Category Archives: Culture

Culture, Finance, religious police, Salafi, Saudi Arabia

More Saudi Reforms: Commission for the Propagation of Vice arrests Cafe Couples..……

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      BFF

“Saudi Arabia’s feared religion police smashed a prostitution ring in the Gulf Kingdom’s second largest city, involving at least 20 airline stewardesses of Arab nationality, a newspaper reported on Sunday. Members of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice had watched the ring for more than four months in a bid to trap its leader, who was also caught with the other members, the Arabic language daily Sabq said in a report from the western Red Sea port of Jeddah. “The ring leader had been very careful and had managed his ring only by phone. It took the Commission members at least four months to get him,” it said. The paper said the Arab ring leader was hunted when Commission members, acting on a tip off, seized a stewardess with a Saudi man at a coffee shop……….”

One has got to be careful here. The Saudi religious cops have their own definition of “vice”. After all, these goons are now threatening to force women to cover (as too sexy) the only part of them that they are allowed to expose. That would be their eyes, especially sexy expressive eyes that drive these polygamous perverts crazy.
So they caught her with a man sipping lattes at a coffee shop and that is evidence of prostitution. Imagine if they were caught having a full meal together at a restaurant: that is the Saudi equivalent of ‘going all the way’. The fact that she was with a “Saudi” man is apparently also considered some kind of proof. The logic of the Commission for the Propagation of Vice goes like this: otherwise, why else would a woman be with a Saudi man? Unfortunately it is a common “logic” on the shores of my Gulf (and apparently the Red Sea as well).
Maybe that is all they do when they hook up in Saudi Arabia: drink some coffee together.
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, GCC, Gulf states, Persian-American Gulf, UAE

Offshore Country on my Gulf: UAE Minority Culture, Bollywood Hits…………..

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“Young Emirati filmmaker and American University of Sharjah student Sarah Alagroobi introduces herself to the regional film scene with an enticing short movie that is sure to make an impression. The Forbidden Fruit, which cleverly studies the undertones and conflicting values of modern Emirati society, will make its premier at this year’s Dubai International Film Festival in the Muhr Emirati section. Alagroobi, who directed, wrote, produced, edited and did everything short of putting herself in the film, said of the experience, “I’ve always been fascinated with the ‘inside scoop’ on what’s happening behind closed doors in Emirati society. My mother always said ‘what’s kept in the dark will always come to light’.” And that’s what this film is about, bringing a delicate topic to light. The Forbidden Fruit is unlike other Emirati films in that it exposes an aspect of a culture so remarkably polished that people might never see it for themselves. The film is based around two young Emirati adults, Alia and Rashed, who live in a modernized society that is still very much absorbed in its traditions and cultures. Viewers follow Alia and Rashed as they go about their lives carelessly partying, drinking and having a good time……………”

This is a good effort but it is funny, or would be if it weren’t so sad and serious. Talking about UAE films and UAE culture: they mean the film and culture of a ”minority” in an “offshore country”. The UAE has a population that is overwhelmingly Asian (India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Philippines, Indonesia, etc). Most are Indians, with some Arabs and Iranians and Africans, then a few thousand Westerners. At least 85%, possibly more, are non-citizen expatriate laborers who are in the country temporarily. This is a truly “offshore country”, as I called it a year or so ago. The ruling potentates can’t even police the country, they rely on foreigners. For protection, they have formed a special mercenary force led by former Blackwater leaders, composed of Colombians, Australians, white South Africans, and possibly Mexican drug cartel veterans.

Yet they talk of an exclusive “Emirati” society as if it represents the “country”. I beg to differ. I would assert here and now that these millions of Indians and other Asians represent the true UAE society. They are a huge majority of millions among a few hundred thousand original citizens. If you want to see a film about the “real” UAE, especially Abu Dhabi and Dubai, go see an Indian film (or a Bengali or Philippine film). Hell, yeah, go see a Bollywood hit (it would be a bit more ‘native’ if it starred the Bin Zayed Bin Sultan al-Nahayan brothers).
Cheers
mhg


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Arab Counterrevoltion, Arab Revolutions, Culture, France, Human Right, Islamophobia, Muslims, Religion, Salafi

France’s Jeannette Bougrab: Why She May be Right about Islam and Christianity and Judaism and……………

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“La secrétaire d’Etat à la Jeunesse Jeannette Bougrab réagissait dans un entretien au journal Le Parisien aux succès électoraux des islamistes au Maroc, en Tunisie et en Egypte. Elle est elle-même d’origine algérienne, fille de harki, le nom donné aux supplétifs algériens de l’armée française pendant la guerre d’indépendance. “C’est très inquiétant”, a-t-elle déclaré. “Je ne connais pas d’islamisme modéré”. “Il n’y a pas de charia +light+. Je suis juriste et on peut faire toutes les interprétations théologiques, littérales ou fondamentales que l’on veut, mais le droit fondé sur la charia est nécessairement une restriction des libertés, notamment de la liberté de conscience“, a-t-elle ajouté………………”


She says there is no such thing as “Sharia-light”, that religious law leaves no room for freedoms. On some level she is right, of course: once you apply the religious laws, any religious laws, be they Muslim or Christian or Jewish, you are pushed to go ‘all the way’. Freedoms are inevitably restricted. Salafis and Muslim Brothers who say they will apply “limited” Shari’a are playing for time. Limited Shari’a is like limited ‘virginity’ or limited ‘death’: it doesn’t exist, doesn’t make sense (at least I don’t think so). Religion can be moderated on an individual level: you pray, you fast, you lead your life the way you want within the law. Once the state starts to apply the Shari’a, or the laws of the Old Testament, the Bible and the Talmud, then there is no moderation. This applies to Muslims and Christians and Jews. Americans, more than  all other Westerners, are still grappling with this now that Christianity has become part of Republican political platforms. Jews in Israel are trying to fend off an aggressive Jewish-Salafi onslaught on civic society.
In some places, Saudi Arabia and Iran, they are mixing up Caesar with God, usurping power, and in the Saudi case wealth, in the name of Allah. Caesar was deified after he died.
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Iran, Muslims, Religion

Follow-Up on Baha’is, Muslims, Jews, Christians, and Elvis……..

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A follow-up on yesterday’s post on the persecution of Iran’s Baha’is. There is a shrine that may further complicate relations between the mullahs and their Baha’i subjects. The shrine of Baha-ullah (Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Núrí), founder of the Baha’i faith, is in Acre (Akka in Arabic, Akko in Hebrew), now part of Israel. (WTF did the word ‘Acre’ come from?). He died an exile in Ottoman-controlled Palestine and was buried there. Most Iranians call the faith ‘Bab-ism’, a reference to the Shi’a man who started it all, Siyyid `Alí Muhammad Shirazi. He presumably foretold of the coming of Baha-ullah, was executed for his troubles and many of his followers killed.
The location in Akka/Akko not only makes it difficult for any of them to visit the shrine, it also makes them suspect in the eyes of the Iranian theocracy and most Arab and Muslim governments, and some media types. Even the Baha’is of Egypt also had a hard time under Mubarak’s regime on Egypt over the past few years. They will most likely have a harder time under a regime influenced by the Muslim brotherhood or, worse, the Salafis.

Now the Baha’is have one more thing in common with Muslims: both have one of their most important shrines controlled by Israel. Come to think of it, that is also what they both have in common with the Jews and the Christians. Graceland in Memphis is not under Israeli control, but contrary to legend it is not a Christian shrine. Not yet.
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Finance, GCC, Saudi Arabia, WTF

Innovative Drug Dealers of Riyadh, American Bankers………

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Saudi media report of two enterprising drug dealers, Yemeni expatriates, who were busted this week in Riyadh. Apparently they sold their dope (including hashish) on easy installments, like many other things on the Gulf. The report says they even sold dope to kids on installment. It also says they lived in luxurious hotels in order to avoid raising suspicion. They did basically what banks in the USA have been doing to kids: sending credit card enticements to students, with easy installments for the rest of their lives. What most people don’t realize is that most Gulf citizens need these “easy installment” deals and that is how they purchase almost all their needs, apparently including drugs. The Gulf potentates and retainers are the exception; they probably buy everything, including their drugs, with cash. These tow dealers did not even charge interest. In that, they were probably more Islamist than Islamic banks that charge interest without calling it so.
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Economics, France, U.S. Politics, US Foreign Policy

French Right and American Right: a Never Requited Love…………….

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“Le Pen, who inherited leadership of the party from her father, has worked to shed the Front’s image as a racist fringe movement and move it more toward the mainstream, even as the French government itself tacks toward the right on immigration. All the same, she seems to be slipping in the polls after several weeks where it looked like she had a good shot at making the second round. It will be interesting to see what other U.S. politicians follow Paul’s lead and take the chance to meet with her. Even if GOP candidates might like her stances of immigration and Islam, they probably won’t see eye-to-eye on economics……….”

American right-wingers get excited about some French rightists, thinking they are of the same ideology of “no regulation, cutting taxes, eliminating the government, giving corporations a free reign”.
Yet the most right-wing French politicians often are to the left of the most liberal Democrat in the United States. Even Nicolas Sarkozy, once touted as a right-winger, is to the left of most Democrats in the US Senate in matters of economic policy, social programs, and especially health care. They are usually anti-immigrant and hostile to their Muslim compatriots, but they have no intention of ever gutting the social programs that the French people have come to enjoy, like retirement and an extensive public health program. In France, as in all of Europe and all industrial countries, health care is considered a human right, as it should be in the US as well. That is why American right-wingers usually keep their distance from their “leftist” French namesakes. That is why this courting will never get anywhere: besides it is unpatriotic and unseemly for a right-wing American Teabagger to be seen hobnobbing with someone with a French accent. It is just a ‘so un-American’ thing to do, possibly even anti-American in some quarters.
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, GCC, UAE, US Foreign Policy

Kim Kardashian Invades UAE: a GCC Invitation? About Snooki of Arabia………….

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“Kim Kardashian says beauty of Arab women ‘unique and exotic’. During her first visit to the Middle East, reality star Kim Kardashian told Al Arabiya morning show that the beauty of Arab women is “unique and exotic,” adding that she was inspired by their love for fashion. “I was seeing a lot of different women today and they are so stylish and so beautiful and I like how they do their makeup and just how they dress. They love fashion here, which really inspiring to me,” Kardashian said, Asked about what she does to maintain her body shape, the reality star said, “I work out a lot and I also take vitamins and supplements. I take Quick Trim if its bikini season and I want to really get in shape quickly.” The reality star and her mother, Kris, on Friday evening opened the Millions of Milkshakes store in the Dubai Mall. Regarding her reality television series “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” the reality star said it was her mom who came up with the idea brought to producer Ryan Seacrest…….. Kim was seen wearing a traditional burqua and a niqab in Dubai. She tweeted on of her pictures wearing the dress……………..” Alarabiya (Saudi)

No doubt she met the potentates of the UAE. I recall Michael Jackson went to Bahrain and met the king, who seemed to be beaming with excitement. That was just before the King’s wacko son decided to sue Jacko for several million dollars he had given him with the idea that they would become an item, professionally and musically speaking. Jacko probably realized that if these people had any talent at all it is for repression, corruption, and kleptocracy.
No news yet if Kardashian plans to visit Riyadh and feast on camel ‘qoozi with the potentates over there. Who knows, with the Jordanian and Moroccan GCC membership bid going nowhere, they might offer membership to Kim. Maybe they ought to invite her to the next summit. And what about Snooki?
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Iran, North Africa, Religion, Salafi

Tunisian Salafis Attack Persepolis, Television Manager, Free Speech, Imagination……….

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“About a hundred men, some of whom threw Molotov cocktails, lay siege to the home of Nabil Karoui, the head of the private television station Nessma late on Friday, the station reported in its evening news bulletin. Karoui’s family had only just escaped, the news presenter said…….About 20 of the protesters had managed to get inside. This was the most serious incident yet in an escalating series of protests against the station’s broadcast of “Persepolis” on October 7. The globally acclaimed animated film on Iran’s 1979 revolution offended many Muslims because it depicts an image of God as an old, bearded man. All depictions of God are forbidden by Islam. Earlier on Friday, police fired tear gas at some demonstrators as some of the protests against the station degenerated. The main demonstration began peacefully at a central Tunis mosque after Friday prayers, with men and women chanting slogans against Nessma. Thousands of people, many of them Salafist Muslims, were present……………..”

One unfortunate result of the Arab uprisings is that the Salafi Wahhabis, who mostly remained on the sideline at the beginning, are taking some advantage. They are trying to impose their fundamentalist ideology on others. In Egypt they had alreday gained much influence under the Mubarak-Saudi alliance, even gained influence over al-Azhar. Now they are trying to impose their will on Tunisia, possibly one of the most secular of Arab states.

Cheers
mhg


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Corruption, Culture, Saudi Arabia

Oh, Ambassador of Georgetown!………….

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“During a class we took (`Adil Jubayr (current Saudi ambassador in US) and I among others) on International Relations in the Middle East with Michael Hudson at Georgetown University, we all had to make presentations about our research papers. When it was time for Jubayr to make his presentation, he proceeded to do a propaganda gig for the Saudi royal family. I remember that Michael, very patiently and kindly, trying to explain to his student that we are not supposed to do propaganda roles for governments in our papers or in the class room. I remember that Jubayr looked stunned and disappointed: a look that stayed with him for the semester………”
Cheers
mhg


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Culture, Finance, U.S. Politics, Wall Street

Goldman Sachs Nation: the Ugly Brave New World of American Education………

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“With Goldman’s Foray Into Higher Education, A Predatory Pursuit of Students and Revenues. Education Management Corp. was already a swiftly growing player in the lucrative world of for-profit higher education, with annual revenues topping $1 billion, but it had its sights set on industry domination. So, five years ago, the Pittsburgh company’s executives agreed to sell its portfolio of more than 70 colleges to a trio of investment partnerships for $3.4 billion, securing the needed capital for an aggressive national expansion. One of the new partners brought an outsized reputation for market savvy, deep pockets and a relentless pursuit of profits — the Wall Street goliath, Goldman Sachs. After the deal closed and Goldman became a partner, employees soon noticed a drastic shift in culture. Longtime admissions managers were replaced, ushering in an era in which recruiters were endlessly hounded by supervisors about hitting weekly enrollment targets. The admissions staff nearly tripled, requiring expanded floor space to accommodate a sales force of more than 2,600 across the country. Management handed down revamped telemarketing scripts designed to prey on poor and uneducated consumers………….” The Huffington Post

Interesting to see if Goldman Sachs would hire the graduates of their own “for profit” colleges? America has the best college and university education in the world, but this ugly trend, with strong lobbying and Republican support in Congress, is threatening to create a generation of educated zombies. Tea Party Zombies.
Interesting how everything Goldman gets involved in these days leads to some disaster for the public good. Someone once described it as a “leech”, but that was only tow years ago. Now I learn that it is worse: it not only sucks blood, it also sucks out something even more important for society.
Cheers
mhg


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