http://blazefanthom.blogspot.com

Has this been blocked or something? Blogger keeps showing the link as "Not Found"!!!!!!

Weird...
I want to know what he actually wrote!

If you have a copy, then could you post it as a comment or mail to :JummyBear

Amazing Zayed video

There is a really interesting video (from 1967) about the UAE on metacafe; it mainly covers Sheikh Zayed and the core culture of the UAE of yesteryear.

here is a link

If you want to become more culturally aware; I suggest you watch the video.

unfortunately, Etisalat deem metacafe as 'immoral' or somesuch, so until I can locate the 2 part series on another unblocked source, you can't watch it if you're behind the great firewall.

Mr. Porter Goes to Tripoli

Back in February, at the very same time that much of the Muslim world was calling for a boycott of Danish goods, there was some (Middle) East meets West business activity taking place that escaped my notice. Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter, arguably the most influential and widely-read management scholar of the last quarter century, made a visit to Libya.

And what, you might be asking, occasioned a visit to the shores of Tripoli by the world's most famous strategy professor? It was to present to the Libyan government with the results of an in-depth study that Porter and his associates undertook on the Libyan economy. While the specifics of the report have not been made public, several websites have discussed its broad outlines. The Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation described the talk this way:

The competition in the Libya market is positively impact(ing) the Libyan citizens, Professor Michael E. Porter has said. In an interview with Al-Shamis newspaper, Porter expected bright economic future for Libya. Porter presided a team of local and foreign experts to set up a long-term economic strategy for Libya.

According to the BBC, the Porter report is part of a concerted effort on the part of Libya to liberalize its economy and bring about greater prosperity:

Dr Mahamud Al-Ftise, head of the Privatisation Agency, ... is very clear about the advantages (of privatization)..."The first thing is to increase productivity, second is to widen ownership, third thing is to introduce competitiveness so Libyan people will be competitive in their own country and outside," he said.

An article in the Economist entitled "Change is in the air but happens slowly on the ground" noted that while Libya is still very much an authoritarian state and an economic basket case, a discernible shift is underway, a shift taking place amid the back drop of political and foregin policy changes:

From 2003 until his removal this week, a respected American-trained economist, Shukri Ghanem strove, as prime minister, to shift policy towards free trade, privatisation and greater openness. As a result of all this, shoppers in Tripoli, the capital, no longer queue for rations in state-owned stores, but choose what they like from well-stocked private markets.

The article continues noting that one of the biggest stumbling blocks on the path of reform is Qaddafi's infamous "Green Book" :

The peculiar structure of the state lends itself to bumbling. ... Every citizen is expected to join in taking decisions via “popular committees” at local, regional and national level, with powers over such things as business and building permits. But these compete with a raft of other bodies, such as “revolutionary committees” and multiple shadowy security agencies.

Commentary

Of all of the unsettled questions in the social sciences, few are more hotly debated or more desperately in need of definitive resolution than this one: What is (or ought to be) the relationship between the state and the economy. While empirical evidence continues to mount in favor of less centralized control as the best way for creating wealth and accelerating economic growth, just how much or how little state planning is optimal remains open to speculation.

Also open to speculation is the motivation for Colonel Qadaffi's new found embrace of capitalism. Could it be the years of diplomatic isolation coming "as a result of Gaddafi's refusal to allow the extradition to the United States or Britain of two Libyans accused of planting a bomb on Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland?" Could the Colonel have been brought to his senses by these remarks made by Britain's Libyan ambassador in the run-up to the March 2004 state visit by Prime Minister Tony Blair?

"35 years of total state control of the economy has left them in a situation where they're simply not generating enough economic activity to give employment to the young people who are streaming through their successful education system. I think this dilemma goes to the heart of Colonel Gaddafi's decision that he needed a radical change of direction."

Perhaps we will never know the reasons for Qadaffi's change of heart. One thing is for certain, however: it is extremely ironic that the man helping to effect the Colonel's conversion, the man spreading the good news of the economic gospel, is a former Reagan economic advisor.

Note: a longer version of this post appeared on my blog, The Business of America is Business, back in April of this year.

Bye-bye to ANOTHER internet site

It never stops, does it? The latest site to be blocked by the fundamentalist, ignorant peasants currently controlling what far better-educated UAE nationals and expats may access is TinyURL.com.

TinyURL is a site that converts lengthy web addresses to short, concise ones. For example, this link here:

http://tinyurl.com/kg86l

Is a link to UAE Community blog. When you click it, it auto-converts BACK to:

http://uaecommunity.blogspot.com

Meaning that TinyURL is NOT a means of avoiding the proxy. It is a 100% legitimate website that does not in anyway offend the morals and culture of the UAE. Here is a screenshot of the site (click for the full image):



I put this call out not to expats (because yeah - we can all "go home if you don't like it") but to UAE national web users: your communications authorities are ruining your experience of the internet, they are turning your country into an international joke, and they are making you pay ludicrous amounts of money for the privilege (believe us expats when we tell you that you are getting utterly ripped off - we know what kind of prices people pay overseas, and what kind of service they get. Yours is almost indescribable by comparison).

You need to lobby them - to get senior sheikhs and officials onside - before it is too late, and the only website left open is Etisalat.ae. This is your country: your government should be serving you, not controlling you.

You are not to speak III (real time)

What I said isn't a myth after all (for anyone who doubted).

Dr. Mohammed Abdulla Al Roken, the most famous Emirati lawyer and human rights Activitist, whom I talked about in "You are not to speak II" on Friday, July 07, 2006 was arrested on the 26th of August.

It was published in Amnesty International and I think it was published couple of weeks ago in the UAE Community Blog.

Let me give you a feedback of what you don't know about what happened.

Check my blog to read the remaining
http://emiratesreuters.blogspot.com/

9/11 anniversary, the "war on terror," and the uselesssness of facts

So, today marks the five-year anniversary of the World Trade center attacks in NYC. I woke up this morning, as most Americans, I am guessing, to news coverage of solemn remembrance ceremonies, narratives of friends and families of people lost on 9/11, and footage of the planes flying into the buildings.
Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, Cheney was on the news yesterday admitting that there is no proven connection between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, nor are there any weapons of mass destruction, nor is there any connection between Saddam and Al-Qaida. Yet we are doing a "pretty good job" in Iraq!
Therefore, the "war on terror" is still justified, as is our presence in Iraq, according to the government, pundits, and a lot of Americans. Along with the justification for increased fear-mongering about the lack of security at our airports, borders, ports, etc. And meanwhile, nothing has happened on American soil in the 5 years that we have supposedly been at war. Nothing, that is, except for Arab and South-Asian looking men being detained for no reason, civil liberties being eroded, people being pulled off of planes for speaking Arabic, and a slew of other "suspicious" activity.
So, every reason for being in Iraq is refuted, there is no terrorism to speak of against America, and here we are, hundreds of thousands of civilians later, with two toppled governments overseas, and the possibility of expansion into other Middle Eastern countries based on a supposed war that is being fought.
Why? The sentimental pull of 9/11, its fortification of a particular kind of American identity (non-brown), and the branding of Arabs, Islam, and Arabic as perpetually suspect allow for American military action overseas to be justified, no matter what the facts of the matter are. This is blatant racism, yet it is hardly ever called such, except for in isolated incidents. So, pulling someone off a plane might be racist, but since there is a "real" threat from Islamicists, screening Muslim men is a legitimate consideration. But tell me what is the "real" in the threat, please, because I have yet to see it, and things have gotten so blurry that it seems as long as there is a Middle East, and as long as there is Islam, Americans will think there is a threat. What is this besides racism? If you paint with a broad enough brush, everyone is a potential terrorist, and we are in a renewed stage of American expansionism, or if we are calling things by their true names, imperialism.

UAE Justice- Not everything its cracked up to be

Sentence of four rapists increased to five years

By Alia Al Theeb, Staff Reporter
Dubai: Four young men who kidnapped and gang-raped a 23-year-old Briton stewardess last September had their sentences increased to five years.
Dubai Court of Appeal upheld Dubai Court of First Instance's verdict and added three years for each of the four nationals after they were found guilty of luring the British victim into their car, driving off to a remote area and raping her.

Alhamdullilah the Authorities have decided to further punish and increase the sentences of the rapists. These rapists were origionally sentenced to 2 years each. Despite the nagging and complaining, the UAE justice system still works.

You may ask me, what about Dallas Austin ?. Looking back on it, Dallas was freed because of a number of external factors. Because a bunch of members of the US government rushed to the defense of a crack addict. And we all know how irresistible the package of US-Defamation and Anger can be over these things. I regret my statement towards the government about this. In my opinion Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid did the right thing by giving him a pardon. The waa-waa media would have kicked and screamed bloody murder if a proper sentence had been passed, and this is the future of Dubai were talking about, the brand is everything. Remember Coedine Tracy ? Remember how she (or the press) attempted to put a spin on her detention by claiming the Dubai police took her cross (necklace was it?) as an example of religious intolerance ? Please Remind me which country claims it is a constitutional right of a prisoner to carry metallic objects.

Now Imagine a few hundred of those stories in a best selling book. Dallas Austin- Persecution in Dubai.

Great title isnt it ?

Gigantic Strides

Dubai's construction industry is resorting to futuristic technologies like human cloning, crane-cloning, advanced device & vehicle duplication to complete the multi-billion dirhams real-estate projects on time.
Today's double spread Gulf News advert shows how I & M Galadari's City of Arabia is 'making gigantic strides towards completion'.
Defamed photographers like Adnan Hajj seems to have a promising future in Dubai.

Congratulations, here is your 1-year ban

Good News reports:
"The decision was taken to protect workers' right, solve their problems, educate them about their rights and create an opportunity to file their complaints and prevent exploitation," Humaid Bin Deemas, assistant undersecretary at the ministry said.

I was wondering how the decision of imposing a one-year ban on workers who fail to notify the Ministry of Labour after terminating his labour contract for a valid reason within three months can protect workers' right, solve their problems and educate them about their rights.

WELSHMAN WANTED

Respectable drama teacher seeks outgoing Welshman with sense of humour for amusing individual project. Welshpersons of a female disposition also welcome. Preference will be given to those living somewhere between Jebel Ali and Satwa. Many thanks.

Actually, I have a student who needs to develop a Welsh accent for a role, but she is not British, we don't know any Welsh people here, I have no recordings, and my Welsh accent is only suitable for pantomime. So we're stumped.

Is there anyone out there who'd like to help?

Please contact me on HeyMamaDuck@gmail.com

cultural exchange

There's a very interesting exhibition going on at the moment in Germany featuring young Dubai citizens and their opinion about the "west". The exhibition is the result of a photographer and a journalist's trip to Dubai at the end of 2004.

During the opening of the exhibition they also asked some of the visitors what they thought about "arabs".

Have a look at theInterviews ONLINE:
See reactions by the German visitors here.

This is the German project website.

You Want Fries With That, Sheikh?

With every outbreak of hostilities between Israel or the US and Muslim-majority countries comes calls for a boycott by the latter (and their allies) of goods and services produced by the former. The current state of war between Israel and Lebanon is no exception. From "Electronic Intifada" we have this announcement:

Statement by the Palestinian Civil Society Campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel -- Acting Steering Committee: Specifically, people of conscience everywhere are called upon to:boycott all Israeli products and services; boycott Israeli academic, cultural, athletic and economic institutions; pressure unions, professional associations and civil society organizations to divest from Israel; pressure governments to stop all military trade with Israel, as a first step towards adopting total sanctions against it. All these measures should be maintained until Israel fully complies with international law and respects fundamental human rights of Arabs, whether in Lebanon or Palestine.

From the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel we have links to several reports:

• Greens to Bush: Press Israel to Stop the Attacks on Lebanon
• Formation of Sanctions Against Israel Coalition In South Africa
• Derry protesters demand Israeli goods boycott;
• Film festival drops Israel as sponsor to protest attack
  

The Dubai-based Gulf News recaps this wire story about worldwide protests against Israel:

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in Europe and the United States, to march against Israel's war on Lebanon and the refusal of the US and British governments to condemn it. Police said 7,000 people joined the London protest which ran from the banks of the Thames to Hyde Park through torrential rain. Many people carried placards condemning "Israeli crimes in Lebanon." "We are all Hezbollah. Boycott Israel" read one. "Axis of evil: Bush, Blair, Olmert," read another, referring to the political leaders of the United States, Britain and Israel.

In Time Magazine an article entitled "Why Iran Isn't Cheering" we get this information about why certain Western companies are being targeted:

Parvin Heydari, an Iranian mother of two, was flipping back and forth between the nightly news and Oprah when a bulletin on an Iranian state channel caught her attention. It urged Iranians to boycott what it called "Zionist products," including those made by Pepsi, Nestle and Calvin Klein, and warned that profits from such products "are converted into bullets piercing the chests of Lebanese and Palestinian children." As evidence, the voice-over intoned, "Pepsi stands for 'pay each penny to save Israel.'" Heydari says she changed the channel, as she has no intention of crossing Nestle's Nesquik off her shopping list. "Lebanon has nothing to do with us," she says. "We should mind our own business and concentrate on policies that are good for our economy, and our kids."

And finally, from the Times of Oman we have a reprint of an Agence France Press story entitled "Iran TV urges boycott of 'Zionist' products" which singles out even more companies:

The world's largest chip maker Intel was also branded as "one of Israel's biggest supporters". "Its first overseas branch was set up in Haifa in 1974. In 2000 it employed more that 4,000 Israelis. Its top managers have said that they are going to invest 6.5 billion dollars in Israel," would-be Intel customers have been told. "McDonalds, Timberland, Revlon, Garnier, Hugo Boss, Tommy Hilfiger, Calvin Klein and L'Oreal are only some of the firms which belong to the Zionist regime," state television said, before taking a swipe at what it said were less vigilant Arab nations. "Unfortunately most of the streets of Arab nations are filled with commercials which advertise Israeli products."

As I wrote during last winter's cartoon crisis, calls for boycotts by Middle Eastern countries of American and Israeli companies don't haven't a long history of success. To my mind, there is little or no chance that what the Iranians are calling for will be achieved- a Middle East where there's no Intel Inside, where guys like Hugo Chavez are the Boss, and where there are no McDonalds's for anyone to ask "Do you want fries with that, Sheikh?"

Note: this post originally appeared on July 23rd, 2006 on my blog, The Business of America is Business

simple/cheap/ffective ideas to help others

· Notice the huge amount of school books that are just thrown away every year, why don't we teach our kids how to keep them clean and send them by the end of the year to other kids in other needy countries.
· Sometimes you have a pile of medicines that didn't expire yet and you don't really need anymore, why not giving it to the doctor/pharmacist and tell them to give those medicines for free to those who need them and can't afford paying their prices.
· Try to buy water, juice, ice-cream from time to time and give it to a newspaper man who is sitting in this burning heat, with a smile on give it to him and tell him that you really appreciate what he is doing... walla this will make his week!
· Smile at people, Prophet Mohammad said that a smile counts as a donation.
· Your old clothes, till when are you going to keep them? Just give them away and invest in your good deeds bank
· If you have a maid/driver or whoever that works for you, make them know that their effort is noticeable and that they are not invisible, money isn't all what matters even for them
· Don't ever look to someone as a lower race, this is the worst thing to do no even if you financially contributed for the good of that person, there is no lower race there is a lower human beings in terms of attitude
Just keep your eyes open for the possibilities and you will find many simple ways to help in a very effective manner, life is about sharing and caring... and remember that people who need help aren't only living in Africa nor Palestine, they can be neighbors, workmates, maid, driver or someone you can easily end up their suffering whom are not far away from you.

Free Energy

Irish engineers say they have built a device that creates free and clean energy. Until now most scientists have dismissed their claims, saying that they break the most basic laws of physics. So the inventors have come up with a unique challenge.

Like Father Like Son

Yesterday an important decision was made in Dubai. According to this Khaleej Times report:

His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, issued here yesterday, in his capacity as the Ruler of Dubai, a decree appointing Shaikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as chairman of the Dubai Executive Council.

The positions Sheikh Hamdan currently holds include:

1. Chairman of SME for Young Business Leaders
2. Chairman of Dubai Bank
3. Chairman of Dubai Sports Council
4. Chairman of Al Ahli Club

Maybe very few expats know that Shaikh Hamdan is also a popular poet among the youth of this country. I really admire the way he inspires people, especially the youth around him. An example is Al Ahli Club winning UAE league title after a gap of 26 years. Another example is this, he helped revived the art of Al Yolah(The traditional art of moving the gun in your hands). And who can forget that Sheikh Hamdan is one of the leading Endurance Horse riders in the country.

Good Luck to our Faza'a in this new challenge :-)