Hit the road, Jack

There's been a group of people who have been calling on H.H. the Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad's resignation and I fully support their cause. (More information: HERE)

Why?
The main reason is that he hasn't been competent at his job. He has failed to lead the country anywhere and now he's failing to keep it from unraveling. Sheikh Nasser has had six (failed/failing) cabinets in a little over four years. That means almost every ministry has seen atleast three ministers in four years; not a recipe for success.

Unfortunately, Sheikh Nasser's has failed to deal with all Parliamentary crisis, think back with me:

• July 2006- Parliament was dissolved because government refused to amend voting districts to five. نبيها خمس. After elections were held, government vote for the five districts.
  
• March 2007- Sheikh Nasser's government resigns, to avoid questioning of Health Minister
  
• March 2008- Sheikh Nasser's government resigns, 50KD
  
• January 2009- Sheikh Nasser's government resigns following Al-Fali's dilemma.
  
• March 2009- Sheikh Nasser's government resigns to avoid questioning regarding misuse of his Diwan's funds.

That's not really his fault, the Parliament sucks and they keep creating these crisis.
Of course we're not blaming all Kuwait's problems on him. Yes, the Parliament has a role in this. But changing the representatives of the people requires that we change the political culture. Sheikh Nasser's policies has reinforced certain political divisions in the country, be they sect-based (remember the whole Mughnia drama, and the conflicting reaction from his administration?) or tribal based.

He can't resign, there's no one to replace him.
For one, under the constitution, selecting a Prime Minister is H.H. the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad responsibility, it's not something I'm interested in meddling in, it's none of our business. Another thing is, we have no "horse in the race". I don't care who takes over as long as someone more competent does. Also, to say that there are no men in the Ruling Family that could lead better than H.H. Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad is an insult.

As long as it's someone competent, qualified, with no history of corruption, I don't care who leads the country.

We're at such a low point that I'd be willing to take a chance on anyone, realistically speaking, how much worse can it get?

It's not your right (or prerogative) to call for his resignation, it's the Parliament's.
Article 36 of the Kuwaiti constitution grants individuals freedom of opinion and expression. Yes, the parliament can choose to not-cooperate with the Prime Minister (Article 102). But a government-majority parliament is not going to do that. Unfortunately, digging Kuwait out of this hole will have to be left to the Kuwaiti people.

He has a plan now, he's trying to work. Give him time.
Maybe, but how long are we willing to wait for him to get it right? and why? In his latest address to Parliament, he mentions precautions against swine flu and dealing with the Mishref sewage disaster as his government's successes. How could he say that with a straight face? He claims Warba Bank, formerly known and voted on in the Parliament as Jaber Bank, as an achievement of his. I have lost all confidence in him.

I don't hate H.H. Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad, nor do I have a personal vendetta against him. I don't know who should come after him but I'm willing to take a risk.

We have a lot to gain with his resignation, a new Prime Minister, a precedent that Ruling Family members are accountable in their jobs and Hope. (Remember Hope? It's when you don't feel like hurling when you read the papers in the morning.)

I've written more about H.H. Sheikh Nasser Al-Mohammad here and here.

Serenity Now!

(via sweethomestyle)

People I find annoying

People who don't drink coffee/tea and preach
People who don't drink coffee/tea and make a point to preach about it have nothing going in their lives. Seriously, this is their only accomplishment. Can you imagine someone who ran a marathon or is working to end world hunger go on for 15 minutes about the dangers of coffee? Note to non-coffee drinkers: A simple "no, thank you" is more than enough.

People who work at makeup counters
People who work at makeup counters make a living off of our insecurities. "You're so pretty too bad about the under eye bags, buy this!" I especially get pissed off by Arab men who sell makeup here. Dude, you are not my gay best friend, I do not live in a sitcom as seen by my under eye bags!

People who send forwards and then ask if you've read them
I'm pretty sure I've let my feelings about forwards be known on this blog. Yup, right here. Like mutating bacteria that only becomes stronger, there's a new breed of people, those who send ridiculous forwards and then ask you if you've read them. Now why would anyone want to put others in that situation? 99.997% of the time I haven't, but to say that would mean that I don't appreciate them--which I don't--but I still don't want to admit it.

image from here

A few of my friends are getting engaged and married in the upcoming months. And as deliriously happy as I am for all most of them, I'm also ridiculously sad. They're moving on. The nature of our relationship is no doubt going to change.

The worst part is this, because it's marriage I'm almost not allowed to acknowledge how sad I am to lose them. It's selfish to think "well, I'd really rather you not get married because I enjoy your presence in my life", and it's even more selfish to say anything about it especially when this friend is emotional to begin with.

Yes, friends come and go, and as long as they're healthy and happy, I am or should be as well. But at least with a friend who moves away I get to throw a farewell party and talk about how sad life's going to be without them. "I'm happy you're going to grad school," I'd say through tears, "but it sucks that I'm not going to be a part of your everyday life for six years."

But because they're getting married (and mostly to people I don't know), there's no time frame for when they're going to be "back", or any clue into how their lives will change, or what I'm losing.


This whole post seems juvenile, selfish, and ranty to me. I'm sad, really, that is all.

Death, thou shalt die!

For years when I lived around my grandmother, I'd read the daily "funeral notices" to my her first thing in the morning--although most mornings the 9 a.m. newscast had gotten to her before I had. Three years after my grandmother passed away, the first thing I click on in the paper is the وفيات tab at the top of the website.

Every morning, I'd look it over to see if the list includes someone I know, then I count people who are my age or younger and keep their information in mind as I skim the pages trying to find an article that could possibly explain their deaths. Maybe there was a bad car crash, an alleged drug overdose, or perhaps a suicide?

It would seem like this morbid habit would be disturbing in the morning but it's strangely comforting. Every morning the list confirms what I already know. Death is indiscriminate, irrational. No one's exempt. We're all just waiting for our back page mention, right? This is a fact of life. A fact that's neither pleasant nor surprising.

I have never really thought anything of this ritual till this morning, when I grabbed the paper from a stand at a coffeeshop flipped it over and started reading to my friend.

She freaked.
Why would I want to know this? she asked.
I stopped reading.

It only then dawned on me that my ritual might be a little peculiar. I guess I like my morning coffee with an extra shot of mortality.

Why were they born indeed?

A friend sent me this image via email.

The Beginning.

• I met a man who smells like pickles. It wasn't a bad smell, it wasn't good either. It just was...pickles. Now I wonder if I smell like a food item.
  
• I'm traveling again tomorrow. I think I've been out of town almost every month this year. It's a good thing.
  
• I'm in awe of people who are perky all the time.
• I am convinced that I'd make an excellent cleaning lady despite not having made my bed in over two weeks.
  
• I've been in a funk for a few weeks now (see above).
• When I'm in a funk, I'm either reading all the newpapers in the world or none at all for weeks.
  
• I'm looking forward to Ramadan, although I'm not excited about the nocturnal lifestyle that will follow.
• I have no work projects lined up for Ramadan. I hate not working in Ramadan.
• I don't really have a firm plan for post Ramadan either.
• Two of my friends have vanished into thin air recently, One can be accounted for on facebook. Two can't. I worry about Two.
• Another friend's wedding was a few days ago. In another country. I wanted to go. Now I wait for pictures. But the Bride's too busy to send.
• I've been saying I need to go in for a checkup at the dentist for over four months. I have not gone yet.
• I have a whole bunch of government related paperwork that I must complete. Soon. Hopefully, I'll get started before Ramadan.
• My friend just had a baby. Strangely, he has a grown man's face (not as freaky as Benjamin Button). He also has a funny nose. And smells of spit-up.
• A friend's wedding to the Best Boy in the World's happening soon. I'm sooo excited but this funk's getting in the way. (Also, anticipating soul-sucking drama.)
• I think I lost my cell phone. FOUND!
  
• I can't find a picture I like for my blog's header. I also hated the stupid template I had used earlier. I want to find one that is not frilly and not "theme-y"...is that even possible considering most people designing these things are like 14?
• I've deactivated my facebook account over three times in the past two weeks. Funk made me do it.
• I haven't updated my blog because I dont't seem to have many original thoughts, as you can see.
• I've watched both versions of Pride and Prejudice in the past week (BBC and Keira Knightly) and am ridiculously annoyed by Jane's facial expressions. Both actresses gave an annoying performance.
  
• And what's with the stupid sad smile? NO ONE'S THAT NICE. No wonder Mr. Bingley dumped you, you're flippin' INSUFFERABLE!
• Speaking of insufferable, Keira Knightly needs to learn to open her mouth and speak. This talking through the teeth thing is not so cute.
  

The End.

I've been a bad blogger. This space is beginning to intimidate me. Thanks for sticking around while I figure out what exactly should be happening here.

I want to go to there

from here

So, what do you think?