Archive for
October 24th, 2007

   

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Kuwait: Lost Between Cinemas and Restaurants

The Kingdom poster
It's after Eid in Kuwait so what would most people do there? Most have one of two options - either go to the movies or dine in a fine restaurant.

Sadly, new blockbuster The Kingdom was banned in Kuwait so what do Kuwaitis who want to watch it do?

Amir over at Hilaliya tells us what everyone expects to happen.

We told you so…thousands of pirated KINGDOM copies have flooded the Kuwaiti black market. I'm sure the Ministry of Information is ecstatic now that the Studio and Movie Exhibitors get no revenues, but the pirates get all the profit.

Marzouq from zdistrict also talks about his experience of watching movies in Kuwait.

This is really getting frustrating, even when you want to go see a movie in Kuwait it's quite difficult. The Kiosk at Cinescape wasn’t working right and it felt like it was going crazy and trying to spit out the damn card they sell. I don’t understand why they haven’t improved the quality of the pop-corn that they have at the Cinema, the ones you buy from the Co-op or Sultan Center tastes a lot better then what they have.

Marzouq also comments on segregated cinemas, unruly children and movie censorship.

Meanwhile, Qias at io81 went to a restaurant, and after trying it, changed his mind about it vowing never to return again.

Throughout the Eid holiday, I have visited Villa Fayrouz with 2 more friends. I honestly dislike Villa Fayrouz customer service but they surly have great tasting food

Other than Eid activities, there have been a couple of things of interest on the Kuwaiti blogosphere.

intlxpatr reports about talks for a new proposal to rename ‘residents' to ‘visitors.'

Calling all us guest-workers “visitors” is just a dumb idea. Call us guest-workers, call us workers, but if you call us “visitors” then you run into problems with folks who are just coming in for a VISIT, i.e. visitors.

esetch from the blog Dreams are made of these , continues his quest to hunt for old mail boxes that the mail authority ceased to use.

أمام هذا الصندوق وقفت مستغرباً
أيش إللي حصل له؟ وأسباب التعدي عليه
ما عندي كلام أكثر
In front of this box I stand amazed.
What has happened to it ? And why was it assaulted?
I have no further words.

Kazakhstan: Prices Unleashed

Immediately after the parliamentary elections, which were deemed undemocratic by the international monitors, the prices went crazy in Kazakhstan. The ruling party “Nur Otan”, led by president Nursultan Nazarbayev - who rules the country already for 17 years - had been building its campaign on socio-economic achievements and promises of better life for every citizen. Eventually, it won all seats in the legislature, but the very first days of triumph were marred by the unprecedented devaluation of the successes and disenchantment with the promises.

Xxrock reviews [RUS] recent official reports on the socio-economic situation, and the conclusion is not an optimistic one – the government seems to be embarrassed concerning the ways to solve the crisis:

October 10. Prices for agricultural products have increased by 10.4 per cent, comparing to 2006.
October 15. Minister of Trade Orazbakov says that the prices boom is stopped and the government fully controls the situation.
October 16. The price for vegetable oil and sugar increased two-three times. The prices for eggs, pork, macaroni and vegetables went up also.

In Karaganda, the people are shocked by uncontrollable inflation, which may also be a consequence of conspiracy between the monopolists. Gulnaz reports [RUS] from the second largest city of Kazakhstan: “It is impossible to buy sugar, salt and flour in Karaganda. People sweep these products away. Prices are still rising - and this process somehow cools down the demand. The local television channels heat up the agiotage by broadcasting rumors without any referrals to official information, while the local authorities don’t show up on TV at all. It seems like the officials don’t care about the people”. (more…)

Armenia: Opposition Detainees Released

Via Romamerda1 on YouTube, there are updates on the latest developments following the arrest of Armenian opposition leaders, Nikol Pashinyan and other members of the “Impeachment” bloc. The description accompanying the video reads:

Nicol Pashinyan and other members of “Impeachment” party were unjustly imprisoned for 8 hours on 23 October in Yerevan. After the meeting with the 1st president Ter-Petrosyan, police finally freeds them at 3:20am. A large group of people was chanting “Battle,battle until the end” and applausing president Levon Ter-Petrosyans and others.

I find it very significant to note that the police freed the prisoners after meeting with the first president, Levon Ter Petrosian (or LTP as most bloggers call him), who is currently the considered to be the most likely opposition candidate to be able to stand a chance in the presidential election early next year.

The Armenia 2008 Election Monitor blog covered the story at length yesterday:

RFE/RL reports that “at least a dozen” opposition activists supportive of former president Levon Ter Petrosian have been detained. Their crime? In lieu of having access to the broadcast media to advertise Friday’s rally at which Ter Petrosian is due to speak, the activists used megaphones to announce the meeting on the streets of the Armenian capital, Yerevan. One of those detained is believed to be the outspoken editor of the pro-Ter Petrosian Haykakan Zhamank newspaper, Nikol Pashinian.

[…]

Given that the capital is full of people setting up loudspeakers at kiosks or even simple tables selling CDs on street corners even though they deafen passer-bys and local residents, as well as the dozens of entertainment complexes opened by corrupt officials and their relatives in public parks, the action does not appear at first glance to warrant such a response. It is unknown so far whether the activists obstructed traffic or otherwise “disturbed the peace.”

At any rate, with Friday’s rally looming ever closer, tensions seem to be rising. In part this is because however unpopular Ter Petrosian might have been, he is seen as the lesser of two evils by a significant number of people when quizzed about their voting preference for next year’s presidential election. Quite simply, they say, anyone is better than Serzh Sarkisian.

No wonder then, that the authorities and the ruling Republican party of the prime minister, presidential hopeful Serzh Sarkisian, are taking Friday’s rally very seriously indeed. Some would argue that they’re reacting in a manner that does not befit any country supposedly on the path towards democratization.

Mark Grigoryan [RUS] says the opposition has great hopes on the rally scheduled for October 26th, which is likely to mark the start of Ter-Petrossian's presidential campaign. The blogger notes that although the Yerevan authorities haven't prohibited the rally, the Republican party is organizing a free concert to coincide with it, and says that there preparations by police are already underway.

“Are they really so scared of them [the opposition]?” he asks with surprise to conclude his analysis of the situation.

Other reports of the story can be found on Bekaisa [RUS], Armenianewsblog [RUS], Armenian Breaking News, Narjan [RUS], and in a really interesting eyewitness account by David_Sand [RUS] with a second post detailing his opinion on the latest developments:

Honestly speaking, it is hard to imagine better PR for an oppositionist than his arrest not long before a scheduled rally. I can't find an explanation to the arrest of the editors of “Armenian Times” and the “Forth Power”. This might be a result of police stupidity or carefully prepared PR. At any rate, this is how it all looked:

- Police arrest editors of opposition newspapers who were making public calling in the street for citizens to attend Friday's opposition rally,

- Opposition supporters gather at the police department (and by the way, representatives of the parliamentary opposition minority were also there) together with human right defenders, journalists and inhabitants of houses close to the police department,

- Levon Ter-Petrosian arrives, and everybody starts shouting “Levon, Levon” as if the savior has come with the key to all the problems faced by the opposition,

- After a couple of hours, the detainees are released, which in the eyes of the public raises the authority of Ter-Petrosian.

The blogger also notes that TV has ceased to serve as a source of information because from his observations, there was no coverage of the events in TV news reports. However, I can state that there was pretty good coverage on Yerkir Media TV, but that is the exception, proving the point made by David_Sand.

One of my most favorite of bloggers, Pigh [RUS], is as outraged by Ter Petrosian as ever:

Everything, everything, everything is done to make sure they have something to talk about at the rally. Perhaps tomorrow they’ll get somebody's head smashed so that there is a fresh topic to discuss…

[…]

There is the impression that Levon has lots of support among the oligarchs although, if you look at it soberly, why not? Grzo, Lfik, and Tsarukyan were all created by Vanik Smbatovich… (former Minister of Internal Affairs Vano Siradeghian during LTP's rule in the 90s).

Interestingly, Pigh connects the recent increase in the price of sugar, which added to considerable public discontent with the current authorities, with LTP and the desire of those oligarchs supportive of the ex-president's return to help him by sudden price rises on the eve of the presidential election.

Korea: Kissing in Public Places

Kissing in public places can turn into a major issue and generate arguments.

연신내역에서 발생한 10대 키스를 보고 말싸움끝에 폭행을 한 어르신이 폭행죄로 법의 심판을 받는다고 합니다. 이 분은 전에도 10대가 담배 피는 것을 보고는 폭행했다고 합니다.

그럼 10대가 공공장소에서 과도한 애정표현과 술 담배등을 하는 것에 대하여 어떻게 생각하십니까? 참 어려운 세상에 사는 것 같습니다.

Watching teenagers’ kiss in a metro station, Yonsinnae, an adult beat the teenagers after quarreling with them verbally and will be tried for committing violence. He had also beaten a teenager who smoked in public.

What do you think about excessive love expression, drinking, and smoking of teenagers in public? We live in a difficult world.

After the news, a blogger writes how he (she) feels about others’ opinions about this accident.

어른들 앞에서 키스했다고 10대 연인을 폭행한 60대

실제로 보지 않은것이라서 10대든 60대든 난 그들을 비난 하지 않겠어.

하지만 난 댓글을 단 사람들에게 한마디 하고 싶어
아마 야후댓글은 20대~30대 이상들이 대부분이야
즉 성인들의 생각을 알 수 있는 곳이지

그런데 정말 보는 내가 화가 났어.
잘때렸다니..
오히려 상을 줘야 한다고?

요즘 아이들 요즘 아이들 이러는데
모두 부모들이 잘못 키운죄가 아닐까?

확실히 아이들이 싸가지 없어졌다고 한시기가
바로 인터넷 때문이라고 한다.
그런데 컴퓨터만 사주고 인터넷만 달아주고
어른들은 그에 따른 교육을 시켰나?
정부는 뭘했나?

아이들은 분명 어른들로 인해 그리고 환경으로 인해
자란 아이다
아이가 얼마나 태어났을 때 착할지 몰라도
환경이 나쁘다면 그 애는 따라 나빠지기 마련이다

난 절대 어린애들을 욕하지 않는다.

그들은 분명 나쁜 환경에 자란 피해자다.

그리고 애정행각이 그렇게 욕먹을 짓인가?

그리고 요즘 아이들 나쁘다 나쁘다 하는데
이건 학교 선생님들이 문제다…

그리고 요즘 아이들 그렇게 안나쁘다
다만 머리좀 기르고 좀 안좋게 보이지만
항상 학교에 피해자는 학생이였다.
정말 나쁜학생은 반에서 몇명 없다.
하지만 그 나쁜 학생도 분명 교육을 잘 못 받은 피해자.

이건 당연한 이론이다.
아이들은 어른들을 보고 자란다.

옛날엔 가진 폭력때문에 아이들이 숨겨왔지만
지금은 표현할 수 있는 시대
어른들을 따라하는 시대!

물론 이 뉴스에 나와있는 아이들이 풍기문란이란 걸로 잘못은 했지만
아이들을 싸잡아서 욕하는 어른들이 한심하고 내가 부끄럽다.

An old man aged 60 beat teenage lovers because they kissed in front of adults.
Because I was not there at that time, I am not going to criticize both sides. But I was stunned at checking other people’s opinions. Maybe they’re mostly age 20-30. Therefore, it is a place where you can see how adults think.
But watching their comments, I was so mad.
They said he beat them well and we’d better give him prizes.
They always say… kids nowadays…kids nowadays…
Isn’t it parents’ faults that gave such kind of education?
There is a saying about the moment that children get more rude is due to the internet. But those adults bought computers and installed internet. What did the adults do? What did the government do?
Kids are growing up under the circumstances that adults make. No matter how nice the kids are when they were born, bad circumstances can make kids bad.
I don’t blame children.
They’re victims who grew up under the bad circumstances.
And why is love expression criticized?
And people say kids are bad bad, but school teachers’ faults are more… first of all, the punishment should be prohibited at school first…. And then kids these days are not so bad. Even though they don’t look good due to appearances such as long hair, the real victims in school are students. There are not a lot of bad students and those bad students are also victims of bad education.
This is a sensible theory. Children grow up, looking at adults and learning from them.
In the past, children hid their violence, but the current period is the time to be able to express and the time that kids copy adults’ behavior.
Of course, these teenagers in this event made mistakes, but I feel shamed of adults who blame these kids without any knowledge.

It seems that the incident turned into a battle between teenagers and adults.

문제의 본질은 폭력입니다! 길거리에서 애정표현이, 길가던 생판 모르는 노인한테 얻어맞아야 할만큼 큰 잘못인가요? 왜, 아예 범죄라고 해보죠! 길거리에서 담배피는 학생을 폭행했던 전력이 있는 사람이라죠? 물론 그 때 담배피던 학생을 훈계하다 때린건 수긍할 수 있는 일입니다. … 이 사건은 단순히 타인의 애정표현을 가지고 문지를 일으킨 것이므로, 그 노인에게 전적인 잘못이 있는 겁니다! 솔직히 난 나이가 서른인데, 부딪치는 많은 이들 중에서 말세를 운운하기 좋아하는 4,50대가 되려 싹퉁머리없는 짓을 많이 하는 것을 겪어왔고, 2,30대 층이 예의바르고 상식이 통하는 올바른 행동을 하는 것도 많이 겪어왔기 때문에, 요즘엔 4,50대나 그 이상 연령층의 행동이나 생각에 도덕성이 심각하게 결여되어있다고 봅니다.

The principle of the problem is violence. Is love expression in the street so wrong it’s fine to be beaten by a strange old man? Why don’t you call it criminal then? Didn’t he have an experience of beating students who smoked on the street before? It’s understandable to admonish teenage smokers at that time…. But this incident is from the love expression of other strangers and so what the old man did was wrong. Honestly I’m 30 and encountered a lot of 40-50 year old people who have rude behavior, insisting on the end of this world, and a lot of 20-30 year old people who are polite and have righteous behaviors. Recently I feel that not a few people over 40-50 years old lack morality.

Another opinion:

학생이신가 보네요 ….기사내용 다 읽었어요?
일단 폭력은 잘못 되었습니다. 기사내용을 보면
할아버지가 애들한대 애정표현 한다고 훈계하다 근대 학생들이 무슨상관이냐고? 대들었다죠
길가다가 담배핀다고 바로 때릴만큼 그런 성인은 거의 없다고 보구요 거의 훈계하다가 애들이 대들어서 맞는거죠~~
10년뒤면 벌거 벗고 성관계하는데 왜그러나고 하겠네 ㅡㅡ

You must be a student… anyway…. Violence is wrong. But did you read the report? According to it, the old man admonished the teenagers about their love expression and those kids set against him. I don’t think there is an adult who beat teenager right away once running into them with cigarettes. Commonly the adults admonish them and kids are beaten because they set against…
Maybe 10 years later, teenagers who have sexual intercourse in public would set against adults who admonish them.

About this incident, a blogger shows a poll about the extent of physical contact.

가끔 인터넷에 떠있는 공공장소에서의 애정행각 사진에 눈살을 찌푸렸던 기억이 있습니다. 둘이 사랑하고, 그에 스큰쉽을 나누는 것은 이해하지만 왠지 공공장소에서는 자제했으면 하는 바램입니다.
그런데 대항생 10명 중 4명은 길거리, 지하철 등 공공장소에서 가벼운 입맞춤 정도의 스킨쉽을 한 경험이 있으며, 10명 중 1명은 진한 키스도 나눠봤다라는 설문조사가 나왔군요. 통행이 잦은 공공장소에서의 스킨쉽에 대해 설문 참여자 절바 정도가 가벼운 입맞춤 정도는 공공장소에서 해도 상관없다라고 응답했습니다.
스킨쉽의 수위는 ‘가법게 입을 맞췄다(43.8%), ‘손을 잡고 있거나 포용(30.6%)’였고, 특히 ‘진하게 키스해 본적이 있다’는 응답도 11.2%나 차지하고 있습니다. 반면에 자신이 해본 스킨쉽의 수위를 묻는 질문에 ‘공공장소에서는 애정행각을 벌인 적이 없다’는 응답은 11.4%에 불과합니다.
공공장소에서의 스킨쉽에 큰 거부감이 없는 탓에 다른 이들의 길거리 애정행각을 바라보는 대학생들의 시선도 관대해 공공장소에서의 애정행각을 목격했을 때 드는 기분에 대해 ‘적당한 수준을 지키는 스킨쉽이나 애정행각은 귀업고 사랑스럽게 보인다(44.6%)이라는 수치가 나왔습니다. ‘남의 사생활이므로 굳이 신경쓰지 않는다’는 의견이 19.3%, ‘안 보이는데 가서 하지(15%)’로 기타의견으로는 ‘보기에 민망하다,’ ‘말세다,’ ‘부모님은 아시나?,’ ‘부럽다’등이 있었습니다.
당당하게 연애를 하는 것도 좋지만, 과도한 애정행각은 눈살이 찌푸러지기도 하는데요, 가급적이면 연인들의 스킨쉽은 다른 사람들의 눈을 의식해줬으면 합니다.
사귀는 남녀 사이의 스킨쉽 허용한도는 남학생의 경우 ‘성관계’가 57.2%로 1위를, 여학생은 ‘키스’가 49.9%로 1위를 차지했다고 합니다. 물론 남들이 보지 않는 장소에서 말이죠.

When sometimes I see photos that were taken of the moment of love expression in public on the Internet, I am not comfortable. I understand that two people love each other and have physical contact, but I hope that they control themselves in public.
Surprisingly, four of 10 college students said that they have the experience of physical contact, such as light kiss in public places like streets and metro, and one of them even has the experience of French kiss according to a survey (targeting 854 college students).
The level of physical contacts ‘light kiss (43.8%),’ ‘holding hands or hugging (30.6%),’ and ‘deep french kiss 11.2%).’ On the other hand, only 11.4% said that they never had physical contact in public.
Now our society is getting generous. When they watch these kinds of physical scenes, 44.6 percent said that ‘love expression or appropriate physical contact looks cute and lovely,’ 19.3 percent said that they don’t care about others’ private lives, and 15% said that they’d better do it in non-public places. Others said that ‘it’s embarrassing to watch,’ ‘this world is problematic,’ ‘do their parents know about it?’ ‘feeling jealously.’
It’s good to date openly, but sometimes excessive love expression knit our brows. I hope that when boy friend and girl friend have physical contact, they are conscious of others.
According to how much physical contact is allowed, of male college students 57.1% answered sexual intercourse and of female students 49.9% answered kiss in a place where others can’t see them.

Bangladesh: Bloggers, the media and the army chief

The political arena of Bangladesh heated up after the Eid holidays. Bloggers cum citizen journalists had a role to play in this.

J Rahman at Mukti has some background:

Earlier this year, Bangladesh experienced an extra-constitutional change in government. The Economist called it a coup that dares not speak its name. Initially, this de facto coup brought respite from a months-old stalemate between the country’s rival political parties. But soon, the technocratic regime (Caretaker government) that was installed by the army started arresting top politicians on corruption charges.

In many ways it becomes evident who is running the show here. The army chief has been the center of media attention providing all kinds of political statement on behalf of the Caretaker Government. In recent days he has declared that he don't want to become president of the country which attracted much publicity and got cheered from the public. His prominent exposure in the local print media raises eyebrows. Rumi of In The Middle of Nowhere says:

Please see below the screenshots of the main page ( Cover page) of most of the major Bangladeshi newspapers published today… all of them had a common theme… Almost all newspapers gave banner heading treatment with a central front page picture of General Moeen U Ahmed. No, he did not save this planet from immediate annihilation by a meteor. He is visiting USA and spoke in a reception hosted by a hitherto unknown Bangali diaspora organization.

And you still want me to believe that Bangladesh is not under a de facto martial law?

An anonymous commenter in Mukti Blog first raised the question on the 16th of October. Mash followed it up with an investigative report in E-Bangladesh regarding irregularities in General Moeen U Ahmed's personal housing loan from Trust Bank, a commercial bank owned and operated by the Bangladesh Army. He had quoted evidence from an auditor certified prospectus hosted in public domain of the Security Exchange Commission of Bangladesh that Mr. Ahmed crossed his capacity as a director on the board in obtaining a large amount of loan. He also cited the regulation that more than one member of a family cannot be director of a bank but His brother was appointed as the MD of the Bank during his tenure.

Mukti adds:

These violations of the banking regulations were completely avoided by the mainstream media in Bangladesh. While the bloggers were discussing this, what did the daily newspapers in Dhaka report? They reported on the General’s visit to Britain and America.
……
After it broke in the internet, the General was asked about the issue by reporters from ATN Bangla, a TV channel. Then major newspapers reported the General’s explanations. Here is how the Daily Star chose to report it. Out-of-context? You be the judge.

Adding more to the controversy General Moeen U Ahmed denied the allegations and said he had only taken Taka 3.5 million (The audit report says 9.9 million). He also claimed that he is a victim of “internet propaganda.” His brother, the MD was also quick to respond [bn] to the issues without mentioning the audited prospectus.

Shada Kalo Blog reacts:

I would have accepted the explanation that the prospectus contained a typo. But if the MD is not claiming that the prospectus was incorrect, then surely the information was correct.

Tacit points to the significance of this:

This story will not die down any time soon, given that this is the same man who has sent countless people to jail, held them without bail, and tortured them, all in the name of ridding our country of nepotism and corruption. Hopefully, this information will give pause to everyone who would like to take him at his word and believe that he has Bangladesh’s best interests at heart.

And Mukti aptly puts it:

“(These are) questions that should be raised by people far more qualified than the bloggers who have been raising them this week.

I asked the editor of a major Bangla daily earlier this month about press freedom in today’s Bangladesh. He said a lot of things without answering the question. LK Advani said about the Indian media during their Emergency — the media was asked to bend, they chose to crawl. Ours seem to have taken supplication to a new low.

Even if the General is telling the truth, this incidence should make it obvious that unless things change, he is likely to end up not different from the other military rulers that came before him.”

Iran: Power Struggle over Nuclear Crisis

The resignation on Saturday of Ali Larijani, the top Iranian nuclear negotiator, has led to speculation about the reasons for his decision, and how it will affect the nuclear crisis. About 200 members of Parliament protested against replacing Ali Larijani with Said Jalili, a close ally of President Ahmadinejad. Iranian bloggers share their opinions, and describe Jalili.

A bad sign

Mohmmad Ali Abtahi, former reformist Iranian vice president and blogger, says the resignation of Ali Larijani is a bad sign for the country. The blogger says:

This change, which naturally means non-responsiveness to international demands is an important and dangerous piece of news for Iran. When Mr. Larijani who was holding an extremist political view… feels he should resign, the world will have a bitter and dangerous understanding - and we are talking about a world that we all know is looking for excuses to have another victim in this region called Iran.

NikAhang, a leading cartoonist and blogger who drew hundreds of cartoons of Larijani says [Fa] that Iranian reformists considered him the smartest person among the conservatives. The blogger wonders when conservatives cannot even tolerate Larijani’s presence, what can others expect?

Uncertainty

Bahnam Gholipour says he does not think that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had a decisive role in Larijani’s resignation. The blogger adds that his resignation may in fact be in protest of the Iranian state's position regarding nuclear policy, and that Larijani probably does not want to put the government's policy in to practice.

Jomhour says [Fa] it is possible that Larijani’s time was past and his presence was no longer useful to push “desired state policy”. The blogger adds that in the future we are facing both the possibility of war and of making a compromise on the nuclear crisis.

Gaining Time

Digital Klashinkov reminds [Fa] us that Ali Larijani was a candidate in the last presidential election. He was an opponent of Ahmadinejad’s and was backed by traditional conservative groups. The blogger adds that Ahmadinejad gains more power in foreign policy by replacing Larijani. He says Ahmadinejad is failing in his policies, but is trying to buy time, since he has only 18 months left of presidency. He says he acts as though he has only been president for three months.

Viva ideology and power!

Moslem Reporter, a pro-Ahmadinejad blogger presents[Fa] a few of Said Jalili's ideas. The blogger says Said Jalili lost his right foot during the Iran-Iraq war. He speaks Arabic and English and was recently responsible for the North America and Europe section of the Foreign Ministry under Ahmadinejad.

The blogger quotes Said Jalili to show he believes in strong Islamic ideology. According to him Jaili has said: “One of the challenges in our foreign policy is the question of human rights. If what you believe about human beings is not the right thing, you get into trouble. But if we believe that our vision of humanity is superior to the Western - then we are not going to be challenged by human rights questions.”

It also seems that Jalili enjoys reading Samuel Huntington, an influential American political scientist, and approves of the weight that he gives to Iran in his writing. The blogger quotes Jalili again: “Huntington places Iran second among the 9 most influential countries. He places England third. It is certain that he has seen some power points in Iran.”