Here are a couple of Articles about who the Arab world is supporting for US election 2004...

Under the Veil, Who's for Kerry? Gary Younge

There is surprising support for a second Bush term in Iran and the Arab world, writes Brian Whitaker

Ok The big story of the day...OBL is back right in time for the elections...if you are one of the few people who hasn't heard this yet...see the transcript, and the video in English and in Arabic .

For addictive personalities, for election junkies, for political scientists and for people who like games....take a look at the L.A. Times Electoral Vote Tracker...It is a coloured map that allows you to play with the results of different states to predict results according to the latest polls...It also helps you to get more familiar with the electoral system...try it...I've been playing it for a half hour so far..for an article about see here.

Hi everyone, what happened to the colours of nature?...everything has been a little faded and bland these past few days...its a bit muggy by the seaside...wonder how people are doing inland? Hope you are all having a restful and happy Friday...

OK now for the news in brief: 100,000 Iraqi civilians dead as a result of the Iraq war, according to a scientific study published in the Lancet for the news story on this you can see the Guardian, The Independent, The New Zealand Herald, the Washington Post, the Boston Globe, Le Monde and many others----The Kuwaiti embassy and the Ambassador in Cairo have received anonymous threats----MP Saleh Ashour tells Al-Watan that he doesn't think that Kuwaiti women will get their political rights this parliamentary round due to several factors: one being that its not a priority, another being that society has not shown any support for such a thing (Kuwait is the last remaining country on earth that discriminates against women at the polls)----Kuwait should expect a water shortage by 2015 (Maybe sooner if we keep those hoses running for no reason)-----Tash Ma Tash, the irreverent Saudi comedy/parody show has recieved online death threats after spoofing militant islamists in Saudi Arabia...for the story in Arabic check Al-Watan.


The US elections are this coming Tuesday the 2nd of Nov...The world is watching and wringing its hands...the Arabic papers like Al-Hayat have been putting out articles supporting one or the other of the candidates, read the paper in Arabic or English..The Kuwaiti papers have been doing comparisons between the candidates as well see: Al-Qabas, The Arab Times, Al-Watan.

• The Village Voice has been collecting the instances of voter fraud and voter disenfranchisement, since the ghosts of Florida 2000 are back to haunt the whole nation. Good luck getting your votes counted people!
• C-Span has audio and video on the 2004 elections.
• The BBC has 2004 election updates.
• Curious who you would/should pick for president? This quiz gets your opinion on key issues and then tells you which candidate would be your best choice.
• Feeling like you need cheering up? Here is a site full of the Best humor of campaign 2004...(Including SNL's Will Ferrell, Triumph the Insult Dog, The Daily Show and other great pieces)
• Even though it may seem like it, the Republicans and the Democrats are not the only ones in this race, to check out the other candidates for President go here
• Curious about what the Electoral College is? Most people have no clue what it is...Go here for the basics.
• Want to watch movies that will prepare you for election 2004? A top ten list is here...Also, another list of 30 political feature films (including one documentary)....
• Ok Folks, now what are you going to watch election night? Or will you be flipping frantically through all the channels? Here are some places...Air America radio online is a source for those who like their politics with a bite of humour...BBC World (for those of you who want to watch it on tv) is going to have full coverage including a bunch of interesting guests...There is always C-span as well.

Have a good end to the weekend everyone...

And a big hello to the new blog visitors from India and the Philippines and the UK...

Goodmorning folks, the skies are white white white here...ok, done with the weather report... let's move on...

Movietime showed Footloose last night, and if you didn't catch it it's back on at 9pm on Friday. Why am I even talking about a cheesy film from the 80's you may wonder, but the thing is that the 80's were teeming with anti-establishment films...told with simplicity and often having a soundtrack that makes you want to jump around the room...Footloose had two songs that were nominated for the 1984 Academy Awards (though that is no recommendation, the Academy is often very wrong, but the soundtrack is happy happy jumpy)..It's about a small town in which dancing and reading and music have been outlawed by the fear and the narrowmindedness of those in charge...and it's about how the young and the passionate take back their lives...

Dance, when you're broken open.Dance, if you've torn the bandage off.Dance in the middle of the fighting.Dance in your blood.Dance, when you're perfectly free.
-- Jelaluddin Rumi (13th century)

Every child has known God, Not the God of names, Not the God of don'ts, Not the God who ever does Anything weird, But the God who knows only 4 words And keeps repeating them, saying:"Come Dance with Me."Come Dance.
-- Hafiz (1320-1389)

---------------------------

Ok now for the news in brief: Amnesty International has reported that "Fighters in Congo have raped at least 40,000 women and girls over the past six years yet the health system in the central African country can offer the victims little help"----Arafat's health is in critical condition----a new species of ancient humans has been found on Flores Island, which changes the way we look at human history---Ali Al-Baghli supports Bush's re-election on the grounds that his dad was good for Kuwait (i thought it was a democracy there not a monarchy, dad's work does not glorify the son's) and that G.W.B has done the following: "For us the most important thing is the result. We must admit we never dreamt of such a wonderful result. We are living a real dream".....16,053 dead Iraqi civilians and close to 10,000 coalition casualties might argue with that insular logic, but everyone is entitled to his own opinion---apparently, Republicans, British movie fans, Eminem, and most of the world also disagree with him, according to the news---- Jon Stewart's appearnace on 'Crossfire' has created a real frenzy online, if anyone is not familiar with the Daily Show that he hosts, it is hilarious and informative and a must see. A poll showed thatthe " 'Daily Show' viewers know more about election issues than people who regularly read newspapers or watch television news" and that they are generally better informed on political issues....on a separate poll it was shown that Fox news viewers were the most misinformed on political facts.

Here are some reports on the dangers of soft drinks :

• soft drinks manufactured in India, including those carrying the Pepsi and Coca-Cola brand names, contain unacceptably high levels of pesticide residues.
• Hazardous even without the pesticides
• Phosphoric acid, added to give soft drinks "bite," is associated with calcium loss and contributes to Osteoporosis.
• Diet soft drinks (diet coke etc..) contain Aspartame . "Aspartame decomposes into a witches brew of toxins, including iketopiperazine, a tumor agent. In original studies aspartame triggered brain, mammary, pancreatic, uterine, ovarian and testicular tumors, and pituitary adenomas"
• Soft drinks linked to obesity, heart disease, tooth decay and bone loss.

have a good start to the weekend everyone...

What is wrong with people on the roundabouts...is it just too complicated when things get circular? Are we unable to follow anything but a straight line? Some poeple don't even look before barreling into the roundabout making you have to do the fastest 'check in all mirrors and get outta their way' you ever imagined doing...is it that they just dont give a damn that it's your right of way not their's...or is it that they are afraid of looking and just think if they look away and just go for it God will somehow clear all the cars from their path...or have they not really taken a driving test and just got their license the good old fashioned wasta way?
And what's the point of the cops standing at the entry onto the roundabout BLOCKING YOUR VIEW, so that you end up having to do the very thing you hate other people doing; looking up into the sky, pressing the gas pedal and hoping you make it..
Ok now that i have worked through the frustration of having to risk my life on the streets of kuwait everyday..
What's in the news folks?
A seven year old Lebanese boy has been kidnapped in Iraq and has a $150,000 ransom on his head...380 Tons of explosives have gone missing in Iraq...anyone afraid yet?...the New yorker magazine has done something unprecedented, breaking an 80 year tradition and endorsing Kerry for president...they must think their country is in crisis...Eminem is coming out with a new album...the plague has been detected in Colorado springs, anyone with family in Colorado? Tell them not to play with squirrels and to guard against fleas. Their pets should not go outside...
The national assembly reconvenes today, will it be a serious year with real efforts to fix the country and do what's best for it or will it be a juvenile prudish freakshow to distract everyone from the real issues?
" two Polish doctors and two ambulance workers were charged with murder for killing patients in exchange for kickbacks from funeral homes"(Harpers)
ok...
well that was the news...
I am a bit sleepy (in the middle of the day) thanks to the ridiculous time changes...so i will sign off.

Just when we were getting all sentimental about the beautiful weather, the good old winds had to kick some dirt in our eyes. It's been yellow all day...although some parts of the country were still under blue skies apparently...
For a look at headlines from all sorts of places check out this site...very easy on the eyes..a good place to start your morning: http://www.commondreams.org/
There was a very sad article about the situation in Iraq in the Guardian's comment section today...by an Iraqi novelist..
The Village Voice has a link to an article that says this:

"More than a third of Turkish women believe they deserve being beaten if they argue with their husbands, deny them sex or burn the meal, according to a survey carried by Anatolia news agency on Thursday" (Turkish Press.com)

How far are other countries in the area from that statistic...? Very sad.

Ok Folks, it's time to look through the shelves for a movie to watch before the evening's outing...Ramadan is wreaking havoc on my sleep patterns, and i swore that it wouldn't happen..But everyone wants to meet at godforsaken late hours of the night...I can't believe how we turn night into day and day into night, during Ramadan, completely defeating the whole point of the month...

It's an amazing night...the breeze is cool and the moon is that funny silver colour it gets when it's reached the tip top of our sky. I hope all you good folks are out enjoying how beautiful this world can be...although, we should have easier ways to walk from place to place without having to watch out for crazy young (and even creepier, not so young) murahiqeen thinking their car is somehow an advertisement for their virility...But Marina Crescent and the new walkway along the beach between the Scientific Center and Marina is lovely tonight ...i imagine...i don't get out much..balcony and garden are heaven enough for me. I bet the glistening city lights you see there would make you think you were in Beirut..or maybe not...maybe being in Beirut would remind you of here.
Been debating if i should watch the Manchurian Candidate tonight. Not the brilliant original one with Frank Sinatra, but the new one with Denzel W. and the queen of the screen, Meryl Streep. She is looking particularly frightening as the strange love-child of laura and Hillary. I am afraid of it being bad and having it stain the memory of the original. But I suppose there are more distressing things in the world than the fear of a bad film...distressing things all around us, right under our noses...and miles and miles away. maybe it's time to go back out into the dark cool evening and forget about the fact that we aren't quite where we should be as a human species...we can ignore that for tonight, just a little, and get back to work on it tomorrow...peace..

Music for tonight...something by Fairuz that is gentle and sweet...or maybe some Rabih Abu Khalil, especially Tarab...or some slow Billie Holliday... "I'll be seeing you..in all the old familiar places..."

It's a sweet day out and the gardeners outside our humble little public sector office have drowned the grass with water. I guess the fact that there are water shortage fears does not matter very much when it comes to flooding the garden...washing the car...taking 5 showers a day...why do so many people here take so many showers...i digress. But really, why?
My eyes are stinging from too many days of the dust piling up in my lids and scratching...scratching...
news news...whats in the news..The Arab Times has a front page you shouldn't miss. A fish flew out of the water and bit a man in the eye..while he was on a boat..Fishermen and water lovers beware..it happened right out on our pretty, polluted Gulf..The online paper doesn't have the photo posted, only the hard copy does..
The forces of oppression have yet again succeeded in sucking us dry of anything fun and intelligent. The interesting and very impressive Ramadan show 'The Road to Kabul" has now been pulled off all channels..Orbit, our beacon of hope ( It refused to bow to threats and pressure along with equally brave MBC and ART) is planning to sue the producers for breach of contract since they failed to supply the rest of the episodes. The producers are saying it's for techinical reasons...but some of us think that's a pretty funny reason coming after the very public threats issued by an Islamist group .
Margaret Hassan the CARE worker who was kidnapped in Iraq is still missing.
Baghdad is still burning.
Darfur is still ravaged.
Global warming is still threatening us, because we keep threatening the globe.
I am still sitting in an office with no real work, like so many of us here, and I have been swallowed up by the paralysis of the lazy spirit. A common ailment found in kuwaiti public sector workers...Good Day folks..enjoy the weather..the birds are singing and the sun is out and isn't burning us anymore..