علاقة التعليم بالديمقراطية

لا يختلف اثنان على أهمية التعليم بالطبع. فمن الملموس بأن العلم يسهل العمل ويقوي الدولة مما يساعد في بناء حاضر ومستقبل زاهر.

وقد لا يجد القارئ علاقة قوية بين نظام سياسي وبين التعليم ومدى توفره, إلا إنه يبدو أن الاثنان على علاقة وطيدة.

لنبدأ على نطاق صغير, ولنتخيل عوضا عن دولة, شركة صغيرة تتألف من 25 شخصا. إن كانت الشركة ذات مديرٍ واحد له الأمر والنهي, فلا يمكن أن تجد في هكذا شركة أخصائيين وخبراء, إذ يؤول أمر اتخاذ القرارات للمدير العام وتنتفي حاجة الشركة للرأي الخبير المستقل. أما إن كانت الشركة ذات هيكل أفقي, فيتعين على المدير العام الاتكال على غيره من المدراء, مما يحتم أن يكونوا على قدر من الدراية والمعرفة. في هذا المثال البسيط, نجد أن الشركة ذات نظام الإدارة الأكثر ديمقراطية تحوي قدرا أكبر من المعرفة والعلم.

لنأخذ مثلا معيار التعليم العالمي, وهو معيار ثانوي من معيار التنمية البشرية الذي تنشره الأمم المتحدة. بشتمل معيار التنمية البشري على معيار التعليم, معيار الناتج المحلي, ومعيار توقع مدة حياة الأفراد. في معيار التعليم نجد أنه يتكون من 179 دولة مختلفة. تتصدر الدول المتعلمة بلجيكا ثم أستراليا ففنلندا فالدنمارك. فيما يتذيل القائمة تشاد, مالي, بوركينا فاسو فالنيجر.

لنقارن ذلك بمعيار الديمقراطية العالمي والذي تنشره وحدة الاستخبارات الاقتصادية التابعة لمجموعة "ذي إيكونومست The Economist" والتي تصدر مجلة عالمية بذات الاسم تعني بشؤون الاقتصاد.

معيار الديمقراطية  يقيس عبر 60 سؤالا مدى ديمقراطية الدولة. أمثلة على بعض الأسئلة: "أتوجد انتخابات حرة ونزيهة؟ ما مدى سلامة المصوتين وقدرتهم على التصويت لمن يريدون؟ وما مدى تدخل القوى الأجنبية في الحكومة؟". معيار الديمقراطية يقسم الدول, حسب نتائجهم إلى 4 فئات:

• ديمقراطية كاملة
• ديمقراطية ناقصة
• نظام حكم مختلط
• أنظمة استبدادية

للمقارنة, تجدون الجدول أدناه:

للتنويه: أتوقع أن يستنكر بعض القراء تصنيف الدول العربية بالإستبدادية, إلا أن هذا ليس رأيا لي بل تصنيف المعيار المذكور.وتجدون وصلات للقوائم كاملة في آخر المقال.
من المقارنة المطروحة, في حال الديمقراطيات الكاملة والمنقوصة, نجد أنه في العادة يتناسب الترتيب الديمقراطي مع الترتيب العلمي. فكلما ارتفعت مرتبة الديمقراطية, ارتفع معيار التعليم, أو العكس.

أما في حال الأنظمة الخليطة أو الاستبدادية, فنرى نتائج متباينة, فمصر مثلا, ترتيبها التعليمي أقل من عمان على الرغم من أنها أعلى في مستوى الديمقراطية. ولعل الأسباب تتعدد هنا فتدخل حسابات أخرى كالفساد وغيره. على العموم, نستطيع القول أن واحدا من هاتين الجملتين صحيح:

• الأنظمة الديمقراطية تضمن تعليما عاليا
• أو التعليم العالي يضمن نظاما ديمقراطيا

من هنا يتضح وجود رباط وصلة وثيقة بين نظام الحكم والتعليم. لكن ما هو المسبب وما هو النتيجة؟ قد نجد إجابة لذلك في دراسة طرحت في الجمعية الملكية الاقتصادية بجامعة وارويك, بريطانيا في 2007.

وقد تم دراسة 104 دولة منذ 1960 وحتى 2000, واكتشفوا أن الدول التي حصل مواطنوها على 4 سنين على الأقل من الدراسة أصبحت ديمقراطيات, وأن الدول التي حصلت على أقل من ذلك بقيت أنظمة مستبدة.

ما يثير الاهتمام في الأمر هو أن الدراسة اكتشفت أن الفارق ليس التعليم العالي, بل التعليم المتساوي. أي, لا يهم كم عدد حملة الماجستير والدكتوراه. المهم, للحصول على دولة ديمقراطية, أن يحصل أكبر عدد من الناس على تعليم جيد بجودة متقاربة. حيث تذكر الدراسة: "التوسيع المتساوي للتعليم هو شرط اساسي لظهور وثبات الأنظمة الديمقراطية". وقد أضاف كاتب الدراسة, السيد أمبارو كاستيلو كليمينتي: "نتائجنا تشير إلى أنه عوضا من زيادة متوسط سنين الدراسة, ما تحتاجه الديمقراطية هو تحسين نوعية التعليم الذي يحصل عليه معظم الناس".

وعلى الرغم من أن الدراسة خلصت إلى أن التعليم هو السبب والديمقراطية هي النتيجة, فقد قال البروفيسور سافيل كوشر, مدير مركز للدراسات التعليمية والديمقراطية بجامعة غرب إنجلترا أن العكس قد يكون صحيحا في بعض الحالات. وقال: "إذا كان هناك توجه للديمقراطية, فسيكون هناك استثمار أكبر في التعليم. هذا يحدث حالياً في أماكن مثل البيرو. هناك أيضا حالات شاذة مثل كوبا التي تمتلك نظام مدرسي متطور لكنها مازالت نظاما استبداديا". وقد يفسر كلام البروفيسور كوشر حالة البحرين, إذ أن مركزها 144/167 في معيار الديمقراطية لكنها في معيار التعليم 62/179 إذ أن البحرين أبدت نوايا لزيادة المساحة الديمقراطية في البلاد.

وعليه, فيجب الاهتمام بتساوي التعليم الذي يحصل عليه غالبية الناس. وقد يصعب تبيان نوعية التعليم عادة, إلا أنه في البحرين, تم إنشاء هيئة ضمان جودة التعليم, والتي تراقب أداء وجودة المدارس الحكومية والخاصة, والجامعات والمعاهد التدريبية. يستطيع المواطن العادي الولوج لموقع الهيئة الالكتروني والحصول على معلومات عن معظم الجهات التعليمية التي خضعت للتقييم حتى الآن. يتبين لنا اليوم تفاوت جودة المدارس الحكومية بشكل كبير, كما تتفاوت أيضا مدارس البنين عن مدارس البنات. هذا في وقت أصبح التعليم الخاص ضرورة حياتية لفئة كبيرة من المجتمع وما عاد ترفا للأغنياء. وعليه, فالوضع التعليمي في البحرين يبشر بنتائج متفاوتة, مما, إن صحت الدراسة أعلاه, قد تؤخر التحول الديمقراطي في البحرين لعدة أجيال.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2007/apr/13/highereducation.uk

http://www.qaa.bh/reviewreports.aspx

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democracy_index

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_Index

LMRA Taxes, are they any good?

I have ignored this blog for longer than I should, haven't I? I apologize, and that demands a dedicated post on its own.

This blog of mine usually does not delve into politics. If you look at the most used tags, you will surely find politics somewhere at the bottom. My most used tag is of course: Bahrain. Which is why I'm writing today.
His Highness the crown Prince has a vision of where he wants Bahrain to be economically. Thus he established the Economic Development Board (EDB) which in turn established the Labour Market Regulatory Authority (LMRA or sometimes pronounced as: lemra).
LMRA has many goals, but one of the main ones are to make Bahraini's the employee of choice rather than expats, especially if they were unskilled or moderately skilled. The EDB established another entity called "Tamkeen" to help with that but more on it later.

Now, the LMRA is taxing companies, they have to pay BD 10 per month per each expat employee they employ. Once that happens the world goes NUTS! "We are DOOMED" cry businesses. For this tax apparently will break their business. Because I am a blogger and not an LMRA spokesman I can use colourful expressions like "Fuck you, you dumb fuck. You are what is holding us back." But I wont. :)
See, several companies write in the papers saying how doomed they are, some well known papers, oh hell, let me name them: Akhbar Alkhaleej & Alwatan are at the forefront of a media campaign to battle this tax. Alwasat is also defending the majority of shiite readers with stories on how businesses are failing, families are bankrupt, prices are going up for Bahrainis and how maybe, just maybe, the government, maybe (did I say that before?) does not care about us poor citizens. Maybe.

OK people, calm down. Let me explain why and how this works:

1- Too Many Expats, Too many jobless Bahrainis:

We do have way too many expats here, over 50% 0f the population actually. Companies hire in Bahrain for two main reasons: Cost & Stability.
Decreasing costs is at the forefront of any business. So companies here try to pay the lowest salaries possible. But they do that in an unethical way.
Picture your friendly road digging worker. They get at best BD 80 per month. Just a bit over US$ 200. Yes, PER MONTH. Now obviously this is much less than the job deserves. For one, the workers work under the direct rays of our friendly sun. Next they work in roads which anyone in Bahrain can attest how safe that can be. Not to mention the lousy work environments.
This job obviously is worth much more than a mere BD 80 per month. True, it doesn't need a degree, but it is freakishly hard work. What happens is instead of companies paying what the job is WORTH they pay salaries based on MARKET PRICE (See the Supply/Demand image attached). Because there is a supply of cheap unskilled labour, they get away with paying less than what they should. Just because there are many supermarkets doesn't mean we can pay less than 100 fils for a cola can, but companies do. If Bahrainis woun't work for that salary, Indians will. If Indians woun't, Bangladeshis will, if Bangladeshis woun't maybe the Vietnamese will. So companies scoure the Earth looking for the cheapest alternative. This creates an unfair work package. This point leads us onto the next: stability.

Bahrainis will not work for such low salaries. And if they did, it's a matter of months or weeks before they can find better jobs. So Bahraini people will not work for long at unfair jobs. But expats, thanks to a sponsorship system, cannot leave to find another job. They HAVE to stay and work for the greedy employer or be returned home which is often not an option for many of them.
This example was based upon road workers but is true for every job capacity.

2- Making things even:
So since they hire for cost and stability, these reasons must be made equal to Bahrainis and fair for all. The LMRA tax serves to make expats a more costly option. But still, that alone is not enough. So the next logical step is to abandon the sponsorship system and adopt issuing working Visas to expats. Giving expats the liberty to change employers if a better chance come up.
In essence: if Bahrainis will not stay and work for you, eventually expats woun't.
Companies which have crappy packages or working conditions get around the high turnover in Bahraini staff by hiring expatriate ones.
When this system is fully in place, it will mean that companies cannot hire for cost nor stability anymore. They must hire for competency and competency alone. If you can do the job, well, you are hiered.
What this also means is that the salaries will get better organically. If a company suffers from a high turn over of staff because the package or work environments are lousy, then they HAVE to make them better to attract people to stay.
Eventually this will happen:
Companies offer better jobs, better salaries and also have better quality because they hire for competence.
Good no?

So Why are they making a fuss? Because they are greedy.
They want to keep earning money as if its 1985. Same profit model. The thing is, they can't. They just can't. The world is different now.

The companies that are going to be stubborn and stick with unfair low salaries will simply have no one to work for them. They have two choices:
1- Improve working conditions, including salary, benefits and safety
or
2- Die

If you have no one to run the business, you don't have a business. So businesses better step up.

So companies are complaining about paying BD 10 per month. Big freaking deal! You will not go bankrupt because of that and if you are, then you have another problem.
Lets imagine shall we? You have a business, OK? And you employ 50 expats. Fine? Which means you have to pay 500 per month. OK? See, that should NOT be a problem. Because if you have 50 staff members, and 500 dinars a month puts you in the red, then, you are running a real crappy business my friend! BD 10 per employee should in no way make companies go bankrupt or affect their profit in a significant manner. If it does then here are some solutions:
a- Go to business School you idiot
b- Change the business you are in
b- Sell the business. You are crap and lazy.

Companies that wish to AVOID paying extra fees for expats should simply hire Bahraini's. If you simply click on Tamkeen's website, you can see that they will go out of their way to help you and train all the staff you need for free. There is really no comparison here:
Unskilled uneducated expat + fees? OR Skilled and Educated Local + No fees + lotsa support?

This model will cause the price of goods and services to spike up of course. After all, companies are not used to this. However, salaries should also spike because of this, so theoretically you will not feel it.

I personally feel this is a great step in the right direction. I am passionate about it and can't wait to see the fruits. I know we will soon get into a "Storming" phase, but will eventually move on to the Norming & Performing phases in the future.

If only companies see things the way I do.

Liberating Speech

Five days ago, I wrote a note on Facebook:

Imprisonment of Speech

I am sure most of you know of the efforts of the Ministry of Culture and Information to ban websites. I think we are all together that this is unacceptable, unimplementable, and simply put: ILLEGAL as it goes against the Bahraini Law which protects the freedom of speech.
A group of us tried to avoid this by introducing the Anti Hate Code of Ethics (http://www.bahraincodeofethics.com) and prefer that any offending website be prosecuted under the law with a chance of representation rather than resort to this old and ineffective method.

My friends,
Whether you signed the code or not, I implore you to write about the matter in your own blogs. We should also unify our forces to make our voice heard. We could hold up a rally or send one letter of objection bearing our signatures. I invite you to come up with more suggestions on what we can do about it.

Regards,

Manaf Almuhandis
Redbelt

TheRedbelt.com
Arablish.net
Ithnain.com
Bahraincodeofethics.com

Now, this has started with Shaikha Mai Alkhaleefa taking the helm as a minister. I am a fan of much of her work. She brought a breath of fresh air to Bahrain when she saved our souls with the “Spring of Culture”.

However, I would have to disagree with her on this virtual blind fold. Let me try to paint you a picture:

It is the 1980’s. No internet and no Satellite TV channels and nothing. The only communications we have with the outside world are videotapes, cassettes, books and magazines.

In these simpler times, banning something would actually work. If the government says for a reason or another that a film for example is unacceptable and not wanted, the majority of the population, if not all, will not get to see it. Tapes will be easily found and confiscated. And then what? Banning media at that age was quite effective.

But that was a long, long, LONG time ago. Just look at my brother, he was a mere idea in ’86 and was born in ’87. Today he is a 186 cm tall man, with a goatee, driving license and a college degree. Media has grown that much too.

What is the ministry hoping to achieve? Seriously? If they think they can stop people from accessing info and media in 2009, they must be delusional. Let me just count the ways that I, a non IT technician, could think of:

1. Use a proxy website. I know these get banned too, but hundreds pop out every day. The proxy websites are aware of that and email their customers a list of new addresses periodically.

2. Use a programme like Hotspot. Even if the download site is blocked, many have it and will circulate it through email forwards to all of Bahrain by this weekend.

3. Subscribe in RSS & Atom feeds: Simple. All blogs and many websites have them now. Simply click on “Subscribe to the Redbelt” to the right side bar and you will see the familiar orange box looking icon. Just click that icon wherever you go and you can get the posts immediately by email. Or you can use a service like Google Reader to read it there.

This is just off the top of my head.

Let us assume I had a blocked website (god forbid), I can easily clone my ENTIRE website and have it running from a free server with a new unblocked address. I can also email all my readers so they would know. Effectively making the ban absolutely worthless in 15 minutes.

I do understand that Shaikha Mai Alkhalifa, and the rest of the people at the ministry, mean well. So, here is my honest solution to the ministry: Go with the flow.

Example: In martial arts; to stop a punch you can either block it (which uses lots of energy and you risk injury) or... redirect it. Like Akido. Look at the following video.

Now, this is implementable in real life.In practice we can look at Apple:

One day, people found out that MP3s were popular. CD sales went down. Piracy went up. All the companies started FIGHTING mp3 sites trying to stop it, but they couldn’t. They still can’t.

Apple went and introduced itunes. If people want MP3s, give them MP3s! So simple. It worked.

The ministry is trying to block sites, which is pointless. I will still go to the same websites I went to and get all the media I got before the ban. I REPEAT: I will still go to the same websites I went to and get all the media I got before the ban. I am not affected. Bahrain is.

I am concerned about the public view of the ministry and, by extension, Bahrain as a whole. We don’t want the world to think that we are ruled by a dictatorship do we? Especially when reality is anything but that. In our post reform Bahrain, freedom of speech is guaranteed in the constitution itself:

The Constitution of the Kingdom of Bahrain, Chapter III, Article 23 (General Rights and Obligations): “Freedom of opinion and scientific research is guaranteed. Everyone has the right to express his opinion and publish it by word of mouth, in writing or otherwise under the rules and conditions laid down by law, provided that the fundamental beliefs of Islamic doctrine are not infringed, the unity of the people is not prejudiced, and discord or sectarianism is not aroused.”

The National Action Charter also addressed the matter:

The National Action Charter, Chapter I (Fourth: Freedom of expression and publication): “Every citizen shall have the right to express himself orally, in writing or in any other way of expression of personal opinion or creativity. Under this law, freedom of scientific research, publishing, press and printing are ensured within the scope specified by law”, provided it is a responsible freedom within the scope of preserving the social fabric, and does not infringe on the freedoms of others or their religious, sectarian, or intellectual affiliation.

I strongly suggest that the Ministry uses our Judicial system. If a website is considered offensive, a court case can be filed and the law will take its proposed course (That is, after all, why we have courts in the first place). Even if there was a need to rush and take a site down in a short time, an urgent case can be filed and such an order can be had within a day.

I hope the ministry takes heed of my humble advice.

I thank the many bloggers who wrote on the matter:

Eyad's Coffee Break

Yagoob's Dome

Marhoons.com

Ammaro.com

The view from Fez

Silly Bahraini Girl

S as in Saudi

Hayat

Mughtarib (Ar)

Another Day in my life

Khalidbahrain (Ar)

And many, many more...

Support Ghaza

You may have noticed that this blog wasn't updated with a "Happy New Year". The thing is the new year didn't start happy. 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. Today, 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 me American friends:
Someone is taking your tax dollars, giving it to Israel, and is TELLING Israel to give it to certain arms merchants.
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.

Raping Kids is FUN!

You may have heard or read about the recent rape crime in Riffa where 4 adult men kidnapped a 15 year old boy (ar), raped him and then let him go after threating him to keep quite. Thank god he didn't and he is mighty brave for that.
However, many writers in the local media, and some bloggers too, have turned this into a citizenship issue, claiming that some of the rapists were not "original" Bahrainis and that the government's naturalizing efforts are bringing this on us.
While this theory may hold some water, the bulk of the people are forgetting the actual problem: A CHILD WAS RAPED!
The only reason this incident got so much exposure was because of the involvment of the naturlised men. People who were against the practice used this all too well, and so they should. But, do you have any idea how many incidents actually go on but never reach the surface?
I'm not even talking about unreported incidents, I'm talking about incidents with reports to the police and everything. Let me give you one example here:

This is a real story that I got first hand from a Bahraini family. A divorced mother is raising two boys, one adult and the other is mentally challanged, let us refer to him by "H".
H was raped by 2 adult men in their mid thirties three years ago. The rapists were Bahrainis and live in the same neighbourhood.
H was in a very sorry state. But he was able to describe to his family what happened and he was able to identify the men. The mother and the brother go to the police.
Very very long story short: The men were seized, were given a fine of BD 100 each, signed a pledge to never do that again then off they went back home.
Justice was served.
Oh, I forgot. The police threatened to throw H's brother in jail. Why? They thought he was a "witness" and said he shouldn't have stood by idally watching his brother get raped. He tried his best to tell them that he was NOT there and he merely "transelated" his brother's words to the police. No, he had to pay a BD 50 bail to keep him out of jail.
To recap; this is the view point of the mother: My mentally challanged son gets raped, the rapists live in the neighbourhood and are back where they are. My son is scarred for life. My other son gets threatened with Jail time for actually going to the police for help.
Nice.

Dear readers, this story is real, happened three years ago. All parties are pure Bahrainis. It never saw any media coverage at all. This blog post is all it got.

Just last week, the police called the brother, saying that the BD 50 bail money shouldn't have been taken and they want to give it back. But in order for them to do so, they asked him to write a letter saying that the first police report was not correct. This sounds fishy to me but I guess the police are under heat because of the Riffa Boy story.

I for one think that a fine and a pledge is way too soft for such a brutal crime. I demand that proper Sharia law be enforced. Rapists should be executed. Society has no place for them. We need new laws and we need them to be firm and strict. I'll say it again:
I WANT THE DEATH PENELTY FOR RAPISTS.

If anyone who reads this can bring justice to the victim, please get in touch with me. Leave a comment.

GOSI: profit or loss?

Today on the front page of Alwaqt newspaper we read that GOSI's losses (General Organization for Social Insurance) reached BD 146 million.
But on the sixth page of Alwatan newspaper we read that GOSI made a profit of over BD 157 million!
"What gives?", That's what I thought. Alwaqt claims that the loss is for year 2008 until Sepember. Alwatan reports that the numbers reflect 2007.
To be fair, Alwaqt did report the same numbers as Alwatan in page 9 as the official GOSI statment, while Alwatan did not mention any losses.
Despite all that is said, it is the opinion of this blogger that media in Bahrain is anything but free. They all have either restrictions imposed or a hidden agenda, be it Newspapers, TV or even individual blogs. Obviously, this made me a very skeptical man.
What do you think?

Anti-Hate Code of Ethic Draft Approved

Yesterday several Bahraini bloggers and web admins gathered in Alwaqt Newspaper's premises for the Anti-Hate Code of Ethics meeting. I was delighted that the turn up was better than the last meeting. After some discussions we were finally able to agree on a final release candidate copy. We need to run it by some lawyer type dudes first to make sure we didn't miss anything. Oh, and a glossary of terms is to be attached.
I am honestly proud by this effort, it's about time we, as citizens of this country, do something to control the often overly emotional and unobjective hate speech in our virtual space.

Oh, and in case you caught it, yes the news paper mis-spelled my last name. It is Almuhandis, not Almuhannadi.

An updated blog post of the latest copy is on Mahmood's Den. Well, it isn't updated yet but I'm sure Mahmood will get to it in the next couple of days.

Finaly some good news! Forgot how this felt!

Anti-hate code meeting next Saturday

Heads up fellow bloggers and web admins, next Saturday, at five PM, a follow up anti-hate code meeting will be held at Alwaqt newspaper premises.
I have expressed earlier my disappointment at the low turnout in the previous meeting, but I am quite optimistic about this one. more people know about it now and even Radio Bahrain will be present.
I'm looking forward to a good turnout and a productive meeting.

Anti-Hate Pact: Does anyone care?

Last Saturday, a meeting was held at the Alwaqt Newspaper premises to discuss the draft of an Anti-Sectarianism pact which was penned by blogger Mahmood.
The meeting was quite productive, we changed the focus from "anti-sectarianism speech" to "Anti hate, violence and discrimination speech". It has a wider focus to include more than the sectarian feuds encompassing all kinds of discrimination.
We also discussed how it would be implemented, how we will approach offenders and how to identify offenders as well. After the meeting, Mahmood started a mailing group and met with the Minister of Information in what seems to be quite a positive and receptive meeting.
But does anyone care?
The attendees represented 2 blogs and 2 forums only. despite several days of printing a quarter page coloured advert in Alwaqt, not many were there to help form something that touches all.
To make matters more strange, it seems that Alwaqt themselves didn't pay much attention to the matter. With one reporter that left the meeting before it starts, they printed nothing about the matter until today, full three days after. Which is rather strange because I thought since they are sponsoring this movment, they would show more interest in it.
I hope that my fears are unfounded and the rest of the community proves me wrong at the next meeting. This effort will only succeed if all concerned parties take ownership and adopt it.

Bahraini blocked websites unblocked?

I frequent Mahmood's Den religiously. Mahmood has on the right hand side of his blog a list of blocked out websites. I clicked on one today, and it opened up.
!
I clicked on another, it opened up!
I went through the whole list from top to bottom, they all opened up. Even the Haaq Movment website that proudly states it is a blocked website. Some of the websites were closed like Alsaheefa, others were abandoned and take you to a parked address.
Just to make sure, can YOU visit these sites? Click on some of the examples above or visit Mahmood's Den and click on them one by one. Answer the mini poll to the right please.

Bush visits Dubai, all life ends.

Bush continues his "farewell tour" in the middle east. This time? he stops in Dubai, UAE. While us poor Bahrainis were forced to go to work and suffered all the way through; Dubai gave EVERYONE the day off. Bahraini roads were filled with endless traffic, but Dubai roads? well...



Where were all the Emaratis? looks like they were all driven away from the main roads:So, you tell me if I am crazy but If you need all that protection, you must be doing something wrong.

I can't wait until this bozo's term is over.

George screws up traffic, go figure!

This morning was the most catastrophic morning commutes in a long time. My work day starts at 8, and I usually leave home by 7:30 and get there on time or 5 minutes late, tops.
So today, I get in at 9:13.
Do you have any idea how long have I been behind the wheel for what is normally a 30 minute drive?
Reason one being that it rained lightly, and Bahrainis usually skate over wet roads rather than drive on them. So everyone was driving cautious like.
Second reason, the real reason? George W. Bush.
He is in Bahrain visiting, and of course, he needs to get around. When he does, members of his own security team, probably helped with members of his 5th fleet AND our Bahraini special guards and traffic men and policemen are all out on full alert. Helicopters flying and most importantly: Roads.
Roads were blocked all over, in an attempt (in my understanding) to funnel cars into limited routes for security reasons or to clear up certain roads for same the reasons.
Now that might work everywhere on earth, but Bahrain is... Bahrain is like TINY man!
It's "official" size is 662 squared KMs. And we are not using that all, almost everyone works in itsy bitsy Manama. Its what? like 30 squared Kilometers?
So imagine this, a whole country works in a radius of 30 square kilometers, we have no proper public transport and almost everyone uses cars.
George W simply Screwed up our day.
Its amazing, just by being here he can screw things up! It's like he has an aura around him or something!

Anyway, I suggest for such cases: A Nintendo DS. Get a good game that does not require timely responses (Phoenix Wright or Pokemon would do, since they are mostly turn based)and away you go. This method is also good for killing time quickly until Dubya's term is over.

Benazir Bhutto is Killed

What a sad day for democracy. Just hours ago, Benazir Bhutto, ex Pakistani Prime Minister was assassinated in a suicide attack. She was shot in the neck, then the attacker blew himself up, killing 20. The BBC had this to say:

Ms Bhutto had just addressed a pre-election rally in the town of Rawalpindi when the bomb went off.
She was campaigning ahead of elections due in January.

And there you go. What a waste.

If Bahrain disappears, would anyone miss us?

I came across this interesting article in the Economist, about Belgium. How it is split into two distinct people with little in common.

Is Bahrain going that way? Reading the Article, it isn't so far fetched.

You don't think you're biased?

USA supports Israel with $30,000,000,000.00 (30 billion) over the next 10 years in ARMS ONLY.

Which mean there are MORE aids going to it later!
The amount is BD11340000000 (Almost BD94500000 - ninety four million and a half dinars - per month).
Now why is America doing that?
Did they do that to... lets say, South Korea? Who is their friends and faces danger from the North?
Did they do it to Finland? It is a "friend" isn't it?
Why not Trinidad & Tobago, Uganda, Vietnam, Ivory Coast, Bahrain, Mongolia, Fiji Islands, Poland. Why don't you let any other small, faraway, another continent country take over your decisions?
Why do you always give to Israel, which didn't give anything back to the taxpayers who are paying for this anyway?
If you do not think USA is biased and or is controlled by this tiny "state", you must be on something. This, my friends, is another reason why terrorism still goes on.

The reason why Bin laden is in the US, and the US is in Iraq

Watch the video first. It's a republican debate between Ron Paul & Rudy Guiliani. If you did then: Paul is absolutely correct. Guiliani is an idiot, in fact, rallying masses behind an "ideal" thought is what Bin laden does.
I mean, who the hell would hate anyone because they're free? Seriously? The biggest gripe about the US I hear all the time comes basically to "Why are they doing this to us?" and "Why don't they mind their own business?"
Did Americans really think they were liberating Iraq? Why not Liberate Nigeria from its leaders, huh? Do they care about Iraqi citizens? Where were the US when it approved of sanctions that killed millions?
They raised hell when an Emarati company (a "company" for goodness sakes, not army) managed one of Their ports. How would they feel if the French or Russian came to them and opened military bases on their soil?
For the record, I do not approve of Bin laden, he takes the Holy Quran out of context in a horrible way, hijacking and defacing my religion. But seriously, He wouldn't go all the way across the Atlantic if it wasn't for US's interferences.
You want proof?
All the American Soldier boys came all the way to Afghanistan & Iraq because they think It's in retaliation to the 9/11. Same thing, Bin laden and others think 9/11 is in retaliation for something else.
The problem really isn't in politics, but in stupid sheep-like people, that are herded to an absurd idea!
The US says they hate us for our freedom, and everyone goes, oh yeah, your right, lets get them!
Did they THINK we would prefer.. I dunno, OPPRESSION for example?
Bin laden says the Quran says we have to fight, so idiots go "yeah yeah lets go". For goodness sake, just read the rest of the Quran will you? The Quran is a whole book! You have to fight temptation, you have to fight daily to provide for your family, physically you have to defend your self if and only when you are attacked. But do people take 3 seconds to go "What a minute.."? no.

So, I'm glad people are starting to question things. I know that a lie, if repeated enough can be the truth. But it's a lie non the less, dig deep enough and you'll hit the truth.

PS: Being a Bahraini in the middle east, I have nothing to do with the elections and I do not support Paul or any other candidate. Just for the record.

Attack on Iran: We are toast.

I don't like toast. I prefer to have my bread un-toasted, thank you. With that in mind, I didn't ever think that I'd become one.
Today's Akhbar Alkhaleej headline "Israel requests an air passage over Iraq to attack Iran", is not something that I want to read while eating my daily un-toasted sandwich. I have nothing to do with both countries. However, I am stuck in the middle, sandwiched by the two (hence the toast analogy).
Another very good reason for the analogy is the Nukes, which, if deployed, will do the actual toasting of my physical existence.
The U.S. are not doing me any favours by this. Granting Israel their wish will at best increase shipping rates to astronomical figures (shippers will declare a premium for "war zones") and then my wallet will be toasted. All prices will just rocket along with the actual rockets.
Most reasonable people are against such escalation, including a good number of US Generals, who the Times reported, said they'll quit if Bush orders the attack. Lets hope that the rest of the forces feel as strongly.

Libya builds Statue for Saddam?

The BBC reported that Libya wants to erect a statue for Saddam Hussain.

..

Why do you want to that? Really? What good will it do?

Libya called 3 days of mourning upon his execution and cancelled the Eid al Adha holidays.

You can always depend on Alqaddhafi to wake you up, huh? :)