Liquids To Be Restricted On Board

Passengers may have to give up liquids, pastes and gels under the government’s new safety rules covering hand luggage, Emirates airline conveyed yesterday.

Any drink, pastes, gels and lotions in containers larger than 100ml will have to be handed over before boarding. This restriction will apply to all fluids as well as aerosol sprays and creams.

The regulations, which are in line with the recommendations from the International Civil Aviation Organisation, are being introduced.

The new hand baggage restrictions apply to passengers boarding in Australia, China, the EU, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Japan, the Maldives, Mauritius, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, the Philippines, the Seychelles, Singapore, South Korea, Switzerland and the United States.

[Read more at Emirates Today]

Headline: "Expats with GCC licences to take fresh driving test"

Khaleej Times:

Shihab Hamad Bu Shihab, Manager of Driving Licences at the RTA, said the step had been taken to unify the driving styles of these drivers with those in the UAE to make the country's roads safer for motorists.

Bu Shihab said the new rule was implemented on January 15 this year. The official did not explain why passport holders of these countries, including Oman and Kuwait, would still be allowed to convert their licences to the UAE's, after paying Dh100. "Licence holders from these 36 countries will have to attend a minimum of 21 classes before qualifying for a driving test conducted by the RTA," the official noted.

My emphasis.

Previously drivers with a valid license from some countries - like the US - could acquire their UAE license without taking a test, let alone lessons. The end of special treatment, I guess.

I do wonder to whose standard of driving are styles being harmonized.

Sir Ben Kingsley in Abu Dhabi

What a amazing last few days! We hosted SBK here and while I have always been a fan of his, to meet him in person and be around him, he is a special human being.

On Thursday he gave a lecture at ADWC and the room was over capacity. The students were there from HCT as well as ZU. It's great as I got to meet a lot of very enthusiastic young people.

Alexander Siddig and Thomas Sangster are visiting as well. Alexander is a great actor and Thomas has soooo much talent.

We had a charity event at The Emirates Palace for the Manzil Center for Challenged Individuals last night and although there were a few glitches, it went off well. SBK entered the room with Sasha, a student from the center, on his arm. He is very caring and kind.

Anyway, glad the nerve wracking part is over, but sad to see them all leave! This was a first in the UAE and we hope to do more things like this for charity. DONATE to Manzil, your gift will help a special person. Pictures on my blog.

Another Bad Net Day?

Seems like the Internet's speed has been painfully slow all day today. Is it just my connection? Any word of undersea earthquakes?

Advertising in Blogs

Just out of curiosity, I wonder what others think about having ads posted in blogs. Some have them, many don't, including this one. Personally, I'm against it--not that I mind people making money through the effort they put into blogging, but because I find the placement of these ads often detracts and distracts from the content of the blog itself. I often find myself having to scroll down or hunt for the real content in the face of ads all over the place. If the ads could just be more discreet, but by its very raison d’être an ad cannot be discreet.

In addition I see blogs as having a certain aesthetic which sets them apart from a lot of other things on the net. One component of this aestheic is the non-commercial element. We know when we read a blog that it is the genuine expression of an individual attempting to either share a part of himself/herself or at least contribute to dialog on an important issue. This is the beauty of blogging and advertizing sort of takes away from that.

I'm all for more freedoms, but...

Apparently the Gulf News publishers have entered the tabloid field,

Smart. Bold. Quick.
Developed by the Al Nisr Group, publisher of the successful and respected Gulf News, XPRESS is Dubai’s newest and truest tabloid newspaper. A "people paper" with strong emphasis on human interest stories, it addresses the issues of modern life in Dubai as well as keeping readers up-to-date with the most interesting world news. Divided into three sections – News, Life and Sport – XPRESS has a distinct focus on the local. That means more local news, more local life and more local sport. This also means including anything of interest to the local reader from around the world.

And their feature NEWS headliner today...Dubai's Dancing Divas, including photos like the one below, which I doubt UAE community moderators will consider fit to keep posted on this website:


Moderators, you have my consent to edit this if you see fit.

Now, I'm all for more freedoms within society where individuals have, within reason, the right to behave in any manner that they see as correct, as long as it poses no harm to others. The UAE is making continued progress in this regard. But I believe it hurts the course of this progress when this freedom is in a sense flaunted soley for the sake of commercial profit. It poses the risk of turning the clock back on such progress if the sensibilities of a large number of people (conservative Muslims, traditionalists and others with consevative values) are affronted. Let us all enjoy our freedoms, but let's do so being respectful of others, especially when it does not require that we relinquish our own right to live comfortably.

I'm all for addressing the issues of modern life in Dubai as the tabloid in its about us post explains. But I don't think this kind of headliner is doing that. While I'm not against a tabloid trying to make money, which is obviously what motivates this sort of thing, there are other less controverisal ways to do so.

End of an Al Ain Landmark

This week has seen the beginning of the destruction of the Sheikha Salama Mosque. This mosque was built in honor of Sheikh Zayed's mother. I have some pre-destruction photos here if you are interested. Apparently a new mosque will being built in its place.

Global IT Report

The World Economic Forum has released its annual Global Information Technology Report which is an evaluation of "the degree of preparation of a nation or community to participate in and benefit from [Information and Communication Technology] developments".

The UAE ranks 29th, first amoung GCC nations; Qatar is 36, Bahrain 50, Kuwait 54. Saudi Arabia and Oman are not ranked.

History of Education

My post about Islamic sex education created a divide among fellow community members, i wanted to put forward my opinion to some muslim and non muslims for better understanding of a islamic opinion regarding sex education .... i meant no harm or did not mean to target anyone in perticular....some of the members pointed out that religion, culture should be separated from the education....

Every individual has his or her opinion and no one can force it to change, nor can i. My posts are meant to share my opinion as we live in a country that is home to many nationalities and cultures.... Its all done in Good faith and to create an understanding between each other....

Well the comments i got made me think about the Education part and its relation with religion and culture, is it related to culture and religion or is it not...i came across History of Education in Encarta...It gives you a fair idea that birth of education is directly connected to culture and religion......

Some of us think what we learn in schools make us a better person and thats called education.. While culture educates a person , so does religion and our life we live teaches us lessons as well...

So i forward this link in good faith so people including me can understand and take it as a reminder of relationship between culture, religion and education....... they all go hand in hand... or atleast have connections in the past, present or future...

http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761561415/History_of_Education.html

P.s... this post in not dedicated to any perticular individual so please try not to take it personally.... i think atleast it will make us look back in history and remind us the basics of education...i believe most of us dont know, to be honest i did not know untill i read it.

"Dubai - A Lebanese national, 27, has been jailed for three months for raping a 26-year-old Brazilian air hostess after a night out at a club in Dubai. The defendant was also fined dhs1,000 for drinking alcohol and ordered to be deported. "

Observe.

Now, I don't understand why newspapers have to mention the nationality of the crime-doer. Is it really necessary? Seriously. It sounds just as good with out the nationalities.

Dubai - A 27 year old man has been jailed for three months for raping a 26-year-old air hostess after a night out at a club in Dubai. The defendant was also fined dhs1,000 for drinking alcohol and ordered to be deported.
.
I've heard of Europeans stoning their house-helpers.
I've heard of Arabs doing things for the good of turtle-kind!I've heard many other things!

There is no need to mention nationality! It's the idiocy of the people! Not the nation! All it's doing is producing horrible comments like this:

Anonymous April 4th, 2007 at 8:52 amDont just deport this one but the other lebs too. They’re the reason this place is losing its morals.

No one is committing the crime but the crime-doer. They can be of any race, any nationality. They're still doing something disgusting.

AnonymousApril 4th, 2007 at 8:54 am The Lebanese are known for their antics - running after every woman on this planet and driving like mad on the roads almost getting people killed.

Holy! I know a few Lebanese people! They aren't even remotely similar to the description above. Generalizing. Generalizing. Tutut.

The statement above is just one of many, many examples! My english teacher, has been guilty of this too!

"This man, he was asian, and he was a friend of my insert relative here , and he stole all his money, yak yak yak".

-it just goes to show, generalizing is stupid. Stereotyping is stupid. Pointing fingers is stupid. In the end, we're all people. We all do wrong, and we all do right.

Get a grip everyone! This is the age of internationalism. Where we all try to live peacefully with each other. I thought everyone knew that.

EDIT: Whoopsie. I forgot to link to the article. Zing!

Citizen journalism emerges powerful tool: Forum - Qatar

With people quickly adapting to multi-media innovations, the communication industry is undergoing a seismic shift in its orientation. Citizen Journalism has emerged as a powerful tool of communication in several countries, the experts observed while participating in panel discussions at the third Al Jazeera Forum, yesterday.

Community radio, blogs and SMS text message have emerged as powerful democratic tools in the Arab countries, especially in the conflict-ridden Iraq, Lebanon, Zimbabwe, they said while debating on "New Media: Speaking Truth to Power?"

more .........

Interesting to see how everyone recognizes the power of citizen media, but with the acknowledgements comes scrutiny and skepticism. Any thoughts...!

blog issues

"Blog issues
This morning I heard this breakfast show on a radio station, where the RJ made some amusing statements on the new species she calls as "blogittarians".

Adding that people go online out of sheer desperation to get noticed. She also ridiculed a popular community website.

She seemed to have no idea on how blogging or the internet helps in networking with the like minded."

--more from HERE

Did anyone hear this on the radio?

Inclement Weather

Nice photos, accompany Gulf News' coverage of the weather. Bloggers... how about more of our own? Meanwhile, I got news of the death of a construction worker at the Princess tower construction site in Dubai Marina today, when a board from a neighboring build site landed on his head. May he rest in peace.

Beauitful Rain

Dark clouds moved in this afternoon...


The promised rain arrived in Dubai.

Muslim and Muslima – The Fundamentalist Couple

Part 2 - About Sex Education in United Arab Emirates Schools and Else where

Recently, the couple had heard of children getting into illegal sexual activities at schools. They had also read about the growing concern to educate children about sex in various newspapers by people advocating Sex Education for students in UAE schools and other countries.

Their concern on the matter led to the following discussion. Read Further..........