I have a very good friend who is from Homs, where most of the rioting is taking place and I cringe every time I hear anything about it in the news. I know he is well, And I hope he and his family and the rest of his country are all well.

It saddens me that the world (including me) are just looking like what’s happening is in a movie.

(source of picture: Rachel Roberts)

I came across this series of pictures, which is something I wanted to do, once I get enough courage to photograph people, or train myself to run fast while carrying my camera, which does not seem like it will happen anytime soon.

The pictures are of the Asian workers in the gulf, I hated them being labeled as slaves, I wished they would’ve showed them for who and what they are, strong responsible people trying to make a decent living to support the families that they have in their homelands while going through whatever it is that they have to go through.

I dislike the way they are treated and their living conditions, again, I will not get into that, as I have gotten into that before, but I wish the pictures celebrated them and the work they do instead of demeaning them more.

I met many of them throughout my career, I still do, each has his own story, which is different yet similar to all our stories. The job they had, offered them the opportunity to give a better life to their families, to send their kids to school, to be able to pay for a parent’s medication, or to save enough for them to start a life of their own, somehow someway, the same as the those who work two jobs or commute for hours in each direction to be able to provide for themselves or their loved ones… to most of this world, having a career is a farfetched dream when you cannot have a roof over your head and don’t know where your next meal will come from.

Asia has been exploited for centuries, the American railroads built my Chinese workers yet never being acknowledged for their contribution nor even getting their pictures taken at a railway opening, or even in Australia where they were taxed heavily (more than others) when working in gold mines, I am not saying it is the Gulf’s turn, I wish it wasn’t so, I am just saying whatever conditions that have kept it like that, has been going on for centuries.

Haboob, not a word we use to describe all sandstorms, is being used to describe the sandstorm which hit Pheonix, AZ.

Haboob, not to be confused with Habboob (meaning a pleasant person to be around), and not to be confused with parts of the human anatomy, has made its entrance into the US vocabulary… mainly, in my opinion, because of the internet.

You know how it is, pictures are shared, words are exchanged, next thing you know you are completing each others sentences, using words you never used, next thing you know you are meeting each other’s families… etc

Post that might be of interest:
Riyadh Sandstorm
Video: Sandstorm over Kuwait

Performing Hajj is a dream to many muslims around the world, many save up for it and perform it at their later stages in life, some can easily afford it, and to many it seems like a dream that might never come true.

Fortunately for those who cannot afford to perform Hajj, many wealthy muslims provide for travel and living expenses for those that might be eligible for sponsorship, for a list of the official organizations or to register, I was told that one should contact the Saudi Arabian Embassy or Consulate in their country, here is a list of Saudi Embassies and Consulates around the world and the contact info.

I am not sure what or how they determine eligibility, and the numbers are usually not made public, but I am sure the numbers are large enough.

I have only performed Hajj once, and it was a good experience, you literally see the world go by around you, people from all walks of life and almost all nationalities.

I hope I helped those who are seeking the information find what they need.

Of course not all people believe that, the former vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council at the CIA, Graham E. Fuller, wrote a book (A World Without Islam) that delivers a brilliant and provocative thought-experiment that imagines a world in which Islam has never existed.

What if Islam never existed?

“To some, it’s a comforting thought: no clash of civilizations, no holy wars, no terrorists. But what if that weren’t the case at all? In A WORLD WITHOUT ISLAM, Graham E. Fuller guides us along an illuminating journey through history, geopolitics, and religion to investigate whether or not Islam is indeed the cause of some of today’s most emotional and important international crises. Fuller takes us from the birth of Islam to the fall of Rome to the rise and collapse of the Ottoman Empire. He examines and analyzes the roots of terrorism, the conflict in Israel, and the role of Islam in supporting and energizing the anti-imperial struggle. Provocatively, he finds that contrary to the claims of many politicians, thinkers, theologians, and soldiers, a world without Islam might not look vastly different from what we know today.”

This is a 24 minute video in which the author is interviewed and mostly summarizes his book, worth the watch in my opinion.

Thanks to Raed AlSaeed for making this video

A Saudi man, 28 years old, has been accused of raping a 69 year old man in New York (NY times source), which I have to say goes against my preconceived notions of the older rapes the younger. In court they 28 year old said it was consensual and that he was a “, and to each him own… but what I do not understand is why the Saudi government wanted to bail him out, when in Saudi they put a guy in Jail and sentence him to 1000 lashes for making a stupid video? While the man in question says he’s “just a gigolo”

So the way I see it is, brag about getting more butts than an ashtray like Mazin Abduljawad, or make a provocative video on YouTube, then you go to jail, have sex with a man and confess by saying you are just a gigolo in a court, we hire the best lawyers for you and try to bail you out.

Now, for the good part of the post (and the main reason I wrote this post)… I think Dave Chapelle is back (Saw these vids at Narcy’s blog), and he talks about a serial rapist, who rapes men in Houston.

I’m just happy Dave is back, and he shares my view on the book called “The Secret”

Yesterday a nice commenter was kind enough (thank you:) ) to share a link with me to a site which contains a treasure chest of pictures of archaeological sites and findings in the Arabian peninsula. I have included a picture in this post, but the rest can be found here, and they belong to Nabiel Alshaikh the Archaeology Superintendent who works with the Saudi Commission for Tourism and Antiquities (as many gov sites it is a work in progress so do not expect much) at Dammam Regional Museum.

By searching for Jeddah on Vimeo, I found this video that they made:

I was searching for Jeddah because I hope to go there during the holidays and hoping to make a video like Philip Bloom’s (his latest Vince’s People was nice, but I liked the Dublin’s People video a lot more) and was hoping that no one beat me to it… a lot of hope as you see… but where would we be without hope?

I did find this video for Jeddah City Tourism… and I hope you enjoy it

P.S. for the lack of a better title, I will just call this post Jeddah

He did not make that assumption on his own. He was backed by the head of the grand mosque of Paris, Dalil Boubakeur. I guess monetary funds from Saudi Arabia are drying up and not supporting the mosques around the world anymore… they are/were the reason for women thinking that covering up like Najdi women is what Islam requires… I did not say that Najdi women cover up like that, actually a high calibre Najdi woman (aren’t they all?) confirmed that lately on the news.

Symbols mean different things to different people, and to the west, the Hijab came to symbolise the oppression of women, because… women in our region are oppressed, and don’t take my word for that either, its all over the news, just see what women activist in the region are saying.

Yes, we are not alone on subjugating women, it is done all over the world, human trafficking does take place in Europe and America and prostitution exists all over the world and many women are forced into it… but that makes none of it right.

Slavery was abolished in the west before it was abolished in Muslim countries, and when it was, many Muslim clerics argued that the west was making Haram (forbidden) what God has made Halal (permissible), yet it had to happen, slavery was abolished not very long ago in Saudi during the rule of King Faisal, who also opened schools for girls and introduced television. I do believe that King Abdullah will make huge changes also, he has already.

So what do Sarkozy, women, and slavery have to do all together in this post? Well according to Islamic scholars, the Hijab, was/is actually a sign of a free women. Some women walked around topless others their hair uncovered, and yes this was in the time of Prophet Mohammad, and yes this was after the Verse of the Hijab was reviled, here is Hamza Yusuf saying it. I am sure if we still had slavery in Saudi we would’ve seen a lot of topless bars café’s and we could’ve had a Hooters franchise.