2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

While the world is becoming less peaceful, Kuwait moved up a few spots and came in 37th place out of 162 in the most recent Global Peace Index report (Iceland came first). The peace index uses a variety of different stats to generate an overall ranking including:

– Level of organised conflict
– Relations with neighbouring countries
– Level of perceived criminality in society
– Political instability
– Terrorist activity
– Number of homicides per 100,000 people
– Level of violent crime
– Likelihood of violent demonstrations
– Number of jailed population per 100,000 people
– Nuclear and heavy weapons capability
– Ease of access to small arms and light weapons

Amongst our neighboring states Kuwait ranks 3rd behind Qater (19) and UAE (36). For their full findings and stats visit their website [Here]

Pecha Kucha Night #9 will be held on June 26 at the Amricani Cultural Centre on the Gulf Road at 7PM. 20 images x 20 seconds will be presented by:

Laila Al-Hamad
Tara Norris
Rana Alomani
Liali&Lamees Nijem
Nada Al-Ragom
Hussa Al-Humaidhi
Ali Al-Yousifi
Faisal Al-Nakib

Date: Wednesday, June 26th 2013
Time: 7:00PM to 9:00PM
Location: Amricani Cultural Centre on the Gulf Road

For more information visit their Facebook page [Here]

Thanks Lanoush

The new Kuwait University building under construction caught fire again earlier today for the second time this month. Pretty weird.

Thanks Mohsin

The Eight is a new project by Tamdeen that will feature 70 sea view apartments, in-line retail shopping, fine dining, cafes, and drive thru services that vary from financial institutions to fast food restaurants. The Eight is going to be located in Sabah al Salem, West of the Fahaheel express way and adjacent to the sea. Based on the 3D renderings it looks like it’s going to be a mini city of a sort with lots of stores and restaurants surrounding the apartment block. Check out all the pictures and more information [Here]

Since this weekend was a long one, the long term parking at the airport was completely filled. Usually I’d wait outside until someone leaves but I figured this time around it wasn’t going to happen so I decided to park at the short term parking lot instead. According to the sign at the entrance of the short term parking, the cost would be 200 fils for the first hour and then 400 fils for every hour after that. Calculating that into a day would mean it would cost you KD9.4 for 24 hours which is a ridiculous sum. Luckily, thats not the case.

The short term parking has a maximum fee of KD4 a day. Although expensive, it does mean if you’re traveling for just the weekend and the long term parking is full then you could park in the short term one as an alternative option. I left Thursday morning and came back Sunday morning and the total was KD16, double the price I would usually pay if I had parked in the long term lot.

Over the weekend while in Lebanon I oddly found out about a farmers market located here in Kuwait called Shakshooka. I hadn’t heard of it before and the fact that someone living in Lebanon knew about it while I didn’t was a bit weird. I was planning to visit the next Shakshooka so I could write about it but turns out Danderma beat me to the punch since she posted a full write up on it on her blog earlier today. So check out her post [Here]

Photo above by @faisalthef

The Daily Mail Online have an article on the tire graveyard out in Sulaibiya. According to the article the tire graveyard is so big it can be seen from space. That’s not really true though since the tire graveyard is actually visible on Google Maps which is not really the same as being seen from space. A bit exaggerated but then again this is the Daily Mail. You can check out their article [Here]

The Italian restaurant Vinny’s is opening a new location in Arraya Tower opposite Burger Boutique. Their current and only branch is located at 52 Degrees.

Update: Turns out Vinny’s closed in 52 Degrees because they are relocating to this new location.

A few days ago Jordan defeated Kuwait 21-0 in the Women’s Asian Cup qualifying. This comes after Kuwait lost to Uzbekistan 18-0 in the first qualifying round. You can watch all 21 goals in the “4 minute long” highlight reel above. [YouTube]

They’re watching us! [YouTube]

According to a source of mine, Dr. Oz is coming to Kuwait at the end of summer for a nutrition related event. For those of you who don’t know, Dr. Oz is a doctor who has a television talk show called The Dr. Oz Show in which he discusses medical and science related topics. The video above is an example taken from one of his episodes. [YouTube]

*VIDEO REMOVED*

According to a TorrentFreak user, it seems theres currently a phishing scam which tries to fool local internet users into thinking the MOI has blocked their IPs for illegally downloading torrents. The scam tries to get users to pay to remove the pop up warning which will take up the full computer screen and block the user from performing any task on the computer. The scam takes over the computer through a malware so if your computer is virus free or if you use a Mac you’re most likely safe. You can watch the video above showing the scam or click on the following link for more information [Link]

Thanks Quintin

Update: Video was removed since it was no longer playing

Two traffic officers in Kuwait are to spend one week behind bars for parking their patrol car in a spot reserved for the physically challenged.

Abdul Fattah Al Ali, the assistant undersecretary for traffic, said that the two uniformed men be transferred to a new department after they serve the seven-day sentence in jail, Kuwaiti daily Al Qabas reported on Wednesday.

“The official has given instructions that all legal measures be taken against the two men for flouting the rules,” a source quoted by the newspaper, said. “He said that there would be no leniency towards violators whether they are civilians or members of the police force,” the source, that the paper did not identify, said.

Abdul Fattah Al Ali has gained an impeccable reputation in Kuwait for his strict application of the law, regardless of the names or status of the violators.

No effing way. I’m super impressed. That’s pretty cool that they’re actually punishing two cops for this. [Link]

The 2012 Corruption Perceptions Index is out and Kuwait has dropped down a few places over the previous year. Kuwait is now ranked in 66 place when it was previously ranked in 54. Qatar and UAE are both tied in 27th place as the least corrupt countries in the GCC. You can check out the full list [Here]

Thanks Patrick