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	<title>Comments on: The Cost of Ramadan</title>
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	<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/</link>
	<description>A Jordanian Blog</description>
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		<title>By: ma7moodjo</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-142189</link>
		<dc:creator>ma7moodjo</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Aug 2010 16:38:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-142189</guid>
		<description>Honestly this is another way the bigbrother control us ! 2 years ago in ramadan i was able to go out for lunch each day of the week in a different place with alcohol being served ! and i am not ashamed of it at all at least am better off than those hypocrites who act like the prophet in ramdan ou bi7fazoo 7adeethain aw bifta7oo 3a ikra2 ! ou bseeroo ysoogoha ! 

if i am going to miss anything in ramdan its going to alcohol because lets be clear am kind of an addict and am fine with that ! ou btw christians dont respect muslims in this country and if you need a proof roo7o 3al f7ais honak il 5amarat fat7aa ma3 ino aktaar sokaan il f7ais muslims ! think about that and i would love it if anyone can reply to that !


peace</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Honestly this is another way the bigbrother control us ! 2 years ago in ramadan i was able to go out for lunch each day of the week in a different place with alcohol being served ! and i am not ashamed of it at all at least am better off than those hypocrites who act like the prophet in ramdan ou bi7fazoo 7adeethain aw bifta7oo 3a ikra2 ! ou bseeroo ysoogoha ! </p>
<p>if i am going to miss anything in ramdan its going to alcohol because lets be clear am kind of an addict and am fine with that ! ou btw christians dont respect muslims in this country and if you need a proof roo7o 3al f7ais honak il 5amarat fat7aa ma3 ino aktaar sokaan il f7ais muslims ! think about that and i would love it if anyone can reply to that !</p>
<p>peace</p>
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		<title>By: Sami</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-123658</link>
		<dc:creator>Sami</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:20:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-123658</guid>
		<description>In Bahrain, prostitution is put on hold during Ramadan so that the girls will get some rest and recoup from the 11 months toil. Once ramadan is over, worship is put on hold until next ramadan.

Also Ramadan is the time all night clubs take to renovate their places. Sign new contracts for the coming year. 

Pimping and prostitution contracts are signed from Eid to start of next Ramadan.

Pretty cool, otherwise everything else about the country is damn cool.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>In Bahrain, prostitution is put on hold during Ramadan so that the girls will get some rest and recoup from the 11 months toil. Once ramadan is over, worship is put on hold until next ramadan.</p>
<p>Also Ramadan is the time all night clubs take to renovate their places. Sign new contracts for the coming year. </p>
<p>Pimping and prostitution contracts are signed from Eid to start of next Ramadan.</p>
<p>Pretty cool, otherwise everything else about the country is damn cool.</p>
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		<title>By: You Say Tomato I Say Price Gouging at The Black Iris of Jordan</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-9503</link>
		<dc:creator>You Say Tomato I Say Price Gouging at The Black Iris of Jordan</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 22 Sep 2006 20:38:51 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-9503</guid>
		<description>[...] It reminded me of an Emad Hajjaj caricature from this time last year that I used as part of a post entitled &#8220;The Cost of Ramadan&#8221; but with more of a social message behind it&#8230; [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] It reminded me of an Emad Hajjaj caricature from this time last year that I used as part of a post entitled &#8220;The Cost of Ramadan&#8221; but with more of a social message behind it&#8230; [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Jordanian Bloggers: A Cultural Project? at The Black Iris of Jordan</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-3641</link>
		<dc:creator>Jordanian Bloggers: A Cultural Project? at The Black Iris of Jordan</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 08 Apr 2006 12:58:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-3641</guid>
		<description>[...] Jordanâ??s Digital Culture Ammanâ??s Clash of Cultures A Valentines Day Fadfedah and/or Rant Mosalsal 2ordoni Bandora or Banadoora Only in Jordan (To date, or not to date??) (Memoirs of a Jordanian Spinster!!)  World Culture Forum in Jordan Nine Reasons to Love Jordan DEATH TO GARDENS STREET! On weddings, fashionistic Riyadhites, and the pleasures of being a Ammanite Kan ya makan&#8230; Why Amman can never be GPSed Another term&#8230; Celebrating the dokaneh Teen Culture Ø£Ù?Ø®Ø±Ù?Ø¬Ù?Ø§ Ù?Ù? Ù?Ù?Ù?Ø¨Ù Ø§Ù?ØµÙ?Ø®Ø±Ù Ø¥Ù?Ø³Ø§Ù?Ù? Ø§Ù?Ø¹ÙØ²Ù?Ø©Ù Ù? Ø§Ù?ÙÙ?Ø®Ø± Jordanianism How Mobiles Can Kill You in Jordan Jordan National Museum 2007 Jordanâ??s EnviroCops &amp; the Trash Mentality Jordan 2050 The Cost of Ramadan Selfisheness: The Root of All Evil [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] Jordanâ??s Digital Culture Ammanâ??s Clash of Cultures A Valentines Day Fadfedah and/or Rant Mosalsal 2ordoni Bandora or Banadoora Only in Jordan (To date, or not to date??) (Memoirs of a Jordanian Spinster!!)  World Culture Forum in Jordan Nine Reasons to Love Jordan DEATH TO GARDENS STREET! On weddings, fashionistic Riyadhites, and the pleasures of being a Ammanite Kan ya makan&#8230; Why Amman can never be GPSed Another term&#8230; Celebrating the dokaneh Teen Culture Ø£Ù?Ø®Ø±Ù?Ø¬Ù?Ø§ Ù?Ù? Ù?Ù?Ù?Ø¨Ù Ø§Ù?ØµÙ?Ø®Ø±Ù Ø¥Ù?Ø³Ø§Ù?Ù? Ø§Ù?Ø¹ÙØ²Ù?Ø©Ù Ù? Ø§Ù?ÙÙ?Ø®Ø± Jordanianism How Mobiles Can Kill You in Jordan Jordan National Museum 2007 Jordanâ??s EnviroCops &#38; the Trash Mentality Jordan 2050 The Cost of Ramadan Selfisheness: The Root of All Evil [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Eman</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-92</link>
		<dc:creator>Eman</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Mon, 03 Oct 2005 07:59:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-92</guid>
		<description>Hatem, you&#039;re totally right in the point that people are free to do what they wish as long as they don&#039;t violate the rights of others. This isn&#039;t what we&#039;re against, we are against hypocrisy. If you want to drink, and you are Muslim, then ok, but why pretend like you&#039;re a real Muslim in Ramadan only! Why coverup the alcohol (and alcohol is just one example) when you know you&#039;re drinking very soon? out of respect? as a Muslim the only respect you&#039;d show to your religion and yourself in the first place is believing and respecting the limitations! not covering up!
My point is, people should reconsider everything, and stop fooling others and lying to themselves and the ones around them. 
</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hatem, you&#8217;re totally right in the point that people are free to do what they wish as long as they don&#8217;t violate the rights of others. This isn&#8217;t what we&#8217;re against, we are against hypocrisy. If you want to drink, and you are Muslim, then ok, but why pretend like you&#8217;re a real Muslim in Ramadan only! Why coverup the alcohol (and alcohol is just one example) when you know you&#8217;re drinking very soon? out of respect? as a Muslim the only respect you&#8217;d show to your religion and yourself in the first place is believing and respecting the limitations! not covering up!<br />
My point is, people should reconsider everything, and stop fooling others and lying to themselves and the ones around them.</p>
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		<title>By: Global Voices Online  &#187; Blog Archive   &#187; From the Jordanian Blogosphere</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-91</link>
		<dc:creator>Global Voices Online  &#187; Blog Archive   &#187; From the Jordanian Blogosphere</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sun, 02 Oct 2005 13:53:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-91</guid>
		<description>[...] ming situation in Amman. Naseem Tarawneh ponders the cost of the holy month of Ramadan and describes it as a sign of massive hypocrisy, he also reports that &#8220;Jordan has overtaken Palestine as the mo [...]</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>[...] ming situation in Amman. Naseem Tarawneh ponders the cost of the holy month of Ramadan and describes it as a sign of massive hypocrisy, he also reports that &#8220;Jordan has overtaken Palestine as the mo [...]</p>
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		<title>By: Roba</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-89</link>
		<dc:creator>Roba</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Sat, 01 Oct 2005 17:41:16 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-89</guid>
		<description>I think Hatem&#039;s preposition is the most objective one. I don&#039;t see the point in forcing people to live life the way God wants them to, because doesn&#039;t that defeat the purpose of religion?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I think Hatem&#8217;s preposition is the most objective one. I don&#8217;t see the point in forcing people to live life the way God wants them to, because doesn&#8217;t that defeat the purpose of religion?</p>
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		<title>By: hatem abunimeh</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-81</link>
		<dc:creator>hatem abunimeh</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 22:44:26 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-81</guid>
		<description>I think that the people ought to be free to do whatever they want provided that they don&#039;t violate the rights of the other people. If they want to drink in Ramadan or no Ramadan, whether they are Muslims or not muslims, they should have their own freedom to practice the choice that they want, whenever they want it, and however they want it. In the end, the individual himself/herself are ultimately responsible and accountable for their own actions. No one should judge no one else, no one should act on behalf of Allah. Let freedom prevail all year around, those who want to fast, let them, those who don&#039;t want to fast, let them.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I think that the people ought to be free to do whatever they want provided that they don&#8217;t violate the rights of the other people. If they want to drink in Ramadan or no Ramadan, whether they are Muslims or not muslims, they should have their own freedom to practice the choice that they want, whenever they want it, and however they want it. In the end, the individual himself/herself are ultimately responsible and accountable for their own actions. No one should judge no one else, no one should act on behalf of Allah. Let freedom prevail all year around, those who want to fast, let them, those who don&#8217;t want to fast, let them.</p>
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		<title>By: Nas</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-80</link>
		<dc:creator>Nas</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 20:14:44 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-80</guid>
		<description>&lt;strong&gt;basboos,&lt;/strong&gt; actually recent studies have shown that 4% of the global burden of disease is attributable to alcohol as compared with 4.1% to tobacco and 4.4% to high blood pressure.

you have at least 60 known  diseases in which alcohol plays a role, cancers of the mouth, liver, breast, strokes etc.

also factor in alcohol-related deaths such as murders, suicides, accidents, drowning, poisoning, drunk driving. </description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>basboos,</strong> actually recent studies have shown that 4% of the global burden of disease is attributable to alcohol as compared with 4.1% to tobacco and 4.4% to high blood pressure.</p>
<p>you have at least 60 known  diseases in which alcohol plays a role, cancers of the mouth, liver, breast, strokes etc.</p>
<p>also factor in alcohol-related deaths such as murders, suicides, accidents, drowning, poisoning, drunk driving.</p>
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		<title>By: Hamzeh</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-79</link>
		<dc:creator>Hamzeh</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 20:02:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-79</guid>
		<description>Basboos, I did not mean to turn this into a discussion about alcohol itself, but I wanted to keep in the minds of people who are talking about this particular case of contradiction within our society, that the root of the problem is really alcohol. And that it really is no use talking about finding a middle ground, because this is (as Hatem explained) the most middle you&#039;re gonna get. This should instead be  about changing people&#039;s minds and nurturing in them the correct clean cut mentality that essentially steers them away from such contradictions that lead them to exhibit hypocracy in such a manner. And this is essentially what Naseem&#039;s posting is about; the hypocracy in our societies.
</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Basboos, I did not mean to turn this into a discussion about alcohol itself, but I wanted to keep in the minds of people who are talking about this particular case of contradiction within our society, that the root of the problem is really alcohol. And that it really is no use talking about finding a middle ground, because this is (as Hatem explained) the most middle you&#8217;re gonna get. This should instead be  about changing people&#8217;s minds and nurturing in them the correct clean cut mentality that essentially steers them away from such contradictions that lead them to exhibit hypocracy in such a manner. And this is essentially what Naseem&#8217;s posting is about; the hypocracy in our societies.</p>
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		<title>By: basbooos</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-78</link>
		<dc:creator>basbooos</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 19:21:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-78</guid>
		<description>Hamzeh
Okay, Alcohol is  maybe not  the healthiest thing u can consume...but if we are discussing this away from an Islamic point of view...you cannot treat alcohol the same way you treat ciggerattes or drugs from the standpoint &quot;that its not good for you&quot; I personally dont think you can put it on the same level...</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hamzeh<br />
Okay, Alcohol is  maybe not  the healthiest thing u can consume&#8230;but if we are discussing this away from an Islamic point of view&#8230;you cannot treat alcohol the same way you treat ciggerattes or drugs from the standpoint &#8220;that its not good for you&#8221; I personally dont think you can put it on the same level&#8230;</p>
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		<title>By: Hamzeh</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-77</link>
		<dc:creator>Hamzeh</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 18:16:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-77</guid>
		<description>Ok, so we all agree there&#039;s a problem. And if I had to make the call as to what is the one factor that contributes the most to this problem I would have to say it&#039;s alcohol. Not for any religious reason, but simply for logical reasons. For us, alcohol simply cannot fit in smoothly within our society if we still wanna call it a Muslim society, but that&#039;s only us. There is a bigger picture, and that is that alcohol really shouldn&#039;t fit at all, what&#039;s the case for it? There is none, I argue.

But don&#039;t be fooled, fighting alcohol is not achieved by just banning it, that never works. It&#039;s done by convincing people that they don&#039;t need it. The more people you win against alcohol, the smaller the size of the problem, and the slower its rate of growth, the easier it is you can contain it, and the easier it is that you can fight it even more.

It&#039;s always better to go after the root of the problem. And in this case, it is simply alcohol. Not in an Islamic context, but in the pure standpoint of &quot;is it good for you?&quot;. It&#039;s not!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Ok, so we all agree there&#8217;s a problem. And if I had to make the call as to what is the one factor that contributes the most to this problem I would have to say it&#8217;s alcohol. Not for any religious reason, but simply for logical reasons. For us, alcohol simply cannot fit in smoothly within our society if we still wanna call it a Muslim society, but that&#8217;s only us. There is a bigger picture, and that is that alcohol really shouldn&#8217;t fit at all, what&#8217;s the case for it? There is none, I argue.</p>
<p>But don&#8217;t be fooled, fighting alcohol is not achieved by just banning it, that never works. It&#8217;s done by convincing people that they don&#8217;t need it. The more people you win against alcohol, the smaller the size of the problem, and the slower its rate of growth, the easier it is you can contain it, and the easier it is that you can fight it even more.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s always better to go after the root of the problem. And in this case, it is simply alcohol. Not in an Islamic context, but in the pure standpoint of &#8220;is it good for you?&#8221;. It&#8217;s not!</p>
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		<title>By: Natasha</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-76</link>
		<dc:creator>Natasha</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 18:02:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-76</guid>
		<description>SC,
Thank you for taking the time to explain your point of view.  By &quot;aloneâ? I thought you meant they should hide in their homes while doing so which I found offensive.  I apologize for the misunderstanding.

</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>SC,<br />
Thank you for taking the time to explain your point of view.  By &#8220;aloneâ? I thought you meant they should hide in their homes while doing so which I found offensive.  I apologize for the misunderstanding.</p>
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		<title>By: SC</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-75</link>
		<dc:creator>SC</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:54:39 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-75</guid>
		<description>Oh I&#039;ve just read what Nas wrote, Natasha if you don&#039;t understand what I mean by alone please read what Nas said, thats exactly what I was trying to say.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Oh I&#8217;ve just read what Nas wrote, Natasha if you don&#8217;t understand what I mean by alone please read what Nas said, thats exactly what I was trying to say.</p>
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	<item>
		<title>By: SC</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-74</link>
		<dc:creator>SC</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:53:25 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-74</guid>
		<description>Natasha, 
by alone I meant they can drink as long as no Moslim is harmed by this, meaning, no Moslim will buy from their shops or is going to their bars. I didn&#039;t mean they should hide and I haven&#039;t the slightest clue where did you get that from. And please, don&#039;t use this tone with me because I&#039;m neither fanatic nor ignorant.

</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Natasha,<br />
by alone I meant they can drink as long as no Moslim is harmed by this, meaning, no Moslim will buy from their shops or is going to their bars. I didn&#8217;t mean they should hide and I haven&#8217;t the slightest clue where did you get that from. And please, don&#8217;t use this tone with me because I&#8217;m neither fanatic nor ignorant.</p>
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		<title>By: Nas</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-73</link>
		<dc:creator>Nas</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:42:23 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-73</guid>
		<description>I just wanted to make something clear about my post. This isnt about &lt;em&gt;coersion&lt;/em&gt; of minorities in Jordan. There is no compulsion in religion. There are religious freedoms in Islam which &lt;strong&gt;allow&lt;/strong&gt; religious minorities in an Islamic nation to consume, produce and sell products forbidden to Muslims as long as it does not effect the latter in a negative way. Obviously this is happening and the solution for it is not one i have at hand. If one is not allowed to sell to Muslims then everyone would end up having to show their National ID card as proof of religion. But that is something else.

What I was commenting on was the &lt;strong&gt;level of hypocricy&lt;/strong&gt;. Think about it this way, what is the point of repenting for a sin which one knows fully well he or she will commit again in the near future? Ramadan is not about how long you can go without drinking alcohol! Islam is about not drinking it at  all. Hence the white sheets we see are a reminder of something we, by default, find shameful.

So I do agree with Jameed that there is a need to &lt;strong&gt;regulate &lt;/strong&gt;these things if we are to achieve a middle ground of catering to minorities and tourists as well as maintaining a healthy islamic nation. 

&lt;strong&gt;If the west has managed to ban ciggerette ads from the public forum for health reasons then we should be able to do the same thing with alcohol for religious and ideological reasons.&lt;/strong&gt;
</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I just wanted to make something clear about my post. This isnt about <em>coersion</em> of minorities in Jordan. There is no compulsion in religion. There are religious freedoms in Islam which <strong>allow</strong> religious minorities in an Islamic nation to consume, produce and sell products forbidden to Muslims as long as it does not effect the latter in a negative way. Obviously this is happening and the solution for it is not one i have at hand. If one is not allowed to sell to Muslims then everyone would end up having to show their National ID card as proof of religion. But that is something else.</p>
<p>What I was commenting on was the <strong>level of hypocricy</strong>. Think about it this way, what is the point of repenting for a sin which one knows fully well he or she will commit again in the near future? Ramadan is not about how long you can go without drinking alcohol! Islam is about not drinking it at  all. Hence the white sheets we see are a reminder of something we, by default, find shameful.</p>
<p>So I do agree with Jameed that there is a need to <strong>regulate </strong>these things if we are to achieve a middle ground of catering to minorities and tourists as well as maintaining a healthy islamic nation. </p>
<p><strong>If the west has managed to ban ciggerette ads from the public forum for health reasons then we should be able to do the same thing with alcohol for religious and ideological reasons.</strong></p>
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		<title>By: Natasha</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-72</link>
		<dc:creator>Natasha</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:36:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-72</guid>
		<description>SC,
You say &quot;Christians can drink as long as they drink alone&quot;, and I would like to ask what is this subjective sentence based on?  Theological texts, or your own opinion? In reply to your comment, if you do not like the sight of Christians drinking, then I advise you to stay away from this sour scene.
</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>SC,<br />
You say &#8220;Christians can drink as long as they drink alone&#8221;, and I would like to ask what is this subjective sentence based on?  Theological texts, or your own opinion? In reply to your comment, if you do not like the sight of Christians drinking, then I advise you to stay away from this sour scene.</p>
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	<item>
		<title>By: basbooos</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-71</link>
		<dc:creator>basbooos</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:20:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-71</guid>
		<description>Bottom line is NO ONE CAN FORCE RELIGOUS BELIEFS ON OTHERS..at the end of the day its a personal matter..The next thing you know we would turn into KSA....And its a very dumb law that only permits non-muslims to see alcohol while in fact many muslims do consume it...</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Bottom line is NO ONE CAN FORCE RELIGOUS BELIEFS ON OTHERS..at the end of the day its a personal matter..The next thing you know we would turn into KSA&#8230;.And its a very dumb law that only permits non-muslims to see alcohol while in fact many muslims do consume it&#8230;</p>
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		<title>By: SC</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-70</link>
		<dc:creator>SC</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 17:03:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-70</guid>
		<description>Natasha, ofcourse I realize the fact that not only Moslims reside in Jordan. Islam guaranteed them their rights, and I agree on the middle ground, in fact, Islam provided that middle ground not me or anyone else. The question is, what middle ground we&#039;re talking about here?
Christians can drink as long as they drink alone, if that was guaranteed then its no one&#039;s business to deprive them that right, even though I&#039;m not sure about the technicality (where does drinking stand in Christianity). Having said that, it doesn&#039;t matter who&#039;s the owner if consumers can also be Moslims.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Natasha, ofcourse I realize the fact that not only Moslims reside in Jordan. Islam guaranteed them their rights, and I agree on the middle ground, in fact, Islam provided that middle ground not me or anyone else. The question is, what middle ground we&#8217;re talking about here?<br />
Christians can drink as long as they drink alone, if that was guaranteed then its no one&#8217;s business to deprive them that right, even though I&#8217;m not sure about the technicality (where does drinking stand in Christianity). Having said that, it doesn&#8217;t matter who&#8217;s the owner if consumers can also be Moslims.</p>
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		<title>By: jameed</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-69</link>
		<dc:creator>jameed</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 16:00:46 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-69</guid>
		<description>I am not denying the presence of hypocrisy and I can give more shocking examples of it: A friend used to pause porn movies during the &quot;athan&quot; and another used to hide &quot;pictures&quot; in his &quot;tilaweh&quot; book since this was the last plat his parents would think of looking (btw, this guy is a bearded sheikh with a 3amameh now). But also hypocritical is attributing the whole alcohol sales in Jordan to 5% of its population as well as denying Muslims the right to sell alcohol but allowing them to buy it from non-Muslims! This said, it is also unacceptable to force a Wahabi- or Taliban-style government that bans the sale of alcohol in the country. No one is in the position of forcing religion onto someone else. If a Muslim wants to drink, let him drink and leave it to the superpower that one believes in to judge him. I am by no means endorsing heavy or underage drinking, but since I also feel that there is some sense of hypocrisy in banning alcohol sales during Ramadan, I suggest Jordan stops practicing this &quot;hypocrisy&quot;. Just think of the added &quot;thawab&quot; a fasting person would get from passing by the pub and resisting the temptation to go in. The last two points I would like to make are (1) I believe alcohol sales should be regulated and it may not a bad idea to prohibit it near schools or places of worship (out of respect), and (2) allowing alcohol sale in a city is not by all means followed by allowing gambling, prostitution and drugs.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I am not denying the presence of hypocrisy and I can give more shocking examples of it: A friend used to pause porn movies during the &#8220;athan&#8221; and another used to hide &#8220;pictures&#8221; in his &#8220;tilaweh&#8221; book since this was the last plat his parents would think of looking (btw, this guy is a bearded sheikh with a 3amameh now). But also hypocritical is attributing the whole alcohol sales in Jordan to 5% of its population as well as denying Muslims the right to sell alcohol but allowing them to buy it from non-Muslims! This said, it is also unacceptable to force a Wahabi- or Taliban-style government that bans the sale of alcohol in the country. No one is in the position of forcing religion onto someone else. If a Muslim wants to drink, let him drink and leave it to the superpower that one believes in to judge him. I am by no means endorsing heavy or underage drinking, but since I also feel that there is some sense of hypocrisy in banning alcohol sales during Ramadan, I suggest Jordan stops practicing this &#8220;hypocrisy&#8221;. Just think of the added &#8220;thawab&#8221; a fasting person would get from passing by the pub and resisting the temptation to go in. The last two points I would like to make are (1) I believe alcohol sales should be regulated and it may not a bad idea to prohibit it near schools or places of worship (out of respect), and (2) allowing alcohol sale in a city is not by all means followed by allowing gambling, prostitution and drugs.</p>
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		<title>By: basbooos</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-68</link>
		<dc:creator>basbooos</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 14:45:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-68</guid>
		<description>Yes it is hypocritical to serve alchohol all year and then shut the places down in Ramadan, but guess what? the larger community that consumes alchohol in Jordan is among the majority of Muslims and not just Christians or tourists. Most young people who happen to be minors are the ones who consume alchohol...So i think we should be discussing the enforcement of laws that prohibits serving alchohol to15 year olds instead. The problem is, its not just hypocracy concerning alcohol, its everything else in our lives..just as Madas said... Another point i think is worth mentioning, is closing the restaurants during the day in Ramadan which is ofcourse out of respect for people who are fasting? But HELLO , i think we should wake up and smell the coffee..There are people that dont fast..They want to eat too. And dont tell me that the majority of people fast..When i was in Uni..all the places where we used to hang out around the university where closed and most of the guys actually didnt fast so you would find them hiding in some corner eating chips or chocolate...And one more thing...Everyone knows that a girl cant fast if she has her period, so she has to hide from all the males she knows in her life in order to eat (which the religion has allowed). And for what?because she is shameful of admitting something that has to do with the biology of her body for gods sake????? Ya3ny that is hypocracy!!!!!! Religion is a personal matter and it has to do with your won beliefs without imposing its rules on others...Besides i thought fasting was a test to see how well you can practice self-restraint...so if all the restaurants are closed and we dont see anyone eating or drinking in front of us What Kind of Self Restraint is that????</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Yes it is hypocritical to serve alchohol all year and then shut the places down in Ramadan, but guess what? the larger community that consumes alchohol in Jordan is among the majority of Muslims and not just Christians or tourists. Most young people who happen to be minors are the ones who consume alchohol&#8230;So i think we should be discussing the enforcement of laws that prohibits serving alchohol to15 year olds instead. The problem is, its not just hypocracy concerning alcohol, its everything else in our lives..just as Madas said&#8230; Another point i think is worth mentioning, is closing the restaurants during the day in Ramadan which is ofcourse out of respect for people who are fasting? But HELLO , i think we should wake up and smell the coffee..There are people that dont fast..They want to eat too. And dont tell me that the majority of people fast..When i was in Uni..all the places where we used to hang out around the university where closed and most of the guys actually didnt fast so you would find them hiding in some corner eating chips or chocolate&#8230;And one more thing&#8230;Everyone knows that a girl cant fast if she has her period, so she has to hide from all the males she knows in her life in order to eat (which the religion has allowed). And for what?because she is shameful of admitting something that has to do with the biology of her body for gods sake????? Ya3ny that is hypocracy!!!!!! Religion is a personal matter and it has to do with your won beliefs without imposing its rules on others&#8230;Besides i thought fasting was a test to see how well you can practice self-restraint&#8230;so if all the restaurants are closed and we dont see anyone eating or drinking in front of us What Kind of Self Restraint is that????</p>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Eman</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-67</link>
		<dc:creator>Eman</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 14:37:03 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-67</guid>
		<description>Dear Natasha, I wasn&#039;t talking about Jordan alone, I was talking in general, sorry for not making it clear. For example here in Tunisia Muslims are allowed to sell alcohol. Anyway, back to Jordan, I know that&#039;s the law, but if a Muslim investor -whether Jordanian or not- wants to open a hotel, or a supermarket, he finds ways to fool the law by â??on-paper-partnersâ?, or by connections (wasta).
See the problem is very deep, it&#039;s in the Muslim themselves Natasha, they sell things they know are against their religion just for money, and then cover them up in Ramadan. Isnâ??t this just irritating? I still believe Muslims must be more honest and stop fooling themselves and others. 
Not to mention that many hotels in many Muslim countries are not granted the ranking of 5 stars unless they sell alcohol, and this is an international law that is built on international standards!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Dear Natasha, I wasn&#8217;t talking about Jordan alone, I was talking in general, sorry for not making it clear. For example here in Tunisia Muslims are allowed to sell alcohol. Anyway, back to Jordan, I know that&#8217;s the law, but if a Muslim investor -whether Jordanian or not- wants to open a hotel, or a supermarket, he finds ways to fool the law by â??on-paper-partnersâ?, or by connections (wasta).<br />
See the problem is very deep, it&#8217;s in the Muslim themselves Natasha, they sell things they know are against their religion just for money, and then cover them up in Ramadan. Isnâ??t this just irritating? I still believe Muslims must be more honest and stop fooling themselves and others.<br />
Not to mention that many hotels in many Muslim countries are not granted the ranking of 5 stars unless they sell alcohol, and this is an international law that is built on international standards!</p>
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		<title>By: madas</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-66</link>
		<dc:creator>madas</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 13:36:27 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-66</guid>
		<description>Wow, a very interesting post indeed! I have never thought about things from this perspective, but actually you are right, it is about hypocracy, it is about double standards, it is simply the way we live our lives in Jordan.  We have double standards about everything, Ramadan and Fridays prayer ( I can&#039;t tell you how many people pray only on Friday, because of what people will say).  Relationships, man woman, and gender role. even the big Salon in every house, which is the best room and the less used room, it is made for &quot;visitors&quot;.... you gave me something to think about.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Wow, a very interesting post indeed! I have never thought about things from this perspective, but actually you are right, it is about hypocracy, it is about double standards, it is simply the way we live our lives in Jordan.  We have double standards about everything, Ramadan and Fridays prayer ( I can&#8217;t tell you how many people pray only on Friday, because of what people will say).  Relationships, man woman, and gender role. even the big Salon in every house, which is the best room and the less used room, it is made for &#8220;visitors&#8221;&#8230;. you gave me something to think about.</p>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Natasha</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-65</link>
		<dc:creator>Natasha</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 13:09:41 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-65</guid>
		<description>SC,
Jordan has a Christian community, yes it is small, but it plays a major role in the development of this country. You can&#039;t impose Islamic rules on the whole society when not all of its citizens are Muslims. You might not agree with me, but non-Muslim communities in Jordan should be accommodated. Jordanian Christians have been living in Jordan for centuries and they are an integral part of this community. They are entitled to have their rights protected since after all they are part of this land and among its indigenous inhabitants. Jordan plays an impressive role in accommodating them and it sets an example for tolerance and co-existence. Thus a middle ground might be the solution in this case in order to keep all religious segments of the society satisfied.
</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>SC,<br />
Jordan has a Christian community, yes it is small, but it plays a major role in the development of this country. You can&#8217;t impose Islamic rules on the whole society when not all of its citizens are Muslims. You might not agree with me, but non-Muslim communities in Jordan should be accommodated. Jordanian Christians have been living in Jordan for centuries and they are an integral part of this community. They are entitled to have their rights protected since after all they are part of this land and among its indigenous inhabitants. Jordan plays an impressive role in accommodating them and it sets an example for tolerance and co-existence. Thus a middle ground might be the solution in this case in order to keep all religious segments of the society satisfied.</p>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Natasha</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-64</link>
		<dc:creator>Natasha</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 13:01:29 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-64</guid>
		<description>Dear Eman,
In Jordan,  only Christians are allowed to sell alcohol. So let&#039;s say you are a Muslim owner of a restaurant and you want to serve alcohol, then you have to get a Christian partner so that you can get an alcohol license. Also liquor stores are only licensed to Christians.

</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Dear Eman,<br />
In Jordan,  only Christians are allowed to sell alcohol. So let&#8217;s say you are a Muslim owner of a restaurant and you want to serve alcohol, then you have to get a Christian partner so that you can get an alcohol license. Also liquor stores are only licensed to Christians.</p>
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	<item>
		<title>By: Eman</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-62</link>
		<dc:creator>Eman</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 10:58:59 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-62</guid>
		<description>Hey Nas, great of you to point out this issue. You know, also here in Tunisia people suffer from the same problem of hypocrisy.
I believe you are so right, this whole covering up is so pointless and reflects the hypocrisy and weakness of society!!

As a quick reply to Natasha and Hatem, I believe what Nas is criticizing is accepting something, then considering this very thing shameful and must be covered up during a certain period of time.
Can you believe that I see MANY &quot;MUSLIM&quot; people who actually buy loads of alcohol before Ramadan to be able to drink it AFTER BREAKING THEIR FASTING!! yes, yes, another picture of hypocrisy and lying to one&#039;s self, they fast, and then drink! Why do they fast in the first place!
Anyway as an answer to your question Natasha, I believe the best thing is for Muslims not to sell something that is forbidden in Islam. And leave it to Christians (or Jews if present in a country) to sell these things (alcohol, pork...etc.) And since Jordan is a Muslim country, then the non-Muslims can cover-up these goods out of respect during Ramadan, but they donâ??t have to in my personal opinion.
This way, Muslims will get rid of their double-standards, and will stop selling anything just for money, and at the same time non-Muslims will still get what they need and won&#039;t feel oppressed.
And most important of all, we wont reach a point where an alcohol-free hotel (for example) would be considered strange!</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hey Nas, great of you to point out this issue. You know, also here in Tunisia people suffer from the same problem of hypocrisy.<br />
I believe you are so right, this whole covering up is so pointless and reflects the hypocrisy and weakness of society!!</p>
<p>As a quick reply to Natasha and Hatem, I believe what Nas is criticizing is accepting something, then considering this very thing shameful and must be covered up during a certain period of time.<br />
Can you believe that I see MANY &#8220;MUSLIM&#8221; people who actually buy loads of alcohol before Ramadan to be able to drink it AFTER BREAKING THEIR FASTING!! yes, yes, another picture of hypocrisy and lying to one&#8217;s self, they fast, and then drink! Why do they fast in the first place!<br />
Anyway as an answer to your question Natasha, I believe the best thing is for Muslims not to sell something that is forbidden in Islam. And leave it to Christians (or Jews if present in a country) to sell these things (alcohol, pork&#8230;etc.) And since Jordan is a Muslim country, then the non-Muslims can cover-up these goods out of respect during Ramadan, but they donâ??t have to in my personal opinion.<br />
This way, Muslims will get rid of their double-standards, and will stop selling anything just for money, and at the same time non-Muslims will still get what they need and won&#8217;t feel oppressed.<br />
And most important of all, we wont reach a point where an alcohol-free hotel (for example) would be considered strange!</p>
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		<title>By: Nas</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-61</link>
		<dc:creator>Nas</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 08:07:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-61</guid>
		<description>&lt;strong&gt;Promises,&lt;/strong&gt; i chose alcohol because its a main element thats clashes with the ramadan culture in the country. also because of the mahjoob cartoon. thank you for your insightful comments, you make a valid point.

thanks for liking the logo :)</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><strong>Promises,</strong> i chose alcohol because its a main element thats clashes with the ramadan culture in the country. also because of the mahjoob cartoon. thank you for your insightful comments, you make a valid point.</p>
<p>thanks for liking the logo <img src='http://www.black-iris.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif' alt=':)' class='wp-smiley' /> </p>
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		<title>By: promises</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-60</link>
		<dc:creator>promises</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 05:18:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-60</guid>
		<description>p.s: like your new site logo, definately feels more &quot;homelike&quot; than the other one. and the black iris in the corner just makes it perfecto</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>p.s: like your new site logo, definately feels more &#8220;homelike&#8221; than the other one. and the black iris in the corner just makes it perfecto</p>
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		<title>By: promises</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-59</link>
		<dc:creator>promises</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 05:12:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-59</guid>
		<description>I dont know why you&#039;re only concentrating on the Alchohol issue, its just part of whats being &quot;covered up&quot; in Ramadan.

Anyhow,what we should realize actually is that its a social probelms just as its a religous one. Our lifestyles have changes, its not the same as 10-15 years ago. Globaliation has its effects. If we want &quot;Starbucks&quot;, &quot;Champions&quot;, &quot;Hard rock cafe&quot;  (naiive examples), then we ought to deal with the side effects of these foreign bodies also!

On another note, A few weeks I was in germany we were in the main street of Munich, anyhow. Each like 3 meters there was a sex shop! with this large banner, not mentioning the &quot;e3&quot; pics.  And 3adi it  was like a supermarket or something. People comming in and out, not covering up the issue even.  That wasnt the case a few years back.

My point is what we&#039;re experiencing is a change in the perception of things;and thats worldwide; each in its own limits, Alchocol might be what we&#039;ve reached for now. the bigger question woudl be, what will it be for the comming years?</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I dont know why you&#8217;re only concentrating on the Alchohol issue, its just part of whats being &#8220;covered up&#8221; in Ramadan.</p>
<p>Anyhow,what we should realize actually is that its a social probelms just as its a religous one. Our lifestyles have changes, its not the same as 10-15 years ago. Globaliation has its effects. If we want &#8220;Starbucks&#8221;, &#8220;Champions&#8221;, &#8220;Hard rock cafe&#8221;  (naiive examples), then we ought to deal with the side effects of these foreign bodies also!</p>
<p>On another note, A few weeks I was in germany we were in the main street of Munich, anyhow. Each like 3 meters there was a sex shop! with this large banner, not mentioning the &#8220;e3&#8243; pics.  And 3adi it  was like a supermarket or something. People comming in and out, not covering up the issue even.  That wasnt the case a few years back.</p>
<p>My point is what we&#8217;re experiencing is a change in the perception of things;and thats worldwide; each in its own limits, Alchocol might be what we&#8217;ve reached for now. the bigger question woudl be, what will it be for the comming years?</p>
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		<title>By: Hamzeh</title>
		<link>http://www.black-iris.com/2005/09/29/the-cost-of-ramadan/#comment-58</link>
		<dc:creator>Hamzeh</dc:creator>
		<pubDate>Fri, 30 Sep 2005 00:51:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.black-iris.com/?p=20#comment-58</guid>
		<description>Alcohol has not only really invaded the business side in our societies, it is actually very deeply entrenched nowadays. Even a person&#039;s ability to have fun without alcohol consumption is now questioned and deemed outside the norms.

When I was at a family dinner last summer, one of my elderly relatives (a parent in the family) asked me if I don&#039;t drink. Notice she didn&#039;t ask me whether I drink, she asked me whether I &lt;i&gt;don&#039;t&lt;/i&gt; drink. I said &quot;No, I don&#039;t drink&quot; so she asked &quot;ah .. sha66oor&quot; with a smile and a very curious look. A smile that tries to tell you &quot;great, I&#039;m happy for you&quot; but a look that seems to say &quot;you know you&#039;re being the odd ball here, don&#039;t you?&quot;.

The other thing I notice is when I try to argue with people that you really shouldn&#039;t have the need to drink alcohol unless you think it just tastes good. In which case, even the special taste that pure alcohol can add to a fruity drink can be simulated in a non alcoholic drink. But the most common argument you always hear from people is that they &lt;i&gt;drink socially&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;only to get in a the mood&lt;/i&gt;. Now, I usually try to convince people that I personally do not need chemicals in my blood to be in a good mood and that I know many people who are the same. Honestly, I cannot remember a time when I was out with my friends and those of them who happened to have a few drinks had more fun than I did, and the best part of all is that while it would take one of them to get completely wasted to start acting funny and have a big grin on their face, I would at least be able to remember every moment of the good time I spent that night, and remember every reason I had to have a big grin on my face. And the strange thing, is that when you&#039;re in the middle of having fun with your friends and you have this big smile drawn on your face, and you&#039;re laughing, dancing, and joking around, someone would come and ask &quot;how many drink have &lt;i&gt;you&lt;/i&gt; had?&quot; with a wink meaning admit it, therefore tying even your smile to drinking!! What&#039;s really interesting is that if the person was intoxicated, they would smile and they would go into this dramatic confession about how cool it is to be someone who can have so much fun and fit in with others (ie. coz you fooled them into thinking that you&#039;re drinking supposedly) without actually having to rely on a substance, but the next day, if you see someone else who is completely sober and they ask you the same question about the night before, and you give them the same answer, they would give you that smile and weird look that I talked about earlier. It&#039;s really funny, when we&#039;re sober our norms are polluted with the social prevailence of alcohol, but when we&#039;re drunk we&#039;re sort of .. pure.</description>
		<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Alcohol has not only really invaded the business side in our societies, it is actually very deeply entrenched nowadays. Even a person&#8217;s ability to have fun without alcohol consumption is now questioned and deemed outside the norms.</p>
<p>When I was at a family dinner last summer, one of my elderly relatives (a parent in the family) asked me if I don&#8217;t drink. Notice she didn&#8217;t ask me whether I drink, she asked me whether I <i>don&#8217;t</i> drink. I said &#8220;No, I don&#8217;t drink&#8221; so she asked &#8220;ah .. sha66oor&#8221; with a smile and a very curious look. A smile that tries to tell you &#8220;great, I&#8217;m happy for you&#8221; but a look that seems to say &#8220;you know you&#8217;re being the odd ball here, don&#8217;t you?&#8221;.</p>
<p>The other thing I notice is when I try to argue with people that you really shouldn&#8217;t have the need to drink alcohol unless you think it just tastes good. In which case, even the special taste that pure alcohol can add to a fruity drink can be simulated in a non alcoholic drink. But the most common argument you always hear from people is that they <i>drink socially</i> and <i>only to get in a the mood</i>. Now, I usually try to convince people that I personally do not need chemicals in my blood to be in a good mood and that I know many people who are the same. Honestly, I cannot remember a time when I was out with my friends and those of them who happened to have a few drinks had more fun than I did, and the best part of all is that while it would take one of them to get completely wasted to start acting funny and have a big grin on their face, I would at least be able to remember every moment of the good time I spent that night, and remember every reason I had to have a big grin on my face. And the strange thing, is that when you&#8217;re in the middle of having fun with your friends and you have this big smile drawn on your face, and you&#8217;re laughing, dancing, and joking around, someone would come and ask &#8220;how many drink have <i>you</i> had?&#8221; with a wink meaning admit it, therefore tying even your smile to drinking!! What&#8217;s really interesting is that if the person was intoxicated, they would smile and they would go into this dramatic confession about how cool it is to be someone who can have so much fun and fit in with others (ie. coz you fooled them into thinking that you&#8217;re drinking supposedly) without actually having to rely on a substance, but the next day, if you see someone else who is completely sober and they ask you the same question about the night before, and you give them the same answer, they would give you that smile and weird look that I talked about earlier. It&#8217;s really funny, when we&#8217;re sober our norms are polluted with the social prevailence of alcohol, but when we&#8217;re drunk we&#8217;re sort of .. pure.</p>
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