil worn by Emirati women).  He was spotted while applying makeup in the bathroom and apparently caused such a stir in the mall that he had to hide in a nearby bookstore for three hours.  For Full Story.

Speaking of Mall riots, PlanetDan has posted a video of what happens when you stir up too many teenage girl hormones.  Story here.