This was filmed in 1966, a bit propagandist in nature, especially where the announcer says some of their brothers and fathers cannot see their faces at home… at the same time the school door is opened by the school doorman who happens to be… a man.

According the the United Nations first-ever World Happiness Report, Saudi Arabia is 26th on the happy scale, the report is 158 pages, which I have not read in its entirety yet, but basically is says the more money you have the happier you are, as the happiest nations are more wealthy and less religious (while religion helps in areas where life is harder, even in wealthy nations like the US), and the least happy are poor countries… so they do lie, money does buy happiness (at least it pays for the search).

“Destination Mount Everest” is under the patronage of Princess Rema Daughter of Bandar bin Sultan AlSaud, in association with the ministry of education and health.

The effort comes after the guinness world record achieved by Saudi Arabia for the largest human awareness pink ribbon in 2010.

All of the participants are either survivors of breast cancer or have a close relative that is battling the disease.

One of my best friends lost his mother to breast cancer, another extremely good friend’s wife has been going through her own journey battling the disease, so the subject affects me deeply on a personal level.

They say 8000 new cases are discovered yearly among Saudi women, 50-60% of them in late stages.

Shout out to American Bedu who is going through her own battle with the disease and raising awareness through her own blog and activities.

So when most find someone as weak as little Hamza Kashgari, they will be on him like they were just waiting to pounce.

As I said, no one in his right mind, in our culture would dare tell someone that his father was a bad man, or that his clan is a bad clan, or that his tribe is not a good tribe, so how can one expect to get away with telling people that their prophet, who to them is the highest attainable human example of perfection, is, not really perfect.

Whether extremist or modern, Muslims try to find the examples from the prophet’s life to follow, if they are by nature kind and affectionate, they follow those examples, if they want to practice polygamy, they find what suits them, and the examples are plenty, and as any person who studied systems would tell you, we humans always find a way to play the system to our advantage (the best people to use this rule are politicians and lawyers)

Having said all that, Kashgari is being used as an example, he is a young man with no constituency, and when you are just a small person in an old world of cultural history, if you have no back… Well, you get eaten up and spit out without second thought, Bush did it during his re-election, we didn’t start the fire, it was always burning since the world was turning.

Afterthought: “In this white man’s world, I’m similar to a squirrel” 50Cent, and we all are like that in someway to someone.

There are economic incentives behind this, 7 billion dollars being pumped out of the country in the second quarter of 2011 alone by foreign workers, anyone can see… it is not good for the economy… it is only good for the one vary famous bank which deals with them every month and gets a transaction fee for every transfer, I think I read that the owner of the back is one of the richest in Saudi, and one of the worst banks to deal with on a personal banking level, it doesn’t make sense… but it does make cents and dollars.

I assume, that once things settle, the big companies that own everything in the malls will begin to employ non-Saudi women, just like they do in other gulf countries, for all the obvious outsourcing (but inwards) reasons, and let’s see if netaqat is also applied to Saudi women, since the labor office says that employing a Saudi woman is equal to employing four Saudi men to fulfill their Saudization quotas, something all governments do in the form of affirmative action (don’t quote me on this, this is what I hear and I am have not seen the labor regulations). So if I had a multimillion dollar business to run, I would have a lot of leeway to play the system.

Some say the head of Hay’a was replaced due to this issue being a problem, I never knew his name until I heard he was being replaced, so good luck to the new guy… remember, change takes time.

From the Amazing Boston Big Picture post about Hajj and Eid Al-Adha

Previous Posts:

Makkah Clock Tower

Mike Tyson in Makkah

Makkah Video Timelapse

Top of the Makkah Clock Tower Video

Hajj 2010

I see big signs on the road I travel advertising the time it would take to reach destinations from the new King Abdullah Economic City, so the train will be very fast.

The Saudi Railways Organization, which only operates a relatively small railway, will have its hands full from now on. (Current railway is in orange in the following picture) everything else is an expansion.

The winds of change are blowing, I just hope the guys from the monopoly film do not start squatting there, since homeless people like train stations.

Really impressive, what do you think?

King Abdullah assigned Prince Nayif as the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, my best wishes to him, and may God help him in carrying out his duties.

In this time of global instability, the transition was smooth, a plus in my book, and a sign of good things to come to Saudi and its people.

Prince Nayif, is an executive type, who puts in long hours at the office, and is responsible for the safety we currently live in as part of his duties as minister of interior, a task that should never be underestimated in a big and rich country like Saudi Arabia, and if alqaeda tried to assassinate his son Mohammad, with a bomb reportedly up someone’s rectum, you know he was cracking down on them.

Prince Nayef’s appointment was congratulated by US president Barack Obama. Vice President Biden was delegated to offer condolences for Prince Sultan’s death and congratulate Prince Nayef on his appointment.

The ongoing relations between the US and Saudi Arabia has been going on for decades since U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt met with King Abdulaziz aboard the cruiser USS Quincy at Great Bitter Lake in Egypt.

I wish him the best again, and wish King Abdullah a long and healthy life.

Husam submitted this wonderful film he took in Yemen, since he was there on 10-10-2010, and this year he is the producer/organizer of Saudi Arabia’s contribution for 11-11-2011.

I thought I would do my part, since both are areas I am passionate about (Saudi and Filmmaking) I have joined the movement and I am letting people know.

So if you are in Saudi, own a camera, think you might add a little flavor to the global nonprofit film, don’t let anything hold you back, join us, all it takes is a short video you can take with your phone nowadays and a submission to the group.

Let us show the world what we want them to see.

One Day on Earth – Saudi Arabia

Husam’s Profile on One Day on Earth (so you can add him)

And if you want to, you can add me also

If you are not in Saudi, you can also film anything wherever you are, and submit it… what have you got to lose?

I found this wonderful recent addition to the Saudi Filmmakers group, a timelapse video filmed in parts of Jazan in Southern Saudi Arabia (close to Abha, check this video of paragliding there), this is the first attempt for the photographer (Waleed Marhoum) in making timelapse videos, but I am sure (I really hope) it won’t be the last.