2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003

I have been reading about the controversy behind the website ChuckNorrisFacts.com and Chuck Norris for the past week but I only just now checked the Chuck Norris Facts and I have to say they are hilarious! When I was back in university me and my best friend started spreading a rumor around campus that Chuck Norris was coming to Lebanon to do a concert so it was fun reading stuff other people made up. Check it out, my favorite is “If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can’t see Chuck Norris, you may be only seconds away from death.” [Link]

For the people who found the “Don’t press the button” site anoying, I present to you the best blonde joke ever. [Link]

A lot of cool TV shows ended this year. I just read on CNN now that Malcolm in the Middle and That 70’s Show will not be coming back next year. Sucks. [Link]

I thought it was going to be something silly at first and it turned out I was right, but its still very funny, it keeps going and going and going. [Link]

[source Digg]

In one of the forums I usually visit somone had a post asking for everyones home theater setup. This is mine:

TV: Panasonic TX-33P100X
Receiver: Kenwood KRF-V8881D
DVD Player: Sony DVP-NS575P
Speakers: Jamo X870 for left and right. Paradigm CC370 for center. Two OEM Kenwood speakers for surround (they came with an older amp). No subwoofer (Jamo’s have 10″ woofers built in)
Universal Remote: Sony RM-AV3000
Tivo: Series 1 Philips with 120GB drive

Future plans:
– Need to upgrade rear speakers to Paradigm ADP-170
– Need to get a Definitive Technology SuperCube Subwoofer
– Need to upgrade my TV to a Sony 34″ HDTV CRT
– Need to upgrade receiver, probably with a Denon

Click here for a largeer picture of my setup

Whats your home theater setup?

Update: I just replace my Kenwood receiver with the Denon AVR-2106 and the Sony universal remote with the Harmony 880.

Dunkin Donuts is opening a branch in Souk Salmiya near City Center. This the second branch I know of thats opening. The first is the main Salmiya branch. Any others?

Someone told me that ALL stores are not allowed to be open in these 3 days of mourning. I heard that any store that is caught open would be fined KD1000. Supermarkets and grocery stores are an exception. So why is it when on my way to City Center in Salmiya yesterday did I find a bunch of shops open along the way? One of the stores for example was the laundromat “5 ASEC” (or something like that). I also heard that Costa and Columbus cafe were open on the first day. Yesterday Johnny Rockets, Texas Chicken and Subway were open in Salmiya.

What is allowed to open and what isn’t? I think nothing should be allowed to open just supermarkets and grocery stores. If I was in charge I would have gone around yesterday smacking people with fines and shutting down their stores.

For those of you who watch any of the CSI shows (Las Vegas, Miami, NY) you might have noticed that they play some really cool music on the show. Its mostly drum n bass and downbeat but you also get some other styles. I usually used to recognize most of the good songs they played but now recently they have been playing some really good stuff I had never heard of before. So, I did a bit of googling and I found this website that has the names of songs from each episode. Disappointingly I didn’t find the song I was looking for this time around, its from CSI NY episode 21. But I wasn’t put down by that, they still have hundreds of other songs listed. Check it out [Link]

Just finished watching the first 2 episodes of the show 24 season 5. All I can say is wow! Unfucking believable. There is no show out there that is even close to being as good. Episode 1 of season 5 is just shocking, I can’t say why because it would be a spoiler. I just have to say its amazing. Jack Bauer is really fucking cool!

Path Finder 4 is out now for the Mac. Its a software that you can use to replace the default Finder. It provides you with a lot more options and features, its basically everything the default Finder should have been.

This is what one reviewer had to say:

Path Finder is a browser-style file manager developed by a single person that absolutely embarrasses the Mac OS X Finder with its huge feature set. Version 1.0 of Path Finder shipped in 2001 after only 6 months of development. Today’s version 3 is miles ahead of that, and the upcoming version 4 is like the Final Cut Pro of file management. It’s a file browsing tour de force.

Sadly its not free, you get a 21 day trial period but then you got to choke up the cash. Its worth a test drive though. [Link]

The shining history of leaders, particularly those who had a great impact on the destiny of their peoples and whose achievements stand as objects of praise for successive generations, is very difficult to be summarized in a few pages. History cannot but proudly record their leadership in achieving the development, welfare and prosperity of their nations.

His Highness Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, AMIR of Kuwait, is one of those leaders who did their best to serve both their people and nation.

Hence, he is beloved and greatly appreciated by everyone as the leader of the state and the shepherd of the community at critical times in the modern history of Kuwait.

It is, therefore, worthy to record his success as Chief of Public Security in the Oil Regions, Head of the Finance Department, Minister of Finance and Economy, Prime Minister, Crown prince, and finally as AMIR of a country made up of a small area and population, yet great in future aspirations. When describing the period in which Kuwait managed to become a truly civilized and democratic state, this was the true rule of the cherished Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah. We are going to mention His Highness’s way of thinking, education, and diplomacy, in addition to his career, leadership activities and his future aspirations.

In the name of Allah the Beneficent the Merciful “The reassuring soul come back to your God satisfactory and satisfied then enter in my paradise”.The Amiri Diwan announce with great grief and sorrow to Kuwaiti people and the Islamic and Arabic nations the demise of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmad Al- Sabah who passed away at dawn Sunday fifteenth of zulhijja 1426 the fifteenth of January 2006. The State of Kuwait announces official mourning for 40 days and closing official districts for 3 days starting from today 15th January 2006.

[source Kuwait.kw]

Name
Jabir al-Ahmad al-Jabir al-Sabah
Amir Sheikh Jabir al-Ahmad Al Sabah
Amir Jaber al-Ahmad al-Jabir Al Sabah

Personal Information
Born – 1929.
Marital Status – Married, up to four wives, large number of children.
Education – Home taught (Local private schools and palace tutors).

Personal History
Emir of Kuwait, Jabir al-Ahmad succeeded his cousin, Sheikh Sabah al-Salim al-Sabah, as Emir of Kuwait in December 1977, having been prime minister (1965-78) and Heir Apparent from 1966.The rule of Jabir has been full of dramatic events. There have been many internal battles over democratization of the society and freedom of the press. The economy has seen much instability, there have been demonstrations and assassination attempts on Jabir’s life. But most dramatic was the invasion by Iraq in 1990, where Jaber was driven out of the country for a period of 7 months.

Political Activity
Jabir al-Ahmad is the current Emir of Kuwait. He became Chief of Public Security in the al-Ahmadi oilfields in 1949. In the late 1950s he dealt with the oil companies in various capacities, and in 1959 became head of the Department of Finance, which in 1962, after Kuwaiti independence, became the Ministry of Finance. In 1963-65 he also was a Deputy Prime Minister, while remaining Minister of Finance and Industry. In 1977, after the death of his cousin, he became the Emir of Kuwait. In 1979, following the Islamic revolution in Iran, and demonstrations among the Shiias of Kuwait, Jabir put more restrictions on freedom of the press in Kuwait. He has been a decisive leader, having allowed the National Assembly to reform in 1981 and dissolving it in 1986 as disagreements arose over its right to question the ability of ministers. During the invasion by Iraq, he fled to Saudi Arabia, where he established a government in exile, returning home in March 1991 after Iraq’s withdrawal. During his exile he gained the support of Kuwait’s opposition leaders in return for his agreement to restore the National Assembly. He did this in 1992, and in 1999 he gave women the right to vote.

Additional Information
Jabir al-Ahmad has survived an assassination attempt in 1985.

[source]

I woke up today morning not wanting to get out of bed. It was nice and cold and I was really cozy. I forced myself to get up and wash up. While brushing my teeth Nat came and told me that the Emir of Kuwait had died. I quickly got online and checked CNN but didn’t find anything. I Checked Arab Times and they also hadn’t published anything. Finally I checked Safat and found that Jelly Belly had posted about his death.

A few minutes later articles started popping up on news.google.com and finally CNN.com. I wasn’t able to find out how he died but all the articles mention that he was very sick and old so I am guessing he died a natural death. He was 79. The government offices will be closed three days beginning today. I am currently at work but they will be sending us home soon.

I have known the Emir all my life and it is sad to see him go.

May he rest in peace.

Faisal sent me a link to this video showing a young child getting beaten and abused by his maid here in Kuwait. According to the person who originally posted the video this is the story:

“Recently a family in Abbasiya employed a female servant at their house to look after their kid. After a couple of days the kid turned gloomy and was always tired. With some doubts, the family put a hidden cam in their sitting room when they left to work. When they returned, they saw the video and they were shocked to see how the servant mistreating the kid.”

To view the video [click here]

Here are a few tips by Knick on how to prevent incidents like this:

1. Get a telephone recorder which is avaliable in Hawally for KD 8-12 which records all incoming and outgoing conversations. A normal cassette is used to record.
2. Keep rooms that are not required by the maid locked.
3. Almost every houshold has a PC attach a webcam and place it in such a place that it monitors the entire room.
4. Dowload windows media encoder and install it to start monitering your house daily. (8 Hrs movie approx is 300 mb)
5. Spend quality time with your children, buy them small gifts every day in return for a report on what happenned during the day at home.
6. Love your kids, show them that you do and let them understand that you are always there to love and protect them.
7. In most of these cases the children are silenced by the maids who threaten them to tell the parents that he/she did this or that and they will be punished. Parents tend to go with the maids who are a different personality in their presence and punish the children. Children loose faith and confidence in the parents. Do not let this happen.
8. Children who undergo such traumatic experiences in their childhood tent to grow up with more complicated personalities, lack confidence and are effected mentally.