Forty: the age of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) when he first received the relevation delivered by Gabriel.
Forty: the number of days and nights for which rain fell during Noah’s flood.
Forty: the number of thieves in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.
Forty: the number of years the Israelites spent wandering in the desert.
Forty: the number of […]

The digital age is really, really fascinating.
Greeks fed up with their pesky neighbours, old flames, the government, or society in general can find release in a new Internet site that posts e-curses for free.
“Have you been dumped, harassed or angered? Why not unload with a curse?” offers www.e-katares.com (e-curse.com), which currently has more than […]

The New York Times recently ran an article in its travel section on food in Amman, painting it as the “stable center” of the Middle East. After reading it once over, I picked a few things that annoyed me but I brushed them aside. More recently, someone else who read the piece brought it to […]

So apparently it’s supposedly cold. I’ve had the house to myself these past couple of days and anyone that comes over thinks I live in a freezer. Years of living in Canada have rendered me adaptable; cold blooded, so to speak. I am seriously thinking of wearing some shorts and a t-shirt this week, just […]

“We already cannot cope with daily increases in prices.” - Hossam Atrash, a member of the Armed Forces. Consumers already burdened by rising prices expressed dismay over an expected 17 per cent increase in the price of imported infant formula this year. The father of three wondered whether the decision was a message to encourage […]

There Will Be Blood | “When ambition meets faith”. Based on the book Oil!, the movie tells the story of an oil prospector, Daniel Plainview, at the turn of the 20th century, who becomes a self-made man in the oil business. His fate leads him to California where he is told of a ranch that […]

Author’s Note: I thought long and hard about publishing this post and how people might react to it. Especially those who read this particular blog. There are times when writing or saying what I’m about to say can be confused with being opportunistic. This, I assure you, is not one of those times. There is […]

…and the world keeps spinning around and around and around…
Jordanians’ assessment of the level of democracy in Jordan dropped in 2007 despite the fact the country witnessed two major elections, a survey showed. According to the poll conducted by the University of Jordan’s Centre for Strategic Studies (CSS), respondents ranked the level of democracy in […]

Every year, there’s that one movie that is so low-key and independent from the glossy Hollywood spirit, that it sneaks on to everyone’s top 10 list. For 2007, and for me, Juno is that movie. It tells the story of a pregnant teenager who decides she wants to give her baby away to a picked […]

It’s the question that seems to be on every political-aficionado/news-guru in town. If you ask most Jordanians, I think the response to that question would be a definite “yes” and the follow up to that would be “before Bush leaves office.” In the past few weeks I’ve heard a countless number of people draw the […]

Congratulations to Toot Corp for gracing the cover of Pulp Magazine. Ahmad Humeid gives a great interview about what the company is up to in the digital world these days, getting a chance to introduce their latest venture: watwet. Ikbis, another Toot production, is celebrating its second year on the Internet, and what a year […]

Last night I attended the jaha for my best friend Abdullah, who was visiting here from Canada for a few weeks. I’ve known Abood for over 13 years and so I can safely say this is definitely the only jaha I’ve been to in Jordan where I was actually happy for someone and/or happy to […]

Meanwhile, the Lower House permanent office has rejected a request from a number of deputies to furnish their offices at their own expense, saying all MPs should have the same offices to insure equality. [source]
Equality, eh?

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Most of the time we are always doing something. Working, sleeping, watching, reading, eating, talking, walking, et cetera. There’s always something to do, somewhere to go, somewhere to be, someone to meet, something of great or minor necessity to do. Imagine writing every single thing you did in a single week. By the weekend you […]

Egyptian female judges can’t be alone
CAIRO — Egyptian women must not sit as judges because it would be against Islamic law or Sharia as they would have to spend time alone with men, a male Egyptian judge was quoted as saying Saturday. [source]
That was back in March, 2007. This week, comes this lovely news:
Women not […]

A few more reviews of movies you can find in the balad with excellent quality and are actually worth watching.
Charlie Wilson’s War | Charlie Wilson’s War | Aaron Sorkin of West Wing and A Few Good Men fame, pens this witty and sharp script, with Tom Hanks playing the role of Charlie Wilson. A Texan […]