Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Saudi Relegious Police being Kicked out of a Mall



The Saudi religious police "Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice" are seen being kicked out of a Saudi mall in Riyadh. The interesting part is that they are seen being kicked out by members of the "Regular" police force. Technically, religious police and regular police are two separate entities. Regular police reports to the ministry of Interior while the religious police reports to the committee. It is not clear who has the higher jurisdiction in case of conflicts, although this video shows that regular police does.

Another sweet part was the reaction of the crowd to this event. The happiness and cheerfulness of the people at the mall to the sight of the commission guys being kicked out should be a clear signal to decision makers in the kingdom about the true feelings of people towards the commission. And they should act on it.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

A new Respect for the American People

I have always been disappointed in the American people following the re-election of George Bush in 2004. How could they vote this man back into office following his disastrous two wars and ridiculous crack down on human rights in his first term in office was a total mystery to me.

However, last week Americans proved me wrong and to quote Bill Maher " I will never accuse Americans of being quick, but they eventually catch on" . During the ceremonial first pitch at the Nationals park in DC, the crowed booed the hell out of president as he walked to throw the first pitch. Job will done fans, i hope you do the same in Nov 2008 :)

A last comment about the incident, this incident was a great illustration of what made and continues to make America, the best country in the world. Free Speech, there is no country in the world were people could boo their president so openly and confidently and can assure themselves they will be sleeping in their own beds in the same night. Unfortunately, it is also the only country where a president so unpopular can remain in office till the end of his term :(. I guess with democracy, you have to take the good with bad. I leave you with a clip of the booing of the century so far .. enjoy :)