Category Archives: Culture

Conspiracy Theories, Culture, Economics, Food

New Age Conspiracies? Bilderbergers, Schmilderbergers, Cheeseburgers in Paradise………

      

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Video:  Cheeseburger in Paradise (Jimmy Buffett)

“About two thirds of the participants come from Europe and the rest from North America; one third from politics and government and the rest from other fields. The conference is a forum for informal discussions about megatrends and major issues facing the world. The meetings are held under the Chatham House Rule, which states that participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s) nor of any participant may be revealed………..” bilderbergmeetings.org

““The Bilderbergers’ first concern… is the rise of Iran, Russia and China,” Kevin Barrett wrote in an article for the Press TV website referring to this year’s Bilderberg conference in Copenhagen, Denmark, which ended on June 1. He highlighted a significant gas deal recently signed between Russia and China and “Iran and Russia’s successful defense of Syria against NATO-led aggression” as factors having “raised grave questions about whether the Bilderberg-led West can continue its world-domination scheme.”………….” Press TV (Iran)


“The Bilderbergers ostensibly meet each year to brainstorm about the day’s great international issues. Their discussions remain off the record so that politicians and others in sensitive roles can speak candidly without risking “gotcha” exposés. Conspiracy theorists believe the Bilderbergers control the course of world events. That through crisis and uncertainty they steer society’s great developments with an ultimate goal of establishing a New World Order……………….” Forbes Magazine

At least I learned something about Bilderbergers, wtf that be, but I still prefer cheeseburgers (grilled with onions and jalapeno, summer is almost upon us). What would life be without conspiracies and paranoia? 

  • Protocols of the Elders of Zion (still going strong in the Arab world)
  • Illuminatti (it says they’ve lost influence in Washington but take a look at the back of your Greenbacks)
  • Free Masons
  • Obamacare Death Squads (alive and well in Alaska at least) 
  • Muslim Brotherhood Agents in the White House (alive and well before elections)
  • Communists in the U.S. Congress (can never get rid of those, broke old Joe’s and J Edgar’s hearts)
  • WEF- Davos (they still shy away from anointing Goldman Sachs chief as newest prophet)
  • Iranian-Mexican Cartels-FARC Alliance (greatest threat since Twinkies and Ding-Dongs)………. 

Cheers
mhg

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Culture, Kuwait

Back On the Gulf: Foreign Negative Phenomena, Local Negative Phenomena ……..

      

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Kuwait News Agency reports from an assembly member who is head of the Committee for Negative Phenomena  (لجنة الظواهر السلبية) that they discussed and approved a proposal to ban ‘nudity’ in all swimming pools and in hotel lobbies and hallways. The committee also approved a proposal to establish a ‘center’ for Foreign Negative Phenomena in Kuwait just of the kind they have in other Gulf GCC states

I did not know that we had people running around naked in hotel lobbies back home. I had never seen one naked person, male or female, in a hotel lobby. Not back home on the Gulf anyway. But then again, ‘naked’ is in the eye of the beholder: it depends on what the definition of ‘naked’ is. Showing a woman’s bare toes might excite the imagination of a Wahhabi Salafi and hence be considered a form of nakedness (naked toes?). Showing any part of the face other than the eyes might be considered “nakedness” to some tribal worthies.

Perhaps the Committee could have suggested a new law (or even a constitutional amendment) declaring that we are a fully-dressed society. Which we certainly are, possibly more than we think, but possibly less.

While at it, they might add most of the Assembly members to the list of “negative phenomena”. The way most of them are always elected is absolutely negative: tribal first and sectarian second. Besides the nonsensical stuff many of them propose………..

Cheers
mhg

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Culture, Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia, UAE

French Connections: Egyptian Bureaucrat is Excited about King Abdullah Winning Shaikh Zayed Prize …………

      

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Egyptian media report that Shaikh Doctor Mohammed Mukhtar Gom’a, Egyptian minister of Islamic Awqaf seems excited about the new prize won by the Saudi King Abdullah. He has congratulated his Majesty King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz, Servant of the Two Holy Shrines, for winning the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahayan Prize and being picked as the Cultural Personality of our Universe, via Abu Dhabi.

 

The minister, was fresh from a visit to an event in Paris about Mecca. He is quoted that he has personally told French president Francois Hollande, in Paris, that Egypt shall continue on the road to cultural exchange and that Egypt fully supports the Saudi war on the triple threats of terrorism, democracy, and free speech. No doubt M. Hollande was ecstatic to hear that, perhaps he was inspired, and who knows what he did after that: after all, he is in Paris which is neither Cairo nor Riyadh. If you get my drift.
The Shaikh Doctor said his position is reciprocation for the strong Saudi support for Egypt in all international forums and fora and wherever else the wise king deems appropriate. (He did not, however, add that his position would be different otherwise).
 
Shaikh Doctor Gom’a did not mention if he ever met and exchanged views on culture, terrorism, and weapons deals with the top French first ladies of recent times: Segolyne Royal, Valerie Trierweiler, or Julie Gayet.
I almost forgot to mention the real biggie (politically speaking): Marine Le Pen…….

Cheers
mhg

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Culture, GCC

Cultural Personality of the Universe: King Abdullah Wins Shaikh Zayed Prize……

      

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“ABU DHABI – Award honours King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud for his pioneering role in promoting peaceful co-existence, religious tolerance and cross-cultural dialogue and numerous achievements over decades’. The Sheikh Zayed Book Award announced today that His Majesty, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud, Ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is named the Cultural Personality of the year 2014 in the Award’s eighth session. The grand announcement was made in a press conference held at the Emirates Palace, in the presence of H.E. Mohammad Khalaf Al Mazrouei, Advisor for Cultural & Heritage Affairs at the Court of HH Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and member of the Sheikh Zayed Book Award Board of Trustees… …………..”

  • “For his pioneering role in promoting peaceful co-existence”. Like when he urged, for peaceful purposes, the U.S. administration to start a war on Iran (and cut the head of the snake: Wikileaks). Also his military intervention in Bahrain is a model of peaceful neighborly goodwill: it may have preempted a nuclear war (but don’t ask me how). 
  • “For his pioneering role in promoting religious tolerance and cross-cultural dialogue”. It is true that he sends his hairy religious police to raid homes and confiscate Christmas trees and crosses and throw the perpetrators in prison. It is also true that he does not allow any other houses of worship for anyone else, be they Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Vegetarian, Mormon, Republican, Muslim Brothers, or Jewish (not even the former citizens of Yathrib-Madinah are allowed to rebuild their synagogues). But, in all fairness, he did/does allow Oprah and the View and Donald Trump to be openly seen in the kingdom, which is more than we can say for the grim mullahs in Iran. 
  • “He is a man of culture”. Of course he is, otherwise how could he get such a prized prize?…………..

Cheers
mhg

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Culture, Donkeys and Asses, Humor, Jackasses, Marriage

How Many Jackasses are Needed at One Wedding?……….

      

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“According to the wedding-trend reporters at the Knot, donkeys at weddings are literal walking icebreakers, beasts that will lighten the burden of socializing. An Arizona company called Haul N Ass Productions has trained them to walk around, distributing beer from saddlebags. They also carry their own carrot snacks. For entirely donkey-themed nuptials, there’s the Donkey Sanctuary in England, which was registered as a wedding venue in 2013. Couples marry in a decorated stable. Two of the participating donkeys are named Mopsy and Zippo. Donkeys are especially popular in Tex-Mex-Southwestern-themed weddings. At this wedding, the donkey wore a floral straw hat and looked pissed off. At this wedding the donkey tried to eat the fancy floral arrangement, which, in his defense, looked like hay…………….”

I am not going to comment. Just do the math. How many jackasses are needed at one wedding? That depends……....
Yet, Since I started again on donkeys (or jackasses if you prefer) in my last post.
Speaking of which (and this is not a comment): a few years ago Arab media reported about a wedding in Damascus (of all places). During the celebrations, the bride decided to sing to her groom as they danced. Unfortunately she picked a silly Egyptian song that was apparently very popular. Its title: I love you, jackass (بحبك يا حمار). That marriage was never consummated.



Cheers
mhg

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Culture, Fatwas, Food, Saudi Arabia

Hooters of Arabia: Cleric Bans Buffet, Can Happy Hours be Far Behind?……….

      

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“A fatwa (religious edict) against “all you can eat” buffets by a Saudi cleric has stirred debate among users of social networking site Twitter. The cleric, Saleh al-Fawzan, recently issued a fatwa through a kingdom-based Quranic TV station prohibiting open buffets, saying that the value and quantity of what is sold should be pre-determined before it is purchased. “Whoever enters the buffet and eats for 10 or 50 riyals without deciding the quantity they will eat is violating Sharia (Islamic) law,” said Fawzan on al-Atheer channel. Using the Twitter hashtag “prohibiting-open-buffet” …………”

Shaikh Saleh al-Fawzan is usually an outspoken cleric. It was a matter of time before he came up with a new doozy. 

No more buffet. The Wahhabi cleric bases his ban fatwa on a technical point. It is purely scientific but in a Wahhabi way, perhaps based on old usury laws. I imagine the Mufti, the chief mufti Shaikh Al Shaikh, is royally pissed, in a Wahhabi sort of way. Doing a V-8: slapping his forehead with the heel of his hand: “Now why didn’t I think of that?” If this stands: no more all you can eat in Riyadh and Burayda and even in Mecca where the more privileged five-star and seven-star pilgrims like to tuck it in between bouts of spiritual piety. No more shoveling it in, even if you are at a 7-star hotel and hence closer to God than others. Which can be a good healthy thing. Of course some rude glutton might complain that ‘it is none of his fucking business‘, but not me. Freedom of Fatwa is guaranteed in the kingdom, even if nothing else is.


On the other hand, and more ominously, expect more. Expect the unexpected. Next to be fatwa-d into oblivion are the famous happy hours of Riyadh. Without the money-making Happy Hours, the famous watering holes from Najd to Hijaz to the Empty Quarter will go out of business. It is a good thing they don’t have any Hooters other than owls and some local singers in the kingdom……….

Cheers
mhg

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Culture, Human Right

Fullerton’s Worst: California Policemen Get Away with another Murder……….

      

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“A jury has acquitted two former Fullerton, California, police officers on trial in the beating death of Kelly Thomas, a mentally ill and homeless man. The verdict was read in a Santa Ana courtroom Monday afternoon. Eight women and four men began deliberating the case on Thursday. “I’m just horrified. They got away with murdering my son,” Cathy Thomas, the victim’s mother, told reporters after the verdict was read. The victim’s father, Ron Thomas, said that everyone now needs to be afraid. “This is carte blanche to police officers to do whatever they want,” he told reporters. The beating of Thomas in a transit parking lot was recorded by security cameras on the night of July 5, 2011. The surveillance camera footage shows Thomas being beaten, clubbed and stunned with a Taser by police. The video sparked a nationwide outcry. Former officer Manuel Ramos was charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. A second former Fullerton officer, Jay Cicinelli, was charged with involuntary manslaughter and excessive use of force. Both were found not guilty on all charges…………..”

Cheers
mhg

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Culture, Europe, Lebanon

A Nordic Mystery: Stormy Seas, Animal Mutilations, Mutilated Lebanese Cows………

      

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“Fourteen dead cows that washed up on the beaches of Denmark and Sweden were probably dumped overboard by the crew of a Lebanese ship after it encountered bad weather, Danish police said Friday. “The police suspects that (the source is) a Lebanese ship that was transporting live cattle from a US port to Europe,” the South Zealand and Lolland-Falster Police said in a statement. “The ship ran into a storm in the Bay of Biscay, in which a number of cows died,” it added. The ship’s management may be prosecuted since dumping dead animals in the Baltic Sea is prohibited, it said. The puzzling appearance of nine cows on the beaches of south Sweden and five in Denmark has stunned the public, especially after it was revealed that some of them had been shot and had their ears mutilated…………….”

I am not touching this one, just linking to it. It might be cultural, a WTF. You figure it out.

Cheers
mhg

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Arabian Peninsula, Culture, History, Islam, Mecca, Saudi Arabia

Destroyers of Islamic Heritage, Looters of Mecca………

      

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“Two million Muslims have flooded into Saudi Arabia’s Mina Valley from Mecca for the start of the Hajj pilgrimage this week. Dressed in simple white garments and freed from their worldly possessions, they are following in the footsteps of the prophet Muhammad. But in Islam’s holiest city, there is increasingly little sign of the prophet’s legacy – or the frugal life he espoused. “The authorities are trying to destroy anything in Mecca that is associated with the prophet’s life,” says Irfan al-Alawi, director of the UK-based Islamic Heritage Research Foundation, who recently returned from a trip to the city. “They have already bulldozed the house of his wife, his grandson and his companion – and now they are coming for his birthplace. And for what? Yet more seven-star hotels.”…………..”

Notice that the Islamic Heritage Research Foundation is based in Britain, not in Hijaz. In Saudi Arabia, they would have some prince leading it: it would be like having a fox in the hen house.
I have written earlier posts on this topic, how a combination, an alliance of royal greed and Wahhabi dogma has destroyed, is still destroying the priceless historical monuments of early Islam. It is downright criminal what the Al Saudi princes and their merchant allies and retainers are doing. Properties closest to the Kaaba are the priciest, and that is where monuments of early Islam were located. Ergo, these monuments were doomed once the Saudi princes set their eyes on that prime land, within walking distance to the Holy Mosques. Here are some links to my earlier posts on this:

Saudi Culture: Bulldozing the Graves of Mohammed and Omar into Las Vegas……

Buying the Soul of Britain, Raping the History of Islam, Sacking Mecca……

Birthplace of Islam: Where Dogma and Greed Face History……

Eid and Haj and Abraham and the Martyred Sheep of Mecca….

Cheers
mhg

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Arab Revolutions, Culture, Egypt, GCC, Humor, Muslim Brotherhood, UAE

UAE: Liberator of Egypt Retires from Twitter……….

      

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Liberator of Egypt and his ‘nooq’: proud family man


I noted in an earlier post that Dhahi Khalfan, chief of Dubai Police, might be part of a high-level delegation of UAE potentates that visited Egypt. As it turned out, he was not. General Khalfan is quite a character. He is allegedly widely considered the true “liberator of Egypt” by many of his compatriots, including some UAE journalists and academics and intellectuals who are not currently on trial or serving prison terms for their political views. He hinted last week that his battles on Twitter were instrumental in provoking the military coup led by General Al Sisi that overthrew the elected Muslim Brotherhood regime led by Mr. Morsi and replaced it with some Mubarak veterans.

It seems, from the photo posted above, that Mr. Khalfan may have retired from Twitter and other social media in order to spend more time with his family. You might notice him standing proudly, facing his four camels (called nooq نوق in Arabic in this particular case). Remember, they are four and only four of these “nooq”.

FYI: I have always written here that the camel is one of my favorite animals. It still is.
Happy Ramadan
Cheers
mhg


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